Determining the Cooling Load for a Residential Aircon System Installation

An air conditioning system is a necessity for every home these days. Aircon systems play a huge role in ensuring the thermal comfort of building occupants by extracting hot air from building interiors and replacing it with cool air. 

If you're thinking of installing an air conditioner in your home and want to understand what the AC installation process is like, you've come to the right place. The first step in the AC installation process is calculating your home's cooling load.

Continue reading to find out what a home's cooling load is, how HVAC professionals calculate it and more.

What is the cooling load of a home?

The cooling load refers to the amount of heat energy that would need to be extracted from your home's indoor setting to ensure the thermal comfort of building occupants. The amount of heat energy that needs to be removed to achieve optimal human comfort depends on a variety of factors, including air temperatures, humidity, air circulation and many more.

What are the primary variables that determine a home's cooling load?

Several factors are considered when calculating the cooling load of a house. These include the following:

  • The square footage of your house: The larger the amount of space your cooling system needs to cover (in square metres), the higher your home's cooling load will be.
  • Household size: People generate heat. The more people you live with, the higher your home's cooling load will be.
  • Types, sizes and the number of windows you have: Bigger windows let in more heat than smaller ones while insulated windows minimise heat gains while locking in cool, conditioned air. The more windows you have, the higher the rate of heat transfer into your home.
  • Your home's orientation: The direction that your home faces can also impact the amount of solar heat gain in the home.
  • Residential insulation: The amount and quality of insulation installed in your home will influence heat gains through the building envelope.

The specific factors to be considered when determining the cooling loads for homes may vary greatly from home to home.

Why it is important to choose a correct-size aircon system?

Choosing an aircon system that is too small for your needs will result in inadequate cooling performance and may result in premature system failure due to the strain on the system. On the other hand, installing a unit that's too large for your needs will waste energy and money owing to the extra cooling capacity that you don't need.

Calculating the cooling demand of your home can be a technical process that is best done by a qualified AC design technician. Contact an AC company for more information regarding aircon systems


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