The purchase of a new furnace is a significant investment in a sturdy piece of HVAC equipment that can be expected to give you, on average, 15-20 years of reliable service. You expect your furnace to provide consistent levels of heating throughout your home and to operate as efficiently and economically as possible. To ensure these needs are met, it is extremely important that you choose a new furnace that is correctly sized for your home.Sizing a furnace involves determining your home's heating load, or the amount of heating that is needed to keep your living environment at the temperature you prefer. It also involves making sure that the furnace you purchase can adequately meet that heating load. A too-small furnace can't provide enough heat and works too hard, causing unnecessary wear and early breakdowns. A too-large furnace overheats and wastes energy and money. Overheating also produces dry indoor air, which can cause uncomfortable physical effects on residents and damage to wood furniture and building materials.Many older furnaces tend to be oversized because they were installed when homes were often ineffectively sealed and insulated. A well-insulated home with few air and energy leaks will not need as large a furnace. Further, if you are installing a high-efficiency furnace, it won't need to be as large as the unit you're replacing.Heating load calculations should be performed by a qualified HVAC expert and according to industry standards such as the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual J, "Residential Load Calculation." This manual contains all the technical procedures and standards for determining how much heating your home requires and the size furnace you need, based on evaluation of factors such as:
Local climate and weather
Size and shape of house
Directional orientation of house
Amount of insulation
Window size, location and type
Presence of heat-generating lights and appliances
Resident temperature preferences
Air Assurance has provided more than 30 years of reliable, professional HVAC services to customers in and around Tulsa. Contact us today for more information on furnace sizing, to get a cost estimate and load calculation for your home, or to schedule an installation at your convenience.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock