If you’re shopping for a furnace for your Columbus, Georgia, home, you might think getting a bigger one will help your home stay cozy in the winter. When it comes to heating systems, however, bigger isn’t always better.
Size Matters
In theory, if you want a warm and cozy home, then you should get the biggest furnace available. What many people don’t realize is that a big furnace will cause heating and efficiency issues in your home over time. At first, it might heat your home flawlessly. It might even warm your home better than the right-sized furnace would. Unfortunately, you’re just throwing money away, and problems will start to arise eventually.
Issues With Oversized HVAC Systems
The first issue with an oversized heating system is that it isn’t suited to heat your home evenly. With it, you will likely experience hot and cold spots throughout your home. The warm spots will heat up quickly and could even get significantly hotter than the thermostat’s temperature setting.
The cold spots might never warm, or you will need to run the fan on your heating system around the clock to try to even out the temperature. If you don’t run the fan all the time, you will likely notice the heating system cycling off and on more than usual.
Another major issue with an oversized furnace is that it’s less efficient. Although it might seem counterintuitive, a heating system that is too large doesn’t work less to heat your home. Rather, it works longer to heat up your house because it’s difficult to warm it evenly. The heating phase uses the most energy, and an oversized furnace spends most of its time in this phase.
Finally, when your heating system is too big, it tends to wear out or even need a repair sooner. The heating system has to turn off and on frequently to heat your house. This process can be the hardest on your furnace. The constant starting and stopping are hard on your furnace, wearing it down faster than it would a normal furnace.
The heat exchanger in your furnace is heating up and cooling down continually, which can cause it to break down and need replacing sooner. If it doesn’t break down, it will wear out faster, making your system use more energy and eventually need to be replaced.
Finding the Right Size
Just like it’s tempting to want to buy a bigger heating system with the mindset that it will heat your home better, it’s also tempting to buy a smaller heating system to try to save money. It’s true that many smaller heating systems are more affordable than bigger systems, but you will end up spending more on repairs, and your utility bills will quickly surpass the savings you found on your original purchase.
A furnace that is too small is also going to provide spotty heating throughout your home. The furnace will wear down quickly because it regularly has to work overtime to try to heat the entire space. You will also notice it cycling off and on constantly while trying to heat your home.
An HVAC technician will typically do a load calculation before recommending the right size heating system for your home. It’s not smart to just use the same size heating system for your home that you had previously. If you didn’t buy the home new, you can’t guarantee the previous owners used the correct size when they purchased the furnace for the home.
Finally, if you’re putting in a home addition or a bonus room, then you might want to explore other options besides a bigger furnace. Typically with bonus rooms or additions, a ductless system is a better option than replacing your furnace or hoping your old furnace will do the trick. You can avoid the headache of adding ductwork to your addition by having a much more efficient ductless system installed instead.;
If you’re in the market for a new furnace, then we are the people to call. Contact Indoor Solutions Inc. at 706-225-8241, and we will help you find the right size furnace for your home.
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