When hot temperatures roll through our area and we start stressing out the air conditioning, there’s one budding question that can linger in the back of our minds—how powerful is your AC system? After all, if you encounter a problem with your AC’s ability to keep your home cool, you can just upgrade it to a larger and more powerful system to do things better, right? Well, that’s not entirely true.
Air conditioners are designed with a specific purpose in mind. They are supposed to efficiently cool the amount of space throughout your entire home. If they can’t, then it doesn’t mean you need a larger cooling system, it means that you need air conditioning repair in Sarasota, FL. An air conditioner should be powerful enough to cool your entire house.
Down below, we’ll explain exactly what we mean. Just remember to explore your options and call our team when you encounter a problem.
The Cooling Load
There’s a vocabulary word we’re going to define first before we get into the aspects of how an air conditioner works and determining how powerful your system is.
The cooling load is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, it’s the amount of cooling your air conditioner can do before it gets overloaded. Think of this like your car’s horsepower, it’s going to dictate the normal amount of cooling it can generate before you’re running it inefficiently and causing harm.
Every air conditioner when installed should have a cooling load that’s appropriately sized to the home it’s cooling. For example, a home that’s a certain size (air volume expressed in cubic feet) can get a system that’s designed specifically for that amount of air space. Basically, every system should be set up for the air volume of your home.
The Air Volume of Your Home
Want to know why we talk about professional AC installation so much on this blog? Well, you’ve come to the right place. An air conditioner that’s incorrectly sized for a home, (i.e. one that’s installed by an amateur) is going to seem like it’s underpowered and not able to provide enough cooling for your house. This is a rooky mistake, and it’s one that we hope convinces you just how important it is to hire a pro!
An AC That’s Too Powerful Is Not Better
But wait! Don’t just get the largest, most powerful air conditioner you can find! An AC that’s too powerful will also provide you with negative results. If an AC provides too much cooling output, it will do something we call “short-cycling.”
Short-cycling refers to the process when an air conditioner puts out too much cool air too fast, and it meets the demand listed on the thermostat too quickly. This causes it to abruptly shut down and restart moments later to do the same thing again. It’s damaging to the system and it consumes way too much energy as a result.
Your AC Should Be Just Powerful Enough
Do yourself a favor and size your air conditioner appropriately. Consult with a professional to determine how much cubic volume of air needs to be cooled in your home, and find the perfect system. Don’t try to overpower a problem that doesn’t have to exist!
Call Jim McDonald & Sons Heating & Cooling Inc. for a comfort consultation. Cooling Sarasota and Manatee Counties since 1970!