The part other companies skip
Your system was probably sized by a rule of thumb.
The industry shorthand is roughly one ton of cooling per 500 square feet. It is fast, it is free, and on most houses it is wrong.
What oversizing actually does
An oversized air conditioner reaches the thermostat setting quickly and shuts off. That sounds like a good thing. It is not, because removing humidity takes run time, and a system that satisfies the thermostat in eight minutes has not run long enough to dry the air.
The result is a house that reads 72 degrees and still feels clammy — so people push the thermostat down to 68 chasing a comfort that is not a temperature problem at all. The bill goes up. The system short-cycles. The compressor, which is the most expensive component in the whole assembly, wears out early.
A correctly sized system runs longer at lower output. It is quieter, it dehumidifies properly, and it usually costs less to buy because it is a smaller unit.
Every install gets a Manual J load calculation. Most companies skip it.
It takes about an hour on site. We include it on every replacement at no extra charge, and you keep the report whether or not you use us for the work.
What goes into the calculation
- Square footage, room by room
- Window area, orientation and glazing
- Insulation levels in walls and attic
- Ceiling heights and volume
- Duct location and condition
- Local design temperatures for Nashville
None of it is exotic. It is simply measurement, and it is the difference between specifying a system for your house and specifying one for a house of roughly that size.
