Make sure your central air is properly sized

 

Having an air conditioner of the right size for your home is essential for achieving optimal efficiency and prolonging your unit’s lifespan. Your new air conditioner should be properly sized based on the insulation, number of windows, direction that each window faces, air leaks, ductwork size, and shading from the exterior of the home and a number of other factors that we will discuss with you.

 

If a unit is oversized, it will draw more energy than necessary to cool your home. If a unit is undersized, it will not be able to cool your home effectively. In either situation, it is wasting energy, costing you money, and possibly damaging the internal parts of your AC system.

 

How to save money when purchasing a new air conditioner?

 

First, check with your local energy company to see if rebates are available and how much they are. This can vary greatly depending on the efficiency, generally the higher the efficiency the more money you will receive. Second most energy companies will offer a savings calculator to see what you can save on energy based on the SEER rating.

 

Check for tax credits and government programs that you may qualify for. Again the higher the efficiency the more money you may receive.

 

A McNutt Comfort Specialist will discuss with you manufactures rebates available at the time of your purchase.

 

 

Your McNutt Comfort Specialist will discuss your desire for a Zoned System

 

Here are six common sense rules we teach our people that will make designing systems a breeze. When considering a zoned system you should follow these guidelines as much as possible when grouping rooms together to form a zone:

 

1) Don’t consider combining different floors on the same zone. This is for the common sense reasons we are all aware of. Hot air rises and cold air sinks. It will be difficult to control the environment of one or the other if two or more floors are on the same zone.

 

2) Never zone rooms of different construction types in the same zone. As an example, a new addition should always have its own thermostat since it typically has better insulation than the rest of the home, and it will react differently than older sections of the home.

 

3) Never zone rooms that have perimeter wall areas with rooms that are entirely internal to the structure. Since they are not affected by the outside temperature changes. All internal rooms should be grouped together whenever possible.

 

4) All thermostats should be located in the room used the most in any area.

 

5) Never put rooms with conflicting solar or mechanically generated heat loads on the same zone. For example don’t put an east facing room that receives a heavy morning sun load onto the same zone as a western facing room.

 

6) Always try to have a minimum of two registers for any one zone. This keeps the air flow more stable.Of course we may not be able to accommodate all of these rules but this gives you some food for thought. Your McNutt Comfort Specialist will help you make the final decisions on your zoning needs.