Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Get help with New Construction HVAC
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
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Call (325) 219-0005Designing and installing heating and cooling for a new building or addition, from the load calculation and duct layout to the equipment location, timed to fit the construction schedule.
01New construction
A new building, an addition and a renovation each start from a different point, but all begin with the load.
A new building gets a system designed for it from the plans: its heat gain and loss, room by room, set the equipment size and the duct layout. Bringing that design in early keeps the ducts and equipment where they belong.
An addition needs heating and cooling from somewhere. The first question is whether the existing system has spare capacity and ducts that can reach, or whether the new space is better served by equipment of its own.
Turning unconditioned space into living space adds to the load on the system. A technician checks whether the existing equipment and ducts can serve it evenly before walls and ceilings close in.
When walls and ceilings are open, ducts can be rerouted, resized or added far more easily than at any other time. It is also the moment to replace equipment that was never sized for the building.
02Additions
For an addition, this is usually the first decision, and the load calculation makes it.
This works when the current equipment has capacity to spare, the addition sits close to the existing ducts, and new runs can be added without cutting airflow to other rooms. It keeps one system and one thermostat, though the new space may run warmer or cooler than the rest.
When the existing system is already at its limit, the addition is far from the ducts, or it will be used on a different schedule, separate equipment is often the better fit. A ductless system or a small ducted one gives the new space its own control without loading the old system.
New Construction HVAC
Serving Abilene, TX.
03Design and schedule
A system for a new building is designed in one order and installed in another, and both follow the build.
Design starts with a load calculation from the plans, which sets the equipment size for each part of the building. The duct system is then laid out to deliver the right airflow to every room, with returns sized to bring it back. Equipment is placed inside the conditioned space where the plans allow, because ducts in a hot attic or cold crawlspace lose energy from the start.
On site the work comes in stages. Ducts, vents and refrigerant lines are roughed in after framing, before insulation and drywall cover the walls. Equipment is set and connected once the building is closed in, and the system is started, charged and checked for airflow near the end, after the dust of construction has settled.
04Questions
While the plans are still being finalized, before framing starts. That is when a load calculation can be run, equipment locations chosen and duct routes kept clear of beams, plumbing and structure. Brought in later, the system often has to fit whatever space is left.
Sometimes. It depends on how much spare capacity the current equipment has, whether the ducts can be extended without starving other rooms, and how far the addition is from the equipment. A load calculation of the whole building, addition included, answers it.
Modern construction leaks far less air than older buildings, which saves energy but also traps moisture and indoor pollutants. A planned supply of fresh outdoor air, designed alongside the heating and cooling, replaces what older houses got through gaps.
What the system is doing, when it started, what the thermostat is set to and what it reads, and whether the outdoor unit is running. The age of the equipment and a photo of its label help a technician arrive prepared.
Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (325) 219-0005