Size Matters When It Comes to New Heaters
No one likes to think about buying a new heater in the middle of winter. It leaves your home without proper warmth and can be complicated by snow and other inclement weather.
Usually, you should wait until spring to replace an older heater, and if you need to do so now, it’s likely because you’re dealing with a significant breakdown. That means you must move quickly to install a new heating system. But don’t let that need-blind you to the steps you need to take to get the right system for your home.
Above all, the size of your new system is of paramount importance. By that, we don’t mean the unit’s physical size (though it needs to fit into whatever space you have for it). We suggest the power levels it holds and the heat it can output. That’s a much more delicate equation than you may think.
Short Cycling
You can probably tell your new heater won’t be able to do the job if it’s underpowered. It will run all day without ever really getting the house warm, costing you comfort levels and charging you a small fortune in monthly heating costs. The solution would seem to be to get the most potent heater you can afford, but that is problematic for reasons you might not think of.
Heating systems use much more power starting up and turning off than running. Fans and other components must get up to speed, which can use a lot of juice. For that reason, you usually want your heater to run for at least 15 minutes at a time, which ensures that it uses the minimum amount of energy for the maximum possible effect. Otherwise, it results in a phenomenon known as short-cycling: turning on and off multiple times throughout the day when the home is heated too quickly and cools off when the heater isn’t running.
That can be extremely hard on the system. It will increase wear and tear – creating more significant and frequent problems earlier in the system’s life – and raise your monthly bills higher than they should be, wasting a great deal of money.
Sizing Needs to Be Done Carefully
Sizing the power levels of a new system required more than just measuring the square footage (though that is a good beginning). A trained technician will also consider factors like the amount of insulation in your home, the size of your kitchen (which tends to produce more heat than other parts of the house), and the presence of factors like large windows that let in a lot of sunshine. Those can make a big difference in the ideal heater size for your space and allow the technician to make the best recommendation possible.
Looking for help with your heating system? Well, then enlist the help of our HVAC professionals in the following locations:
- • Los Alamos heating
- • White Rock heating
- • Espanola heating
- • Glorieta heating
- • Pecos heating
- • Taos heating
- • Galisteo heating
- • Cerrillos heating
Want to leave us a review or learn even more about our services? Well, then, check out our Santa Fe office location today!
Not around here? Well, then check out the 5-star Denver heater services our friends offer at Brothers Plumbing Heating Electric!