When bigger isn't better

last year

last modified: last year

In a recent thread where the HVAC equipment buying and replacement was discussed, I'd mentioned that industry best practice (and in some locations, the building code) requires load calculations. And that existing installs are usually oversized and a contractor who advises "I usually pick the size by replacing what's already there" is a hack. That notion wasn't immediately acknowledged.

A website I'd found useful some years back when I was trying to learn more about the topics before moving forward with equipment replacement and hiring HVAC contractors, is called HVAC-Talk. What's particularly good about it is that only HVAC pros who are pre-screened are allowed to comment on threads (started by homeowners). They don't always agree but the information provided is from folks with training and real world experiences.

I decided to take a look at recent entries and found one where a homeowner from Huntington Beach, CA was looking to replace an old furnace. He said he currently had a 75K BTU furnace for his 1400 sq foot home. The pros commenting suggested that among other things, a load calculation needed to be done and that one the face of it, the existing furnace was too large.

My own experience with a home that's larger and not in the same town but not too far away and in the same climate zone, was that the load calculation came out to spec'ing a 40K BTU furnace. It replaced a 65K BTU furnace that was working but that I knew was short-cycling and working inefficiently - 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, 5 minutes on, etc. The new little furnace I have works very competently and has long run cycles and long off cycles.

Yes, I'm talking about a mild weather area but whether here or in Minnesota, the principles are the same and the prevalence of hacks and deceptive operators in the business is also the same. And, unfortunately, uninformed customers who are easily bamboozled.

If you need to replace your HVAC equipment, find an honest pro.

Edit to add:

Another post was from someone in San Mateo (Bay Area, a little cooler in winter than SoCal but not by much) who has a 1260 sq foot house and an 80K BTU furnace. He got quotes, none of which suggested a load calc was needed. One contractor was offended that his judgement was questioned. The response was - it's needed, and dump these guys and keep looking.

One comment was - your existing furnace is likely twice the size of what's required.

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Comments (11)

Olychick
last year
When someone HAS to have the last word but the thread was poofed.
HU-279332973
last year
last modified: last year
What are big girl panties? I have wondered about that for a while. While I get big boy pants because there is a history of boys being upgraded from dresses to knee breeches(breeched) and on to long pants there is no history for that with girls. Girls back in the day did not actually wear underwear. Under-pants for females was late. and they are called pants because there were two parts connected by tapes with no crotch in the middle. So exactly what is meant by big girl panties? just asking.

patriciae
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angelaid_gw
last year
last modified: last year

Huh?

This is one of the most bizarre comments I've seen on Houzz!
palisades_
last year
“Put on your big girl panties”

Whatever that is, it’s not going well with “When bigger isn't better” theme.
HU-279332973
last year
Exactly palisades. We are getting barraged these days with big girl panties. What is that supposed to mean.

patriciae
Elmer J Fudd
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Take note, Angela. Ridiculous, a thread intended to provide useful info for homeowners. Let people parade as they wish.
Kendrah
last year
As they say ... it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion in the ocean.

(Had to get that in here as it is a favorite saying of mine and this thread seems to be veering ever so slightly in that direction.)
Ally De
last year
As long as we're going in that direction, I despise that saying. 😆 Not only do I not really get it (thank you Patriciae!), it irks me for some hard to define reason. Yes I know, that is a "me" problem - but good lord it's a weird mixture of metaphors and icky visual images. 😆

There, I feel better now. Carry on.
katlan
last year
Weeelll I'm guessing I missed something or some comments were deleted or my page had an aneurysm because I don't know what the hell these comments are under a (I believe) helpful posting about HVAC 🤷‍♀️ Oh well, thanks for the info Elmer.
HU-279332973
last year
Sorry I side tracked this but we did have a very long exhaustive, whole, and entire thread about the whole thing already. I just got distracted and it seemed as good a time as any to find out what was meant by big girl panties. There is never any context for it. I have visions of enormous fancy underwear with ruffles on the behind like I had when I was a very little girl.

patriciae
outpaientzero
last year
"a thread intended to provide useful info for homeowners"

Anonymous people with no credentials should not give out information that "may" or "may not" be correct concerning load calculations and sizing furnaces just because they had one installed and read a forum. Only a professional with a minimum of an Associates degree and preferably a bachelor's degree with at least 5 years field experience should give info and more likely will be correct.

When bigger isn't better

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Olychick

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When bigger isn't better

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