Why It’s NOT a Good Idea to Install an Oversized Air Conditioner
When you are choosing a new air conditioner for your home, you might fall into the trap of thinking that “bigger is better.” With a bigger air conditioner, the thought process goes, your home will cool down faster and you won’t have to use as much energy. As it turns out, having an air conditioner that’s too big for your home can lead to all sorts of issues. Today we’re going to talk about what can go wrong with an oversized air conditioner and how to ensure your system is correctly sized for your home!
Why do some homes have oversized air conditioners?
When a home has an air conditioner that’s too big, it’s often due to the fact that the contractor who installed it did not perform the appropriate measurements and evaluations. In order to calculate the perfect air conditioner size for your home, a load calculation must be performed by a trained and certified professional. A disreputable contractor will often just choose the biggest size just because it is more expensive. That’s one of the reasons why it’s always important to work with a highly-reputable, qualified and respected contractor like Hydes!
What are the problems with an oversized air conditioner?
- Comfort issues. When an air conditioner is too big, it will blast your home with a large amount of cold air in a short amount of time. This can create big temperature swings that can be very uncomfortable. In addition, because oversized air conditioners cool your home down so fast, they don’t operate for a long enough time to allow cool air to be properly dispersed throughout your home. Although the area around your thermostat might have reached the right temperature, a bedroom in a far off corner might never have properly cooled down.
- Wear and tear. Air conditioners go through the most amount of wear and tear while they are starting up and shutting down. Because oversized air conditioners have very brief cooling cycles, they spend most of their time operating in those two phases. This can lead to a lot of wear and tear, which shortens the system’s operating life and can lead to a repeated need for repairs.
- More expenses. The larger an air conditioner is, the more expensive it will be upfront. By installing an oversized air conditioner, you’ll be spending extra money for no good reason. In addition, because air conditioners consume the most amount of energy while starting up and shutting down, oversized air conditioners tend to cost more to operate.
- Noise. If your air conditioner is too big for your home and its ductwork, it will likely operate very loudly.
- Air quality. Another issue related to an oversized air conditioner’s brief cooling cycles is that air won’t be sent through your home’s filtration system as often as it should. This can lead to worse air quality than you would have if your system was sized the right way.
If you have any questions about an oversized air conditioner, or if you’d like a cooling system serviced or installed in your home, contact Hydes, your Indio, CA, air conditioning contractor.
