I knew little about HVAC systems.
- I knew HVAC was short for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Heating was the furnace, ventilation was something to do with the ductwork, and air conditioning was the AC unit. I knew even less if you broke it down into the furnace and air conditioning unit. When I needed a new furnace, I called the HVAC company. I asked them to send someone to the house so my husband and I could choose the furnace we wanted. My husband wasn’t any more educated in HVAC than I was. The first thing the HVAC technician started talking about was what type of efficiency level we were looking for? He then asked if we had a certain make or model in mind? I looked at him and asked if all furnaces weren’t the same? I didn’t want a lesson in furnaces, but I wanted to know what we should look for. He told us that the higher efficiency numbers meant we would better heating for less money. We would use less fuel and less electricity. We needed a furnace that would not just be efficient, but that would be big enough to handle the load in our house. He then explained that the load is the space it needs to heat, and how many people live in the house. He then told us they do the same measurements if we were buying an air conditioning unit. I learned a lot about heating and air conditioning that day. I am now thinking about going to an HVAC class they have for homeowners.