Industry Tips & HVAC Terms
What Kind of System is Right for my Home? Key
Factors: Whether you are evaluating heating, cooling and related air
quality systems for a new or existing home, the best choice in systems for
your home depend upon a number of key factors such as:
- Your comfort expectations
- The physical size and construction of your home
- Your geographic region
- Energy sources available and affordable
- Budget considerations
- If an existing home, the type of system that is being replaced
Types of Systems:
Understanding the various types of systems that are
available, from a general perspective, will help you understand the
solution options available. However, determining the fine details of
each of the options, evaluating them based on the above criteria, and
deciding on needed accessories and controls should be information
that your contractor’s sales consultant should present to you. Let’s
first look at the main systems categories. They are:
- Gas Furnaces
- Central Air Conditioning
- Heat Pumps
- Special Purpose (Small Packaged) Systems
- Boilers
There are a number of accessories that further enhance the
cleanliness, freshness and comfort of your home’s air. Some monitor
and control indoor humidity, some purify the air, and some enhance the
performance and fine-tune the efficiency of the primary systems. Such
accessories include:
- Air Cleaners
- Humidifiers
- Thermostat Controls
- Zoning Systems
It would be very simple if selecting the system right for your
home just involved selecting a favorite brand. However, there is no
“one size fits all” solution within any one brand and various models
have advantages in certain situations. It takes careful assessment
of your home and then matching the brand and model options to those
exact needs. The ability to determine the options and provide
comparisons takes professional knowledge and training. You may want
to take time to review the companion article to this entitled “ How
to Choose a Heating and Cooling (HVAC) Contractor”. These are some
of the considerations that you and your contractor will discuss:
- If you are replacing an existing system, a look at the type
and the brand of the existing system will help determine if there
are physical and financial reasons to consider a similar type and
brand.
- Second, various climates demand differing heating and cooling
approaches. In colder regions, like we have in Wisconsin, a
furnace or boiler combined with air conditioning is the most
common. However, there are options to this that may be demanded by
special needs.
- Energy resources are very important from both a financial and
availability standpoint. You may also have personal preferences
that need to be considered. Whether natural gas, oil or
electricity is a solution depends upon such considerations.
- Most important is to have a professional guide you through the
comfort, air quality and security expectations and needs of you
and your family. Once determined, those requirements need to be
matched with your budget.
In short, your most important choice is that of a trusted,
reliable HVAC design and installation partner! How do you
determine the approach to selecting such a contractor? Please read the second article in this series entitled “How to
Choose a Heating and Cooling (HVAC) Contractor”.
How
to Choose a Reliable Installation Contractor Guidelines
for you to consider coming March, 2004.
HVAC Glossary
Your heating, air conditioning and air cleaning systems are a
sizable investment. As you work with your contractor and
heating cooling vendor, it helps to know as much of the
terminology as possible so that you can ask the questions that are
important to your needs.
This comprehensive HVAC glossary will help you become familiar
with terms that will enable you to converse fluently with an air
conditioning dealer or service representative.
Take me to the glossary
| 
