Charlie: Jake in Sienna Plantation writes to us, asking another AC question for you. Said he had Absolute Comfort out and looked at the residence last week and checked his AC. “I have the same issue I heard you talk about multiple times on your show. When the temperature gets upward of 95 to 100 outside my AC runs all day and can’t keep up”.
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Tom: There you go.
Charlie: “I want it at 71 degrees”. Don’t we all? Anyway he says, “Right now, I want to be at 71 it’s at 75. The technician from Absolute told me there would be a 10 degree temperature swing depending on the temperature outside. I think my unit’s too small but I keep getting the run around in regard to this explanation”. He’s got a four ton unit in 2000 square feet.
Tom: If you want it to be 71 degrees, then you get a bigger unit. That probably wouldn’t be typical for everybody but I turn my unit down to 70 degrees at night when I go to sleep. I like it cold and I sleep better.
Charlie: There is scientific evidence that you sleep better when it’s cold.
Tom: Is that true?
Charlie: It’s true.
Tom: Well I know scientifically I think so, but I’m not Mr. Science though.
Charlie: In the world of Tom Science-
Tom: Yes.
Charlie: You’ve heard of Tom Foolery, we work with Tom Science.
Tom: But yeah he could put a five ton unit in, they have to tweak it to make sure it doesn’t cool too quick, then you get cold and clammy.
Charlie: Yeah it’ll short cycle.
Tom: If you want to do that you certainly can. Most air conditioning contractors wouldn’t recommend it but it can be done.
Charlie: What is the drop somebody can expect on their AC from outside to inside in general?
Tom: Well it’s just like a freezer. You can get whatever you want, you just have to design the system so-
Charlie: But in a typical system. I mean but like you say, what is it, about one and a half tons per hundred square or something like, a thousand square feet or whatever.
Tom: No, no it’s one ton for 500 square feet.
Charlie: Okay I knew it was one of those-
Tom: That’s the way … It’s close. I like that formula and that’s for a typical home. Some of these homes with the windows, high ceilings all this stuff, they could even make it more. As far as that goes, there is no typical … The guys try to reach about a 25 degree constant from outside to inside but you can reach it anywhere you want. That’s why I’ve always been more aggressive in the homes I’ve built. A lot of guys say, “What are you crazy? You’re putting too much air conditioning in”, but I never had my clients complain. You have to get someone who understands humidity control with the colder temperatures. What really happens is August when it’s 100 degrees out for a week, these people want it 72 or 70 degrees, you should be able to have it. That’s why if you like it that cold, you need to design it for you. Here’s my last statement on this one and that is-
Charlie: Thank you for clarifying.
Tom: -we have many more coming up but-
Charlie: There’s no stopping him.
Tom: -energy efficiency is having the house the way you want it-
Charlie: Right.
Tom: -at the lowest cost, not meeting some government standard.