When you need a central air conditioning system installed, whether for a new home or to replace an older system, you must call professionals to handle the work. This is not only to ensure that the new air conditioning system is put in correctly so that it works at maximum efficiency and effectiveness. It is also to make sure that the right system is put in. An error in sizing a central air conditioner (i.e. determining how powerful an AC is necessary for a specific home) will lead to multiple problems for both comfort and energy efficiency. In most cases, an improperly sized air conditioning system must be replaced.
But isn’t going with an overlarge system a safer option?
It is easy to understand why an air conditioning system that is too small for the space it is supposed to cool creates problems: the undersized AC won’t have the power to adequately cool all the rooms and will need to run all the time just to achieve mediocre results. But an oversized air conditioning system will create just as many problems.
The reason for this is short-cycling. An AC that is too powerful lowers the temperature in a home so rapidly that the thermostat prematurely determines that the cooling cycle is done and shuts down the compressor. The temperature quickly rises again, causing the thermostat to turn the compressor back on. This process repeats in rapid succession. Because an air conditioning system draws the most electrical power when its compressor starts up, having the compressor turning on and off throughout the day creates an immense waste of energy. It also places an extra level of stress on the components, especially the compressor, that leads to unnecessary repair needs. The worst-case scenario with short-cycling is that the compressor eventually burns out and the cooling system needs an early replacement.
Professional air conditioning installers avoid this problem by using special calculations to determine how much cooling power a home requires for comfort. They then find an air conditioning system that ideally matches the needs of the space: one that is neither too big nor too small.
You can depend on the experienced technicians at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning when you need air conditioning installation in Fresno, CA. We will see that you have the right AC for your home.