How Big of an Air Conditioner do I Need?

Wow, that is a loaded question! The answer is, it depends. On what, exactly? A lot of things. It depends on things like

• What part of the country you live in. Are you in swampy Louisiana, the desert of Arizona, or temperate San Diego?

• How many windows you have, which way they face, how efficient they are, and if you have trees or a roof overhang

• How well insulated your house is

• The air tightness of your home and duct system

• How many people live in the home and how many saltwater fish tanks you have

The video below provides a 3D animation of what all goes into calculating the heating and cooling gains and losses in a residential home. Hopefully it will give you a deeper appreciation for the amount of work required to properly size a heating and cooling system. Do you need a manual J load calculation done on your home? Again, the answer is it depends. If you have comfort problems with your home like high humidity, hot and cold spots, etc. then it may well be worth the investment.

-Matt Bruner

How can I Improve my Indoor Air Quality?

There is near total consensus from experts that improving indoor air quality comes down to three factors: filtration, ventilation, and humidity control. Let's take a look at each one of these factors and some solutions for them that meet any budget:

Filtration
-very fine dust particles can enter our lungs and cause allergic reactions and health problems. A high quality filter (MERV 13 or above) will capture these particles.
-solutions: a standalone air purifier with a MERV 13 filter or better, or upgrade your HVAC system’s filter.

Ventilation
-there are some things in the air like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are not good for us, but can't be captured by a filter. The best option to remove these to is to flush fresh air through the house.
-solutions: open your windows on pleasant days, or add a fresh air duct with monitoring and a control strategy to your HVAC system.

Humidity
-maintaining humidity levels between 30-50% keeps dust mites dormant. Dust mites are one of the main causes of indoor allergies.
-solutions: use a portable or professionally installed dehumidifier to manage humidity levels.

There are essentially two paths you can take to improve indoor air quality: the DIY way or the professional installation way. Both options can yield good results. The DIY method is much more hands on and involved, but cheaper. The professional installation method is more expensive, but all of the components are hidden away and automated with controls.

I would also highly recommend testing your indoor air quality before you go investing in solutions. It’s always a good idea to know what we are up against before we start trying to solve the problem at hand. There are many portable/countertop IAQ monitors that are a great place to start. Of if you’re interested in whole home monitoring and testing, we provide those services. Feel free to call or email with any questions you have about Indoor Air Quality.

For a deep dive into the science behind all three of these factors, check out this link

-Matt Bruner

The Goals of an HVAC System

What are the goals of an HVAC system? The answer may seem straightforward, but surprisingly not many of the systems out there tick these boxes. The really cool thing about all of these goals are that they create a “zen” of HVAC (thank you Russ King for the phrase) when you do careful, thoughtful work. Designed comfort leads to home durability, which dovetails into healthy homes, which keep you safe… well you get the picture. The interesting thing is, a poorly designed and installed HVAC system can actually decrease all of these goals for your home. Here is my take on the ideal goals of a well designed HVAC system:

• Safety

  • If your house catches on fire because someone didn’t install your furnace correctly, you can’t live in it. That one is obvious, but what about things like carbon monoxide poisoning? Improperly installed appliances can make you less safe, even though you might be using the heater to keep you comfortable. Safety is the prerequisite for the other goals of the system.

• Comfort

  • This is probably where your mind automatically went when you clicked on this article. And for good reason, cooling and heating systems are what make homes comfortable to a large degree. The roof and walls keep the rain out, but the HVAC system maintains temperature and humidity ranges that are ideal for humans. There is a sliding scale in terms of how much comfort can be delivered, because no system is perfect. For example, maintaining perfect humidity levels is not possible with an air conditioner alone, and may require a dedicated dehumidifier.

• Health

  • This goal sits under the comfort goal, but is an important one. We spend 90% of our lives indoors, and some HVAC systems can make your indoor air quality and home environment worse, not better. Things like bad filtration, leaky ductwork, and poor humidity control can cause allergies. Our goal in designing a system is to do no harm, and when possible, to create health benefits. Now again, there are degrees to this, and healthier homes often require careful thought and significant budgets. Options like ventilation air, and HEPA filters may not be for everyone. But at a minimum, the work HVAC contractors do should be neutral or beneficial to your health, not detrimental.

• Durability

  • Water is the number one enemy of home durability. The roof, walls and windows keep liquid water out, but the HVAC system helps maintain consistent moisture levels in the air of your home. High moisture levels can cause mold and rot, as well as create inviting environments for pests. A great example of this is crawlspaces. My almost 100 year old home needed to have the main support beams under the house replaced due to dry rot. That was not cheap to fix. Now I have insulated and air sealed the crawlspace, and installed a dehumidifier to keep it dry. When combined with a well built enclosure, a properly designed HVAC system can help your home have a long life.

-Matt Bruner