Will A Bigger Air Handler Make Any Difference?

[Ron]

Here's the deal. My house is 1500 sq ft (heated) In Jan of this yr I had the outside unit of my heatpump replaced. They replaced it with a 2 1/2 ton unit. (I just discovered this 3 days ago) Well from what I've been told in this group (and after several phone calls to different AC companies) it should have been a 3 ton unit.

The unit had been working fine until a month ago when my girlfriend moved in and we opened up a 225 sq ft rm that wasn't being used, NOW the unit will not cool the house.

I looked at my paper work and it says that the unit was "sized" by sq ft. I called the company yesterday and told them what was going on and i was told that they replaced the unit with the same size unit that was there.

Now that's pretty stupid since the house was built in '84 with a 2 1/2 ton unit and has since had a 225 sq ft room added on.

The guy tells me that it wouldn't matter if he had installed a 3 ton unit because the air handler is only a 2 1/2 ton unit and it wouldn't matter as far as cooling is concerned.

My reasoning is that THEY should have installed a 3 ton unit just because of the sq ft of the house, regardless of what size the old unit was....I even told the installer that my next step was to get a new air handler because it was about to go. Wh

Now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and don't know what to do, so here's my question. If I end up having to keep the 2 1/2 ton outside unit, can I install a 3 ton air handler and will it keep a 1500 sq ft house cool?

My only other option would be to install a window unit in the addition and I really don't want to do that.

Thoughts-suggestions?

[Art]

I would ruin his day by calling the license board and filing a complaint. In any case a larger air handler may squeeze more cooling out of the 2.5 ton unit. Also if duct work is accessable, some is designed like a pretzel and if you can have a guy look it over and remove excess ducting if it exists that will help too and you will save money.

[profft]

Go ahead and call it's, not going to be any swet unless the local jurisdiction requires a manual-J be done on equipment replacements and you had better hope the addition was done legally or your going to open a whole can of worms for yourself.

He didn't have a Heatpump replaced in January because he had some extra money just burning a hole in his pocket. He did it because his ODU died, kaput. He needed it done right away and he got it right a way, period. It's all well and good with the woulda/shoulda/could of's eight months down the road, but the bottom line is he got what he paid for. If your going to spout off at least try to read between the lines first.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

You can install a 3 ton air handler on the 2.5 ton condenser and still run fine but you will not get a full 3 tons of cooling out of the 2.5 ton condenser. With this combo you may be able to get 2.75 ton at best and be set up to go to a 3 ton if it is not enough.

Now to the 2.5 ton with a 3 ton air handler / Coil keeping up on a 1,500 sq. ft. house. You guess is good as mine . The 2.5 ton condenser on the 3 ton air handler will put out more than the 2.5 ton cond. on a 2.5 ton air handler but to it being enough to cool it properly is up to let you do it and see.

Now one question here and I can maybe give you a ideal if what combonation will work by you telling me in what state or part of the country you live in. Let me know something here.

TURTLE

[Ron]

I live in Orlando, Fl.......LOL! I know I need a 3 ton condenser AN=D0 air handler and IMO the company should have installed a 3 ton unit regardless of what size the OLD condenser was.....Like I said I told the installer that the house was close to 1500 sq ft.

Also, another poster said something about the addition being legal. The house was built in 84 the screened in "porch" which was an original part of the house, was enclosed in either 88 or 89. So it's not really an "addition" just an upgrade.

I just bought the house 2 yrs ago so this isn't something that is new, it was just a big room that I had closed off until my g/f moved in last month. I hadn't decided what to do with the room since i had bought the house but now it is usable space.

[TURTLE]

I live in Orlando, Fl.......LOL! I know I need a 3 ton condenser ANÐ air handler and IMO the company should have installed a 3 ton unit regardless of what size the OLD condenser was.....Like I said I told the installer that the house was close to 1500 sq ft.

