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Not your area? Select your location here:
Location pin iconWe serve 7 locations!
Select your location to get started:

Family-Owned & Operated Since 2001

770-241-5675

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Premier Heating and Air Blog

What Size AC Do I Need for My House?

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If you’re currently looking for a new air conditioning installation in Conyers, GA to deal with the upcoming summer, we’re glad you’re asking a question like this. The size of an air conditioning system is one of the most important factors in choosing which AC to install. It’s not something you want to get wrong either. Go too big or too small, and you’ll have an air conditioner that doesn’t do what you need and will cost you far too much to do a bad job.

The good news is that you don’t have to make this choice yourself. It’s best to leave sizing a new AC to professionals like ours. Below we’ll get into why sizing an air conditioner is so important and how we find out the right size AC for a house.

“Why not get the most powerful central AC I can afford?”

This is where many people trip up when thinking about an air conditioner’s size. We understand the thinking here: why not err on the side of an AC that’s more powerful, since you can always turn it down? This isn’t how a central air conditioner works, however. 

If an air conditioner is too powerful for a house, it will lower the indoor temperature so rapidly that the thermostat will register the AC has already completed its job, even though only the center of the house will have finished cooling down. The thermostat will shut off the air conditioner, only to turn it back on a short time later and repeat the process. This is called short-cycling, and not only does it prevent the AC from evenly cooling a house, but it also places immense strain on the system and jacks up cooling costs. 

Unfortunately, if you work with an amateur to install your AC, you’re likely to get an oversized unit. Amateurs often try to push systems that are more expensive than necessary, and they also rarely make the effort to accurately size an air conditioner. 

How we find the right size AC

Most residential homes need an air conditioner with between 5 to 10 tons of cooling. (1 ton = 12,000 BTUs of heat removed per hour.) For us to find the “sweet spot” between an AC that’s too small and too large, we perform a load calculation for the house.

This calculation determines how well the home keeps out heat, how much heat it generates from inside, and how much space needs cooling. We compile information about the house that includes the number of residents, the level of insulation, the number of lights and heat-generating appliances, the number of windows and the direction they face, and square footage. When we’re done, we’ll know the right number of tons of cooling necessary to keep the house cool without wasting power. 

You can put your trust in our technicians to provide you with a great air conditioning system installation. We offer guaranteed same-day service, and if we ever fall short, pick up the phone and call. We’ll make it right!

Experience the Premier Difference! Premier Heating & Air has been family-owned and operated since 2001.

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