2006-10-30 13:08:20 · 12 answers · asked by LYNNE C 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Square footage has something to do with it, but there is much more. Your home requires a heat loss calculation. This process takes into consideration things like area, insulation, number of windows and their type, occupancy and, most importantly, where you live.
For example, if your well-insulated house is 2000 square feet and you live in North Carolina your heat loss will be much less than if you had a poorly insulated 2000 square-foot house and lived in North Dakota.
Ideally your furnace should match your heat-loss profile with a little extra capacity for unexpectedly cold days.
Oversizing your furnace will result in poor efficiency and thus wasted fuel.
Not all heating professionals are capable of doing a heat-loss calculation. Ask them if they can provide a written report as such.
Also, you can get software from http://www.slantfin.com/ that will help calculate heat loss, but their ultimate objective is to sell you a boiler (for homes that are heated with hot water)
Best regards,
Bob Tonner
2006-10-30 14:05:18 · answer #1 · answered by bob.tonner 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Normally, a furnace that outputs 4,000 btu's per 100 sq. ft. will do the job. If there's something freaky about the house such as 0" insulation, some adjustment may be in order. Oversizing a furnace is usually not a problem. In the goode olde days, before air-conditioning, heating equipment was routinely oversized. That info that steinmancloud9 provided might have been of some use to you - had you asked about air-conditioning! Specialists (?) who advise should at least have some skill at reading-comprehension. Don't you think?
2006-11-02 17:46:28 · answer #2 · answered by Huero 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Typical BTU rating is 3 to 5 BTU's per cubic foot. However, the only way to know for sure what size furnace is the right size for your home is to do a Manual J Load Calculation. This is now a computer based program that takes into account square footage of the building, window size and type, insulation in walls and ceiling, climate of your area, and several other factors.
2006-11-01 01:15:37 · answer #3 · answered by cjim4acslamdunk 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Call Somebody For Free Estimate And ask Them If They Will Do A Manual J Heat Loss calculation. Its The right Way to Do It. Otherwise You Are just Guessing and it won't be sized correctly.
2006-10-31 08:18:44 · answer #4 · answered by bob r 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is based on the tonnage of the unit and the square footage of your home. For every 500 square feet, one ton is needed. So, if you have a 1500 square foot home than a 3 ton unit is needed.
2006-10-30 21:36:24 · answer #5 · answered by steinmancloud9 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the furnace company will recomend and tell u the proper size that will suit your needs and size of house
2006-10-30 21:13:19 · answer #6 · answered by Elaine F 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
lots to consider: heat loss gain calculations, amount of insulation, which way is the northern sun in reference to the house, low-e glass, roof venting, size of rooms in questions, location of unit to consider the longest run, height of the ceilings,....u should have the installer consider all these and ask questions........
lic. gen. contractor
2006-11-01 20:57:47 · answer #7 · answered by bigg_dogg44 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check the number of square feet of the home and area that you want to head or ask a heating contractor.
2006-10-30 21:21:50 · answer #8 · answered by Alien 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The installer will tell you what your needs are based on size.
2006-10-30 21:16:09 · answer #9 · answered by steviewag 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is based on the square footage of the heated/cooled area...Tell the company you are thinking of buying the square footage and they will let you know what you need
2006-10-30 21:12:39 · answer #10 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