{"id":844,"date":"2012-03-26T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/?p=844"},"modified":"2025-02-12T15:29:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T20:29:41","slug":"pittsburgh-heating-tip-how-to-check-if-your-hvac-system-is-the-right-size","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/heating\/pittsburgh-heating-tip-how-to-check-if-your-hvac-system-is-the-right-size\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Heating Tip: How to Check if Your HVAC System Is the Right Size"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you ever feel that your Pittsburgh\u00a0home just doesn\u2019t get cool enough during the warm months or warm enough during the cold months? You have tried to adjust your thermostat<\/a> to the right comfort level but it just never seems right. And on top of that, you notice that your utility bills keep going up and up. Even when you dial up the thermostat in the summer and dial it down in the winter to saving on energy usage, your bills are still about the same.<\/p>\n

You could try adding fans and shedding clothes during the warm months or wearing sweaters and crawling under a pile of blankets in the cold months. But do you really enjoy living that way? There must be another solution as to why your Pittsburgh\u00a0heating and cooling<\/a> (HVAC) system is just not keeping you comfortable \u2013 and affordable.<\/p>\n

That air conditioning condensing unit sitting in your backyard and the furnace in your basement should be making your home as comfortable as possible. But in many cases, they are not. \u00a0That\u2019s because whoever installed those HVAC system components didn\u2019t do their homework on your home. The components were sized incorrectly. If a furnace or air conditioner is sized incorrectly, it usually cannot keep up with the demand for heat or cold and often puts such a burden on the equipment. As a result, regular failures and repair bills are commonplace. If you\u2019re considering upgrades, learn<\/span> why AFUE ratings matter when installing a new furnace<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it may not be the fault of the installing Pittsburgh\u00a0HVAC<\/a> contractor. Over the years your home may have undergone renovations including additions and new windows, which have increased the square footage or demand for more heating or cooling. Those renovations may not have included upgrades to your home\u2019s HVAC system.<\/p>\n

So how do you check for the right size? Call a professional HVAC contractor and ask for evaluation of your home. The audit will include several key checks including a load calculation, which adds in the size of your home\u2019s living space, number of door and windows where heat loss or gain could occur, and a check of heat loss or gain through leakage in cracks, roofs, crawlspaces, etc. If you\u2019re exploring upgrades, consider the<\/span> decisions to make prior to your furnace installation<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>An audit will determine what size of furnace or air conditioner is needed to meet the heating or cooling needs of your home and its own individual characteristics. Your HVAC contractor<\/a> may also factor in the number of building occupants and normal usage patterns, i.e. having a home office or stay-at-home parent versus a working family where your home is occupied mostly at nights or on weekends.<\/p>\n

All of these factors are considered when determining the equipment size. In air conditioning jargon, you will hear about tonnage of cooling capacity. An example may be a 2.5 ton air conditioning unit for a 2,000 square foot home. In furnace jargon, you will learn about Btu ratings, which are British thermal units. Most furnaces are sized in 20-25,000 Btu increments. Each is matched to the cooling or heating needs of your home. To further ensure efficiency and ease of use, you might explore<\/span> how to install a programmable thermostat<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure you don\u2019t hire someone who \u201cguesstimates\u201d how much cooling or heating capacity you need for your home. Find a qualified Pittsburgh\u00a0heating and cooling<\/a>\u00a0professional who will make the correct calculations and who will qualify their recommendations.<\/p>\n

For any questions about your home’s heating system, please give\u00a0Boehmer Heating & Cooling<\/a> a call today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you ever feel that your Pittsburgh home just doesn\u2019t get cool enough during the warm months or warm enough during the cold months? You have tried to adjust your thermostat to the right comfort level but it just never seems right. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[92,173,171,113,74,104],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heating","tag-fox-chapel","tag-furnace-installation","tag-heating-installation","tag-pittsburgh","tag-south-hills","tag-washington-county"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3299,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/3299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}