What size unit do I need?

How do I know what size unit I should be using in my home?

You would do what is called a load analysis or a heat loss, heat gain, which is what we do at every single changeout, every single installation. We do a heat loss, heat gain, and that's what's supposed to be done. Now, we get the question quite a bit, "Hey, I've had this unit for 30 years. I don't need a heat loss, heat gain." Well, the reason we do it is because in those 30 years you might have improved the insulation in the house.

You might have went from single-pane to double-pane windows.

You might have gone to insulated doors. You might have put some insulation in the walls. So you might need a smaller unit than you did 30 years ago. Does that make sense? So we do a heat loss, heat gain for that reason. Sometimes you do run into that situation where you need to upsize, downsize the unit depending on the house.

But again, every house is different.

I mean, you think about these subdivisions you go to and the back door is facing south. On the other side of the street, the front door is facing south. So there's different load requirements for this house versus that house. So a load analysis needs to be done on each one to to see which one, which each one needs.

So it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of scenario. Hey, I got a 1,600-square-foot house, what size unit do I need?

Well, I need a lot more details. I mean, what kind of insulation you got, which way is your front door facing, what kind of windows you got, what kind of doors you got. All these play into what size of equipment you need. So it's not a It's not a one-size-fits-all scenario. It's not a rule of thumb. You know, some guys might, might say, hey, you've had a unit for 30 years, that's the one you should go back with.

Well, that might be true, but we're just going to double-check to make sure that it's correct. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show.