Also, another poster said something about the addition being legal. The house was built in 84 the screened in "porch" which was an original part of the house, was enclosed in either 88 or 89. So it's not really an "addition" just an upgrade.

I just bought the house 2 yrs ago so this isn't something that is new, it was just a big room that I had closed off until my g/f moved in last month. I hadn't decided what to do with the room since i had bought the house but now it is usable space.

This is Turtle.

Yea Fla. 2 1/2 ton --- LOL .

OK to be real here. You need min. 3 on a 1,500 sq. ft. in hot as hell part of the country but I have seen 3 ton air handlers and a 2 1/2 ton condensers keep up with the super heat set high and you do a little more insulation in the attic and here and there. Also look at the attic ventilation to make sure your good there too. You might look at a electric powered attic vent-o-lator. If you can beef up the heat lost you just might get by with A/H 3 and Cond. 2.5 . If not you have just about bought your way half way to the total 3 ton system anyway.

The reason I say this I have 2,250 sq. ft. home and doing it with a 3.5 ton condenser and in South Louisiana and hot as hell here too. I have electric power vent fans, R-60 insulation in the attic, and keep all the coils clean and system run perfectly. I get by when it goes over 100ºF+ .

If you want to discuss it more. E-Mail me and we will talk. Address here is good.

TURTLE

[Travis Jordan]

Sizing by square feet isn't good enough. You should have used a sizing chart.

[Mike]

Hi Turtle- New Orleans calling - Live in a 1200 sq ft old shotgun 12 ft ceilings. Last year converted a 27 x 24 room upstairs. I installed a 1.5 mr cool mini split with great results. Problem is the downstairs is underserved with the 2.5 ton unit. It was probably too small to begin with, but now with the open spiral staircase open yo upstairs is no contest. The two bedrooms are fine summer and winter with the doors closed, but the front of the house ( under the open staircase) is sorely outmatched. Since money matters, do you think I will see a noticeable improvement by installing a 3 or 3.5 air handler.

I read with interest your comment to the guy in Orlando that if it don’t work out , at least you only have to upgrade the condenser, but if this really isn’t gonna do much, I should probably not head down this road.

Thanks so much for taking time to counsel me.

Mike Finally my question:

[trader_4]

2.5 tons sounds like enough for 1200 sq ft, especially when part of that is served by a mini-split.. Not sure what you mean by installing a 3.5 ton air handler. An air handler is only the blower portion, so I think you mean installing a 3.5 ton system, which would mean replacing the condenser unit, very likely the evaporator and possible the blower too, ie it's like a whole new system. Best advice is get in a competent company or two to evaluate the whole thing, figure out what can be done. Sometimes that could be something like adding another return or two. I assume the AC is running full time, unable to maintain the temperature? Has it been checked to make sure it's working correctly?

[Ralph Mowery]

The air handler needs to be matched to the compressor unit.

A 2.5 ton unit should be plenty for a 1200 sqft house. I would think you must not have hardly any insulation in the walls and cealing area.

YOur unit needs to be sized to run enough to keep the humidity down.

I think there is a program called something like Magic J that tells what size to use for the AC. A good AC company should do that .

[TimR]

I think it's Manual J. Here's an explanation of the common 4 manuals. The point is that square foot sizing is the lazy way. Professionals do it right.

Turtle hasn't been around in a while, don't know where he went, he was pretty active 20 years ago. Hope he's okay. Stormy passed you know.

Too big in a place like New Orleans is much worse than too small. Too small will keep up most of the time. Too big will short cycle and your humidity goes way up. (unless you add reheat, and that isn't going to save money either on install or energy)

[Ralph Mowery]

You are correct on the Manual J. I guess I was thinking of magic Johnson the ball player.

It does take a correct size especially in very humid or dry climits to feel comfortable even though the temperature is being held whever you think it should be.

[Scott Lurndal]

Or perhaps you were conflating Dr. J. (Julius Erving II) and Magic Johnson (Earvin Johnson Jr.).