2 Problems Posed By Having A Furnace Too Large For Your House

When it comes time to replace your home's old furnace, you may be tempted to select a unit that is meant for a larger house than your current one. You may feel that doing so will ensure that your home is thoroughly and quickly heating while saving you money. However, there are a couple of problems that can arise from having a furnace that is too large for your house.

1.  Your Home Will Have Noticeable Differences in Room Temperatures

One problem posed by having an oversized furnace for your house is that your home will have noticeable differences in the temperatures in each room. While you may expect that the furnace will heat up each room equally when it is larger than required, you will most likely find that some rooms become burning hot while others stay cold.

When a furnace is oversized, it will force a lot of hot air through the system at once. However, once the hot air is detected by the thermostat in your home, it will usually shut off fairly quickly.

Even if the room in which the thermostat is located feels extremely warm, the furnace may not have time to evenly heat the rest of your house. This is especially true of the rooms furthest away from the furnace.

2.  Your Furnace Will Constantly Be Short-Cycling

Another problem you may face when your heating unit is too large for the space in your home is that the furnace will most likely short-cycle most of the time. Typically, if the furnace is the correct size for the house's open spaces, the motor and blower will run long enough to fully heat the house before they shut off.

However, because of the drastic differences in the temperatures of the rooms, the blower will be forced to shut off prematurely. Then, as the colder air from the rooms not completely warmed by the heater is detected by the thermostat, the furnace will be forced to kick back on shortly after shutting off.

When you have an oversized furnace that short-cycles, your home will always have uneven temperatures. And since the blower and motor will both have to work twice as hard, you will find that your energy bills increase, and the components of the furnace will wear out faster than normal.

While you may believe that having an oversized furnace will help to keep your house warmer during the frigid months, you will find that the unit will have a hard time keeping the rooms at even, comfortable temperatures without burning itself out. If you are having problems selecting the correct size for your house, contact an HVAC contractor who deals with heating systems for personalized assistance with making your selection.

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