What to know - J L Cantrell | Redlands | Heating

Where do I start? Choosing the right contractor

Other than calling us you need to know how to pick a contractor you can trust as well as someone who knows the latest in the technology, proper system and duct sizing etc. If they are not familiar with or do not use what is discussed below then you are better off finding someone who does. Unforturnatley a high percentage of contractors don't or chose not to use these valuable tools. Below are some of the key topics that should be discused when purchasing your new system. As far as equipment? We are Trane Comfort Specialist since they manufacture some of the highest rated equipment on the market. People always ask what I have in my home and yes as a matter of fact I have the Trane 20 SEER heat pump, Trane TAM9 air handler, the Trane 1050 controller and a Trane modulating zone system.

Choosing your equipment

As a Trane comfort specialist we offer a full line of air conditioiners, furnaces, heat pumps, rooftop package units etc. When chosing equipment you need an honest opinion whats best for you and your home. We have many options from a basic 14 SEER system to the Trane 20 SEER heat pumps with up to 700 Stages of cooling and heating that start as low as 25% of total capacity. Please read on about the importance of proper equipment sizing.

Computerized Load Calcs

Computerized load calculations and duct design are the latest tools is specialized HVAC installations. They give us an exact amount of capacity for heating and cooling your home, which results in better efficiency, comfort, more accurate temperatures, and less mechanical failures of the equipment.

Unfortunatley a high percentage of contractors today oversize systems simply because they don't know any better or dont care. They still use old "rules of thumb" like 500sq ft per ton.

The program also designs your duct system giving you the exact airflow needed in a particular room. Given all these tools cannot always be utilized due to a lack of access.

Ducting

So you are going to install a new HVAC system and one of the most important aspects of this is the duct work. Once you have chosen the proper equipment you must make sure that the duct system is adequate and properly sized. Without proper sizing the capacity of your new equipment will be reduced not to mention other factors like excessive velocity at the registers. Undersized duct work and oversized equipment make a poor combination that cost consumers an unestimated loss of money annually. Tract homes built in the 1980's, 1990's and later are among the worst.

The ducting seen below is the current duct work being used today. It has a mylar a UV resistant jacket and comes with R6 and R8 insulation.

This is one of the early versions of flex duct that was installed around the 1980's and 90's. The grey outer jacket was not UV resistant and turned into almost a brittle paper and fell off the duct as you see here. In some cases the insulation came off as well leaving just he inner liner and wire helix left exposed to the high temperatures of the attic. This type of ducting is still in attics across Ca today.