This story is typical of many we hear from people who bought a new heating system.
When Sharon’s furnace finally quit, she knew one thing for sure. She wanted her new furnace to be powerful enough to keep her family warm throughout the house–even on the coldest nights. She was tired of the draftiness and the hot and cold spots. “I want my home to be a warm, cozy place for my kids,” she explained to her heating contractor.
And naturally, the contractor was happy to oblige. He did a rough estimate of the square-footage of the house, and then he told her, “The furnace we’re installing will be more than powerful enough to heat your entire home, even on the coldest days.”
Both Sharon and her contractor came to some reasonable conclusions. And both were wrong. Sharon ended up with a heating system that was oversized for her home–and she ended up with some problems as a result.
Her over-sized heating system would overheat quickly, then cool down, then overheat again. As a result, it cycled on and off more frequently. This not only wasted energy, it also meant that her home alternated between feeling too warm and feeling too cool. And to make matters worse, this was increasing the wear and tear on her heating equipment and would eventually shorten its life.
Unfortunately, Sharon’s story is not an isolated one.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimates that nearly half of all existing heating equipment is over-sized, and that this results in 20% wasted energy each year!
To avoid this problem, tell the contractors you’re talking with that you want to buy heating equipment that is right for heating your home, but you don’t want oversized equipment. Ask them to explain why the equipment they are recommending is right for your particular size and style of house.
Take the approach of Goldilocks: insist on getting a heating system that is neither too big nor too small but just right for your house.
