{"id":1467,"date":"2023-04-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2023-04-13T18:40:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T22:40:31","slug":"why-bigger-isnt-always-better-with-a-new-ac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/why-bigger-isnt-always-better-with-a-new-ac\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bigger Isn\u2019t Always Better With a New AC"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"air-conditioner-condenser-3D-render\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

An essential part of getting a new air conditioner is finding the right-size unit. We don\u2019t mean the physical size of the air conditioner, but the size of its cooling power and its capacity. You want to ensure you have an air conditioner that\u2019s big enough to cool your house, but which isn\u2019t too big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d you might think. \u201cWhy is it a problem if the AC\u2019s too big? Isn\u2019t it better to err on the side of too big rather than too small?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re not the only one who has thought this when getting a new air conditioner. We\u2019ll explain why bigger isn\u2019t necessarily better with an air conditioner. In fact, it can often be a disaster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How AC Sizing Works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cooling capacity of an air conditioner is measured in units called tons<\/em>. One ton equals 12,000 BTUs of heat removed from the house per hour. The reason this measurement is called a ton<\/em> is because it\u2019s the amount of heat necessary to melt 2,000 lbs (1 ton) of ice at 32\u00b0F over one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most homes require a central air conditioning system between 1.5 to 5 tons. Although you can look up a basic measurement system that matches cooling tons to a home\u2019s square footage, more needs to go into sizing an AC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accurately size a residential air conditioner requires a full load calculation<\/em> that takes into account factors about the house such as heat-generating appliances, the amount of insulation, the number of people in the household, the number of windows and their facing, the lights, etc. It takes professionals to do this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the AC Is Too Big<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What happens if your home needs a 3-ton air conditioner, but because of a mistake (something amateur installers often make) a 5-ton system is put in its place? You can\u2019t just \u201cturn the AC down\u201d to compensate because that\u2019s not how thermostats or air conditioners work: the air conditioner either is on or off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the AC is too large for the house, it will blow out so much cold air that the thermostat will incorrectly register that it\u2019s finished its job before it has. The AC will shut down, only to turn back on a short time later and start the process over.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rapid starting and stopping is called short cycling<\/em>. An oversized air conditioner may end up turning on and off 8-10 times per hour, but an accurately sized air conditioner will only need to turn on and off 3-5 times per hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short-cycling puts an enormous amount of strain on the air conditioner because of how much power the compressor uses at start-up. You\u2019ll see enormously high cooling costs because of this, plus the AC will wear down rapidly and need numerous repairs and an early replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes skilled professionals to determine the correct tonnage for a new AC using a load calculation, so make sure you call us for your AC installation in Eden Prairie, MN<\/a>. We\u2019ll get it right the first time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residential Heating and Air Conditioning has served the Twin Cities Since 1991. <\/strong>Schedule AC installation with us today.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ll explain why bigger isn\u2019t necessarily better with an air conditioner. In fact, it can often be a disaster!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[70],"tags":[40,114],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1470,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions\/1470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resheatandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}