Choosing the Right Sized Heat Pump for Your Home in Sacramento
Interested in a new heat pump for your Sacramento home? We’re here to help. Today on the blog, we cover how to determine the right size heat pump for your home.
Choosing the Right Sized Heat Pump for Your Home in Sacramento
One of the challenges that many Sacramento homeowners face is replacing their heat pump. If you live in an older home, your Sacramento HVAC repair technician will likely tell you that it’s time to replace your current heat pump with a new one. Choosing the right sized heat pump for your home can seem difficult at first. At Gilmore Heating and Air, we like to make the decision-making process as easy and as painless as possible, so we have compiled the following guide to help you get a fairly good picture of the system size that will address your needs.
Know Your Climatic Region
The first thing that you have to keep in mind when choosing the size of your heat pump is the region in which you live. This is because different regions or zones have different heating or cooling requirements.
For example, Sacramento is in Zone 2, which isn’t as hot as the places found in Zone 1. Once you know your region (or zone in this case), you’ll have a better understanding of what size heat pump you’ll need for your Sacramento home.
Choose a System Type
The next decision that you have to make regards your preferred system type. Here, your choices are limited to either a system that can heat as well as cool your home or one that is only intended to cool the home. The HVAC professionals at Gilmore Heating and Air have seen an increasing number of homeowners opting for systems that can heat and cool the home as needed. Not sure? Discuss your heat pump replacement options with our Sacramento HVAC replacement technicians.
Determine the Size of Your Home
Folsom HVAC replacement experts explain that heat pumps come in different sizes so that the most appropriate one can be selected for a given property. If your house is 2,000 square feet, for example, then you may need a smaller sized heat pump compared to a home that is 4,000 square feet. The size of the home gives an idea about the total area for which you need a heat pump. So, the bigger the home, the larger the heat pump needed.
Determine the Heating Needed for Each Square Foot
As already mentioned, the different climatic zones have different heating requirements, and this plays a part in determining the right size heat pump for your home. For example, Sacramento lies within Zone 2, and each square foot of space in this zone requires 35-40 BTUs of heat.
To know the total amount of heat needed for your 2500 square foot home, multiply that square footage by the BTUs needed for each square foot. When you multiply 2500 by 40, you get 100,000 BTUs.
Your next task is to select a heat pump whose capacity can deliver the 100,000 BTUs. Gilmore HVAC professionals explain that heat pumps come with an energy efficiency rating. So, you will have to factor that in when selecting a unit.
For example, a unit with an output capacity of 100,000 BTUs and an energy efficiency rating of 80% will not give you the 100,000 BTUs you need to heat your home. This is because, at 80% efficiency, the unit can only give you a maximum of 80,000 BTUs.
However, if you select a unit with an output rating of 130,000 BTUs and an efficiency rating of 80%, the actual heat produced will be 104,000 BTUs, which is within the range you want.
Factors Affecting Insulation
As you may have noticed, the amount of heating needed for each square foot in any climate zone or region is given as a range, such as 35-40 BTUs for Zone 2. This range is provided to account for a number of variables, such as how well the home is insulated.
Proper insulation is key to keeping the heat inside. If, for example, your home has large windows and isn’t properly insulated, the higher number will be the right one to use in your calculations.
However, if you have a newer home with modern windows that provide a high degree of insulation, then the lower number in the range is the more appropriate one to use.
We recognize that despite our best efforts to explain how the right size of heat pump is determined, you may still be unable to select the right size heat pump for your Sacramento home. Rather than take a risk and end up with an oversized or undersized heat pump, we strongly recommend searching HVAC company near me. At Gilmore Heating and Air, our highly-trained and certified HVAC professionals can visit your home and assess your HVAC needs. Give us a call today!
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