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Joined: Dec 2002
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A family member is having there house sized for air-conditioning, and the HVAC guy is telling them they need a 7-ton unit. the house is 2800 sq.ft. This comes out to about 24500 VA just for the A/C. Does this sound high to anyone else ???????
TIA WColt
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Joined: Oct 2002
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I am not an HVAC specialist, but 7 tons sounds like alot, but like anything else there are a lot of variables..such as high ceilings..etc...
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Joined: Nov 2002
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Had an hvac specialist size up my home which was built in 95 for central AC. He said 3 tons would be plenty. It's a colonial with 1450 sq ft. this was not including the basement, stays cool enough down stairs. Duct work is insulated. We have 2 returns one on 1st and 2nd fl., which I understand is ok for heat, but a/c should really have a return in each room. There's thermal pane windows, an a high r value of insulation. They told me I can save $300 on installation if I do the wiring, the price was $2400., that's the condensor, A-coil and AC lines. They told me a house like mine is basically 1 ton per 500 sq ft of floor space.
[This message has been edited by Wirenuttt (edited 01-01-2003).]
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Joined: Oct 2001
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Rules of thumb are riddled with qualifiers.
Here in Dallas,Texas residential a/c is going to be 400- 500 ft² per ton.
How well insulated,how much glass, the exposures, the outside design temp. all figure in.
The link given above offers a heat/cool load calculation software package for homeowners at a very reasonable price and Don supports it well.
If in doubt, run the numbers and see what comes up. Too much a/c can be worse than too little.
[This message has been edited by wolfdog (edited 01-01-2003).]
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Joined: Dec 2002
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Thanks to everyone who replied. It is my sisters house and she and her husband are doing some remodelling, and the HVAC guys are installing the A/C 7 tons of it. and that comes out to 24500 VA or 102 amps of load since its A/C it has to be taken at 100 %, and the EC wants to put in a 300 amp service, and ironically enough they do live in Texas. In light of that it looks correct. I understand that there are variables, and just wanted a ballpark to see if she was getting what she needed or getting ripped off. So thanks again. WOC
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Joined: May 2001
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I wonder if she considered other types of Heat/cooling? Such as geothermal? It has a lot of advantages and saves a lot of money in the long haul of things.
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