If you’re buying a new house or retrofitting an old one’s HVAC system, it pays to have a basic idea of good HVAC design. If your heating and cooling system is poorly designed, you’ll pay too much for energy and also be less comfortable than you would be otherwise.
Following are some characteristics of good HVAC design:
- Quality, energy-efficient equipment that has been properly sized for your home and its heating and cooling loads. An HVAC system that’s too big or too small will waste energy, stress system components, produce uneven heating and cooling, and be more prone to breakdowns. Your HVAC contractor should consider a variety of factors in addition to the size and layout of your home.
- Ensuring that the house is getting fresh air, either through effective natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation. A closed system with no provision of fresh air will be unhealthy and uncomfortable, with the same stale air circulating repeatedly. Balanced ventilation systems (Heat Recovery Ventilators and Energy Recovery Ventilators – HRVs and ERVs) are highly effective at inputting fresh air into a home environment, in an energy-efficient manner. Exhaust fans are essential as well in the kitchen and bathrooms, and an attic fan will help prevent super-heating of the attic space.
- A well-designed air circulation and delivery system with a properly designed duct system connected to registers and vents in most or all of the rooms. Every room served by a supply duct should also have a register connected to return ductwork.
- Depending on climate, good HVAC design should provide adequate dehumidification and humidification. Temperature is not the only function of comfort; a desired temperature in a too moist or dry environment is not going to be comfortable.
- Indoor air quality also plays a key role in quality HVAC design. This means efficient air filtering, with frequent filter changes, and in some cases, a dedicated whole-house air purifying or cleaning system.
These are just a few aspects of proper HVAC design. For more information on designing the best HVAC system for your Dayton area home, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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