Should You Upgrade Your HVAC System for a Home Addition?
Whether you’re building a second family room, a guest suite or enlarging the kitchen, having additional square footage in your house is sure to be convenient. Just keep in mind you need to consider the heating and cooling requirements of the new area. One of those points should cover whether you should upgrade your HVAC system for a home addition in Calgary. Our instructions will help you as you begin the process.
Option 1: No Upgrade Required
If the home addition includes expanding a room instead of building completely new rooms, you may not need to improve the HVAC system at all. This is usually the instance if your heating and cooling units were oversized originally. Book a load calculation from a pro technician, for example one from A1 Chesney Service Experts by calling 587-315-5271. This will affect if your present HVAC setup can handle the modifications you’ve made to your home.Option 2: Install a New HVAC System
Another idea for getting heat and air conditioning into your home addition is to extend the ductwork from your existing forced-air equipment. If you have radiators or baseboard heating, you can extend hot water piping to the new space. You should know that, along with ductwork or water piping, you could also have to add HVAC equipment to handle the higher load. The ensuing increase in electricity usage could even call for an electrical panel upgrade. If your heating and cooling system is due for a replacement soon, this could be a good solution.Option 3: Add a Ductless Mini-Split
Instead of getting a new system to manage the additional area, you can install a freestanding one. Ductless mini-splits are ideal for this. They use two parts. There’s a condensing system that sits on cement near your home, similar to an air conditioner. Then there’s the small indoor blower that is placed against the ceiling or wall. Like a central heat pump, mini-split HVAC systems provide both heating and cooling for year-round comfort from a sole solution. Since it links with a wall- or ceiling-mounted air handler, zero ductwork is required. You can even add up to four indoor units with one outdoor unit for zoned heating and cooling in distinct areas in your residence. A ductless mini-split might be the ideal HVAC system for your home addition if:-
- Your present system can’t handle the extra space, and you’re not ready to replace it all today.
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- The old and additional rooms have differing heating and cooling needs.
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- You would like to add air conditioning to your residence without installing or extending the ductwork.