Proper Coil Selection
One of the most misunderstood and most important equipment selections is the coil application. Most contractors just use what is generally recommended by the manufacturer. Coils are applied about the same in all climates whether dry or humid. This is wrong and results in many calls to our company from people complaining about humid conditions in their house. After more than 15 years of application and solving others problems we have learned to avoid these humid results by proper coil selection.
A coil is the most important component to be selected for humidity control. Too large of a cooling coil results in more dry heat and less wet heat removed. A smaller coil selection allows the air to be chilled and more wet heat to be removed. This increases comfort at higher levels, lowers electric bills, and just makes the house more comfortable overall.
Let’s look at the myths of downsizing coils. Those who do not understand can only criticize. We have installed over 3,000 downsized coils and have had zero problems.
Some of the myths are:
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You will lose capacity.
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Mold will grow in the system.
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The grills will sweat.
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The compressor refrigerant will slug back to damage the compressor.
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Run time will be increased.
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Humidity will rise.
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Electric bills will increase.
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The system will not last as long.
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The system is difficult to balance.
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Manufacturers will void the warranty if you downsize.
Every one of the above statements is untrue. Downsizing the coil is the best way to increase humidity removal for the same size system. Just because most companies don’t do it shows that true engineering rarely exists in residential applications. We are really applying the correct equipment selection for the application to provide maximum comfort and efficiency at the lowest operating cost possible.
