This guide outlines the key factors when looking to install a HVAC system as part of your renovation or build.
Planning a DIY home renovation is both exciting and overwhelming. While you will achieve your dream home design and installations, renovations come with plenty of easily overwhelming details, especially for DIY enthusiasts. Your heating and cooling systems are among the many home installations you should consider when planning for a home renovation project.
With the help of heating and cooling experts, you should replace or modify your HVAC system during renovation for various reasons. For starters, your heating, cooling, and ventilation needs go beyond the square footage of your home. Slight changes in your house’s occupancy, usage, and layout necessitate a change in the HVAC system.
Installing a HVAC system
Below are HVAC system considerations for DIY homeowners.
1. Don’t Discount HVAC Ductwork
Proper ducting is essential for HVAC systems to function effectively. Heating and cooling systems have air ducts, which channel conditioned air throughout your home. These systems are designed to maximize heating and cooling needs according to the current layout.
If your renovation project involves moving windows, doors, walls, or cubicle partitions, it influences how air flows in the building. Failing to update the ducting to accommodate the new layout changes leads to hot and cold spots.
If you are constructing an additional space, you should evaluate whether you should extend the existing ductwork or install another HVAC unit for the new space. While extending the ductwork may seem simple, overextending air ducts significantly impairs HVAC efficiency.
Apart from the considerations of new air ducts, a home renovation project presents a perfect time to evaluate the overall condition of your existing ductwork. According to EPA’s Energy Star program, homes lose between20% and 30% of conditioned air through air ducts due to system leaks, poor connections, and other ducting inefficiencies.
This means homeowners incur unnecessary costs that can easily be solved by evaluating the condition of air ducts during renovation. Any leaks identified should be sealed. Lastly, you should also check if the existing ductwork is insulated adequately. Poor insulation reduces HVAC efficiency.
2. Changing Usage of Rooms Also Changes HVAC Requirements
The need to renovate your home may stem from several reasons. Most people undertake DIY renovations to accommodate various activities or increase space usage. For instance, you may have to renovate your new business space to accommodate growth and expansion, especially if your business activities vary from the previous.
Heating and cooling needs for a yoga studio or exercising room significantly differ from those of retail stores, offices, or boutiques. The activities and number of occupants in the room have very different comfort requirements. Even slight changes in computer equipment significantly affect heating and cooling needs. You should ensure that the HVAC system is modified to suit the new design.
3. Consider HVAC System Capacity
Heating and cooling are certainly not cheap. Unfortunately, these costs can increase if your HVAC system is wrongly sized for the space. If the heating and cooling system are small for the space, the unit will struggle and take longer to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. This reduces comfort levels and strains the unit.
On the other hand, an extra-large system will cycle frequently. This triggers a spike in energy usage and subjects the unit to more wear and tear, causing frequent repairs and reducing the system’s lifespan.
Even if the heating and cooling system was initially properly sized, you should re-evaluate your HVAC requirements while renovating. Evaluating the size is important, especially if your DIY renovation project includes adding rooms, reconfiguring the shape and size of existing rooms, or making modifications that affect the total square footage of your home.
4. Consider Replacing the Furnace or AC Unit
There’s no better and more convenient time to upgrade your old air conditioner or furnace than when remodeling your home. Even if your HVAC system doesn’t need an upgrade to meet output requirements for the new space, using your new space with a new system is certainly worth considering.
Scheduling professional furnace and AC installation during home renovation means you’ll have one less installation to worry about after renovations. Fortunately, if you are using the low-rate mortgage refinance to fund your renovation project, you can seize this chance to start the mortgage with a new and warrantied heating and cooling unit, free from frequent repairs after renovation.
5. Schedule Duct Cleaning After the Renovation
Most homeowners rarely schedule professional duct cleaning, with some taking two to four years. However, you should schedule duct cleaning immediately after the renovation project. Air intake vents collect a lot of dust, dirt, and debris during renovation, even if the HVAC system is protected and switched off during renovation.
Fine particles generated by cutting, sanding, and other renovation activities are a major challenge to adequate ventilation. If left unclogged, the impact of your renovation project can outweigh the normal wear and tear on HVAC systems.
Endnote
While there’s a lot to consider when planning a DIY home renovation, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of hiring an HVAC expert to evaluate and recommend appropriate changes to your unit. It may be as simple as moving the air ducts or serious issues that require complete HVAC system replacement. Regardless, these changes are necessary to provide adequate comfort.
