Latest / Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast / Is Bigger Better When It Comes To Air Conditioning Units?

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Is Bigger Better When It Comes To Air Conditioning Units? · Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast

• 0:01
  Bigger isn't always better,
• 0:05
  especially when it comes to your air conditioning.
• 0:08
  So a lot of people say,
• 0:09
  gosh,
• 0:09
  it's so hot this summer.
• 0:11
  I need to call the air conditioning guys and get a bigger AC unit.
• 0:16
  I'm pretty sure that may not be the best way to figure out how to get your house cooler and cooler more efficiently.
• 0:24
  So I've asked an expert in cooling to join me,
• 0:29
  Nathan Shafer.
• 0:30
  How are you doing,
• 0:30
  Nathan?
• 0:31
  Hey,
• 0:32
  good,
• 0:32
  Jim.
• 0:32
  How are you doing today?
• 0:33
  I am living the dream.
• 0:34
  Thank you so much for asking.
• 0:36
  Um So we've heard this before.
• 0:39
  I'll just get bigger.
• 0:41
  Uh If you get a bigger fan to blow on you,
• 0:44
  that might make a difference to cool you off.
• 0:47
  We're not talking air conditioning.
• 0:48
  If you get a bigger engine for the truck,
• 0:50
  that truck may go faster.
• 0:53
  But does that work for air conditioning units in people's homes?
• 0:58
  No,
• 0:59
  it doesn't.
• 0:59
  And oftentimes you're right,
• 1:00
  you do hear that.
• 1:01
  Uh you know,
• 1:02
  if I just had a bigger one,
• 1:03
  it would be,
• 1:03
  it would be cooler.
• 1:04
  And in reality,
• 1:05
  there's uh typically other rather issues of the pros,
• 1:08
  not to say that maybe in some cases,
• 1:10
  a bigger one is not needed because it wasn't properly sized to begin with.
• 1:14
  However bigger is not better when it comes to air conditioning.
• 1:17
  Uh One of the main functions of an air conditioner is to dehumidify.
• 1:22
  And if a air conditioner is size,
• 1:25
  too big for the house for the space and the amount of people that live in it,
• 1:29
  um,
• 1:29
  it's gonna short cycle.
• 1:31
  So it's gonna kick on,
• 1:31
  kick off,
• 1:32
  kick on,
• 1:32
  kick off when it does that.
• 1:34
  Not only does it raise the electric bill,
• 1:36
  uh,
• 1:36
  not only does it,
• 1:37
  is it hard on the components in the system?
• 1:39
  It's harder for your car,
• 1:41
  let's say,
• 1:41
  to start and stop right than it is to set the crew at 60 just go,
• 1:45
  um,
• 1:46
  it's harder on your gas mileage,
• 1:47
  picture your electric bill,
• 1:48
  like your gas mileage,
• 1:49
  your fuel mileage of your system.
• 1:51
  Uh,
• 1:51
  but also with short cycling,
• 1:53
  it can't run long enough to pull humidity out of the air.
• 1:56
  And so it may drop the temperature really fast to a certain temperature but,
• 2:00
  uh,
• 2:01
  70 high humidity,
• 2:03
  uh,
• 2:04
  still does not,
• 2:05
  does not feel,
• 2:06
  um,
• 2:07
  comfortable,
• 2:08
  it's still sticky,
• 2:09
  it's still tacky.
• 2:10
  Um,
• 2:11
  and you,
• 2:12
  you,
• 2:12
  you're,
• 2:12
  you're not comfortable at all.
• 2:13
  You're paying a high utility bill.
• 2:14
  So no bigger is not always better.
• 2:17
  You know,
• 2:18
  I've heard exactly what you said.
• 2:20
  Um,
• 2:20
  the larger the unit,
• 2:24
  the better it will cool in theory.
• 2:28
  But it's going to turn off sooner because the thermostat is gonna be satisfied.
• 2:33
  And when it does that the built in dehumidifier is off,
• 2:38
  which means the humidity is high.
• 2:41
  So in most instances,
• 2:43
  you want it to cycle on and off at a certain type of rate and it should be a longer rate.
• 2:50
  You want it to run just long enough to get the humidity out and then of course,
• 2:55
  have that temperature drop.
• 2:56
  And so it needs to be sized,
• 2:58
  right?
• 2:58
  And if you don't know what that means,
• 3:00
  you can contact Nathan and his team and they'll,
• 3:03
  and they'll explain what sizing means.
• 3:06
  And uh you know,
• 3:07
  in short,
• 3:08
  it's just making sure you've got the right type of air conditioning unit or units for the space of the home.
• 3:16
  They're going to ask you how many people live in the home?
• 3:19
  There's all kinds of things that fit.
• 3:23
  Oh,
• 3:23
  sorry.
• 3:24
  As I said,
• 3:24
  I think a common thing that it gets missed a lot and people think about sizing is just just the amount of people that just the square footage of the house and then that's the magical number,
• 3:31
  right?
• 3:32
  And like you mentioned,
• 3:32
  there's so many more things that go into that when properly sizing in the system.
• 3:36
  Uh There has to be a lo cal or,
• 3:38
  or a or a load analysis done on the house.
• 3:41
  And so everything matters like how many windows,
• 3:43
  which were,
• 3:43
  are they facing?
• 3:44
  How many doors you know,
• 3:45
  what type of windows?
• 3:46
  What's the r value in the walls?
• 3:48
  What's the insulation in the attic?
• 3:49
  What's the floors?
• 3:50
  Is it a crawl space?
• 3:51
  Is there a basement?
• 3:51
  Is a slab?
• 3:52
  The list goes on and on and on.
• 3:54
  What's generating heat in the house?
• 3:55
  How many people kitchens,
• 3:56
  baths?
• 3:57
  And so all of that has to be taken into consideration.
• 4:00
  It's not just a square footage.
• 4:02
  So it's very possible to have uh a 1500 square foot house on this side of the road,
• 4:06
  take a different size system than the exact same footprint.
• 4:10
  1500 square foot house on this side of the road because of the way it's oriented the amount of people living in the home.
• 4:15
  What do they have?
• 4:16
  Which way the windows facing,
• 4:17
  it was insulated a little bit different.
• 4:19
  So a lot goes into that sizing.
• 4:22
  Uh but we can take care of all of that and we do that on each and every call.
• 4:25
  So I've known people who've had indoor pools.
• 4:29
  Speaking of humidity,
• 4:30
  that's an issue.
• 4:31
  Some people have greenhouses that are attached to their home.
• 4:35
  Um,
• 4:36
  humidity and heat issues.
• 4:37
  So,
• 4:37
  yes,
• 4:38
  the windows and,
• 4:40
  and you know,
• 4:40
  anything that might be wet in the home.
• 4:42
  Um You know,
• 4:43
  that's like a pool or,
• 4:45
  or a little fountain in,
• 4:46
  you know,
• 4:46
  front entrance,
• 4:47
  you'd be surprised what actually could throw off the whole ecosystem in the home.
• 4:51
  So it is important and the point of this is,
• 4:55
  you've got to get a hold of Nathan and his team.
• 4:56
  All his information is located in the description of this podcast.
• 5:01
  So please go there for any of your questions on heating and air conditioning.
• 5:07
  As always,
• 5:08
  Nathan,
• 5:08
  thanks for joining me today,
• 5:09
  buddy.
• 5:10
  All right.
• 5:10
  Thank you,
• 5:11
  Jim.
• 5:11
  Appreciate it.