I had to learn the hard way that just because you have an HVAC system that is perfectly sized for your home, does not mean that it will efficiently heat or cool it.
- You may be able to get the size and power right in theory, but there is another huge factor that determines whether or not your home will be heated or cooled efficiently and sufficiently.
Your home needs to be weather-proofed. This means, among other things, that you need to have good insulation. When you have good insulation, the thermal energy that your furnace produces will stay in your home, rather than slip through thin and poorly insulated walls. Also, if you have an attic that is not sufficiently insulated, you are losing a whole lot of cold air that is escaping through the roof, causing your A/C to work harder. The better the insulation in your home, the more easily the cool or warm air that you are trying to generate with your HVAC system will be contained, instead of slipping away. There is another way the conditioned or warm air can escape your home and cause extreme energy inefficiency with your HVAC system. There might be holes, cracks, or slits around your doors or windows that are letting cold or warm air escape. So, if you are noticing that your energy bills are rather high, and yet you are not achieving your desired temperature very easily, you may need to weatherproof those areas of your home to ensure that they are properly sealed. Again, properly sizing your HVAC system is important for energy efficiency, but if warm or cold air is constantly escaping your home, your climate control system can’t help you.