Hi There,

I have a 2500 sq ft house (1 level and has New doors windows & insulation throughout i Just remodeled)) I bought a Dayton 5 ton electric air handeler (rated at 1920 cfm) & I'm not sure which size heat strip to purchase.
The unit will take either a 10, 15, 20, or 25 kw heat strip.

also, my house is 85 ft long, would it be better to install air handler in the middle of house or at one end?

Last question, Will buy a condensing unit with heat pump save me that much money on electric?

Thank you guys for your time & knowledge, you are appreciated.

 

Did you run a heat loss and AC load on the home??????.
Dont know where you are but a 5 ton for a home 2500 sq ft is over kill. You wont get the humidity out of it. We have many with 4500 to 5000 sq and only 6 ton. lots of glass to the west

For sure put the air handler unit in the middle of the home,

Yes if you are going to electric heat do put in a heatpump with it .It will sure save you $$$$

ED

 

Ed,

I'm not sure how to run a heat loss & ac load. The problem is I live in a very small town (about 1100 people) about 90 miles from the nearest town with ac contractor and getting anyone to come out here is just about impossible. Is there any web sites or programs to run a heat loss & ac load test?

Thanks again for your help.

David

 

Lots of them. Do a Google search using the terms heat loss calculation and a second search using the terms heat gain calculation

You need to do the heat loss/gain calculation for every room and then add the gain/loss (separate calculations for heating and cooling) together to arrive at the maximum heat gain (cooling system) or heat loss (heating system). The closer your measurements are and the closer you are in figuring the actual installed R values of any insulation (always lower than the stated R value of the insulation material) along with a close estimation of the "tightness" of the construction (how much airflow exchange your house has) the closer the calculation will come to the requirements for the heating and cooling equipment.

Be careful to use a "design" temperature that is representative of where YOUR house is, often the "design temperatures" listed in heat loss/gain programs is significantly different from what the "normal" temperatures at a specific home will be.

Also, do NOT oversize in the idea that bigger is better, it is't when it comes to either heating or cooliing equipment.

 

Down here in LA 1ton/500 square foot is average. Older homes can go 1ton/400sq' newer homes avg about 1ton/600sq'.

90% of our heat loads follow the "rule of thumb".

Definitely run a load calculation. I did a doctors office with approx. 3500 sq foot and we used the existing 4 ton system. Very few windows and high insulation values made the load much lower than average.

 

I'm here in west texas & the ac guys out here say the common rule of thumb is 1 ton for every 500 sqft also

 

Its all in the home and how the system was put in . You have to run a AC load on it to be sure. Here in Mo. I have some homes that if you go sq ft its 750 sqft per ton. A 4500 sqft home and 6 tons. Lots and lots of glass
Does it get hot here yes we have had 2 weeks of 100o and over ,some days hit 107o. held the home at 75o and 47% humidity.
I also had a home down in FL. Did a AC load on it
It would take a 1/2 ton more of AC up here in Mo. , than down there in FL. Here in MO. a AC will run about 3 to 4 months. In FL it runs 9 to 10 months
ED

 

5 ton. I hope you can return that thing and exchange it for the right size. This is a very good load/loss program that is very easy to use. The home owner version is what you want. www.hvaccomputer.com