Anytime a new home or business building is constructed, the builders often rely on the expertise of HVAC contractors to ensure that the HVAC load calculations are set to appropriate settings that will allow the building to be safe and highly energy efficient. The days of clean and energy efficient HVAC systems are more common than in years past – where the best way to keep your house of building cool or heated was through operation of the windows.

However, the purpose and process of creating effective HVAC load calculations are very critical in today’s construction world. And there are many reasons why this important step is crucial for both business and home locations.

HVAC load calculations require a lot of time and especially tremendous attention to the details to ensure any business or home unit is properly heated and cooled. Most HVAC contractors used to rely on several rules of thumb which determined the size of heating and cooling systems they install for each building. As a general rule of thumb, this meant that for every 500 square feet of conditioned floor area, they’d need one ton of air.

However, this method has evolved over the years and today’s HVAC contractors have put the thumbs away and use technical HVAC load calculation software to make sure that they provide energy efficient heating and cooling standards.

The reason that this is important in today’s home and business world to ensure proper HVAC load calculations for cooling include:

Finding the right sized unit for each specific building. If a unit is too big, it can cause a house of business to have a clammy condition – with too much humidity in the air. Contrary to popular belief, there is not a one size fit all HVAC units available to install in any building.
Installing a unit too big can also increase the units function over a longer period of time – since in order to keep the inside at a certain temperature, the unit will have to turn on and off much more frequently. This will cause the unit to wear out sooner and lead to costly repairs and replacement.
It’s not energy efficient to install the wrong size HVAC unit. If a unit is too small or too big, it will use more energy – which leads to increased costs for the home or business owner and is not environmentally smart.

For heating units, when a HVAV load calculation is not correct issues that can occur include:

Increased expense in heating the home or business. If the unit is too small, it won’t properly heat the building and will have to operate longer (using more energy and costing the building owner much more money). If the unit is too big, it will not heat efficiently, which means it will have to turn on and off more frequently. Again, causing parts to wear out and increased energy usage.

As you can see, whether you’re dealing with a cooling or heating unit, making sure to use proper HVAC load calculations is a critical step to ensuring proper usage of any HVAC unit. If you’re replacing a current HVAC unit, or building a new home that needs a new unit be sure your contractor is taking the time to get this step right. If you don’t have a company or would like a second opinion on what size unit best fits your home or office give the team at Scottsdale Air a call, we been serving the valley for over 40 years. Call 480-359-7141 Today.