Charlie:
Got a question here from Norma in Conroe. She wants to know what is the tonnage per square foot recommendation for air conditioning that you propose.
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Tom:
We’ve had a number that we’ve worked with for years for the Houston area. I feel really comfortable saying it. A lot of people will squint and squirm in the industry.
Charlie:
Wince and whine.
Tom:
Wince would be good because they have new standards now and I don’t care for the standards.
Charlie:
Is there gnashing of teeth and the tents of the air conditioning beatable?
Tom:
Mucho.
Charlie:
Okay.
Tom:
Okay. The new standards, I think are horrible because it doesn’t meet Houston’s needs. I’m very aggressive when I size air conditioning systems. Five hundred square feet per ton for a typical eight-foot normal home … When I say eight-foot … eight-foot ceilings, you can increase that if you want. If you nine, ten or really high ceilings and a lot of homes today have up to twenty-foot ceilings.
Charlie:
All kidding aside, why is this is even controversial?
Tom:
They’ve come up with a new manual … J conditions and everybody … I hear that now, even if you replace your unit, you still have to go through the manual J calculations. That doesn’t mean you have to follow them but they’re going to make everybody follow these energy standards set by the government. They’re trying to control energy usage like water heaters and other things. The fact of the matter is it just doesn’t work for Houston and that’s why we get calls every year in August. Hundred degrees out. My house won’t get cool. Why not? Your unit’s too small. They’re too small and they balance the system by saying we can make it fifteen to twenty degrees cooler in your home than outside. Well, If it’s a hundred degrees outside, how much cooler can that be? Maximum would be eighty degrees.
Charlie:
That’s going to be kind of warm.
Tom:
I don’t know about you, Charlie, but I want seventy-two cycling if I want it. If I want it, I’m going to have it.
Charlie:
I actually put mine to seventy.
Tom:
I like it.
Charlie:
I’m dead serious.
Tom:
I like it. Anyway, the whole point is energy efficiency is your greatest comfort at the lowest price. If you want it to be seventy, you should have it at seventy. Hopefully you have an efficient system that’ll give you that seventy degree temperature at a lower price than a poorly put-in system.