Your home will be uncomfortable. When your furnace is too big, it will blast your home with too much conditioned air at one time. This can make your rooms feel too warm when your furnace is operating and lead to major temperature swings in your home.
Your home comfort will suffer and you will have issues with your indoor air quality. Furthermore, it is expensive to operate a furnace that is too large. Your monthly energy costs will increase. Also, a system that is too large will require more repairs than one that is properly sized.
What would likely be the result of an oversized mid-efficiency furnace? The furnace would operate at a low temperature split.
No, you should not put a bigger blower motor in your furnace. The manufacturer designed the system to house and power specific components. Mixing and matching these components could have disastrous consequences. Instead, ask your technician about an upgraded motor.
First, know if you have a gas, electric or oil furnace. Electric furnace installation tends to be the least expensive, ranging between $3,000 and $7,000, according to HomeAdvisor. Installing a natural gas furnace falls in the range of $3,800 to $10,000, and an oil furnace ranges $6,750 to $10,0000.
Home Size Determines Furnace Size
It's recommended that a furnace has 30 to 60 BTUs per square foot. The actual number depends on the climate which we will get into in the next section. But, just for example, if you have a 1500-square-foot home and live in a warm climate, you will multiply 1500 by 30.
Understanding Excess Air in Furnaces and the Potential Problems It Causes. Too much excess air can reduce your furnace's energy efficiency and introduce more carbon monoxide into the air. Why? When there's too much excess air in the system, it dilutes the water and carbon dioxide during the combustion process.
Comfort Systems Rely On Each Other for Best Performance
Your air conditioner and furnace are dependent on each other in various ways, such as: Both AC and furnace use the same thermostat to activate and shut down. The AC and the furnace use the same blower to spread cool and warm air throughout your home.
Oversized furnaces are very common unfortunately. Not much you can do about it without replacing with a smaller furnace. You can choose your thermostat though, either a bunch of short cycles or have it wait and do one big heat blast every so often.
It's normal for most modern furnaces to have a CO level of less than 50 PPM in the flue, and older natural draft units can safely skate by with levels as high as 200 PPM. However, a furnace with CO levels higher than 200 PPM in the flue should never be in operation without being adjusted or repaired first.
Unfortunately, most furnaces lose efficiency as they age, including high-efficiency varieties. Generally speaking, furnaces lose around 20 to 40 percent of their heating efficiency after many years of use.
Neither oversizing nor undersizing your AC unit is ideal. Both scenarios can lead to issues with efficiency, comfort, and longevity of the system.
For example, in zone 3 to 4, which typically requires 40-45 BTU per square feet, you can determine that a 2,500 square foot home would need a 100,000 to 112,000 BTU furnace.
A unit with too many BTU's, will cool the room fast, but leave the room humid. Too few BTU's will never cool the room down and the unit will run incessantly. To be sure you're making the right decision, call us to get answers about air conditioner sizes and efficiency.
This is not a good thing and will lead to premature failure of the furnace. Besides premature failure, an oversized furnace will be prone to short-cycling, which is a term that refers to a furnace shutting down before the thermostat has been satisfied.
Small gaps can develop in your ductwork due to age, damage or poor workmanship, and they can develop in some very dusty areas of your attic and basement. These gaps allow dust to flow in at a point past your filter, and that dust goes right out your vents and into your rooms.
There Are Dangerous Long-Term Effects On Your System
The pressure built up within your system due to closed vents can also result in long-term damage to your system. Leaks can be caused or made worse inside your HVAC system ducts, which can greatly impact the efficiency of your system.
This size of home still needs a large furnace. If you want to evenly heat a 2,000 sq. ft. home, you'll need to look for furnaces rated between 60,000 and 125,000 BTUs, depending on the factors we discussed earlier.
An oversized furnace can cause a number of problems, including increased energy costs, shortened furnace life, and uneven heating. If you're not sure what size furnace you need, talk to a heating and cooling professional.
A 1,200-square-foot home will require between 35,000 and 75,000 BTUs. A 1,500-square-foot home will require between 45,000 to 90,000 BTUs. A 1,800-square-foot home will require between 55,000 to 110,000 BTUs. A 2,100-square-foot home will require between 65,000 to 125,000 BTUs.
Your base homeowners policy will cover many types of damage to your furnace. An extra endorsement known as Equipment Breakdown Coverage (EBC) will give you additional coverage for certain types of mechanical or electrical failure.
For people taking a proactive approach, doing a furnace replacement during the “shoulder seasons” of spring and autumn may offer lower prices, shorter lead times, and a better selection of products and service appointment availability.
Identifying the Priciest Component: The Heat Exchanger
Due to its complex role, a failure or crack in the heat exchanger can lead to serious issues, including dangerous carbon monoxide leaks. This makes furnace repair essential to maintain safety and functionality.