§ 02.02AC install — Texas + Ohio
A real room-by-room load calc on each install — about ninety minutes on site. We won't oversize a system because the catalog says to. The cheap fix is sometimes the right fix; we will tell you which way the math points before any new unit gets quoted.
Every house gets a real load calculation before anything gets quoted. Here is how that hour-and-a-half on site turns into a tonnage answer — and why the same square footage in Akron and Plano does not size the same system.
Tape measure on the floor, not a clipboard estimate. Width, length, ceiling height, exterior wall area, every window orientation, every door to a non-conditioned space.
About 90 minutes on a 1,800-sqft house. Numbers go straight into the load-calc software, not back to the office.
A west-facing single-pane window in Texas pulls in seven times the heat of a north-facing LowE window. Manual J multiplies surface area by climate factor by U-value — that is where the BTU subtotals come from.
Same wall area can call for 1.5 tons in Akron and 2.5 tons in Plano. The envelope is the math, not the square footage.
Older houses leak air. Attic ducts pick up extra heat on a 100°F day. Four people throw off about 1,800 BTU/hr just by being home. None of these show up on a square-footage shortcut.
Blower-door test optional but recommended on anything pre-2000.
Add the subtotals, round to the nearest half-ton on the cooling side. If the answer is 25,350 BTU/hr, the system is 2.5 tons — not 3.0. The slightly undersized cooling runs longer, dehumidifies harder, and lasts.
Heat-pump heating side is sized to the heating load separately, then the larger of the two governs equipment size.
Three to four hours of office work turns into a single tonnage answer per system. We bring that worksheet to the kitchen table — you keep a copy whether you book the install or not.
EPA phase-down · in effect since January 1, 2025. Working systems do not need to be ripped out — only new equipment changes.
A correctly tonned condenser still loses 8–12% of its rated capacity to a refrigerant lineset that is one pipe-size too small or routed forty extra feet through a hot attic. The boring stuff is where the install actually pays off.
| Tonnage | Suction | Liquid | Max run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0tons | 3/4" | 3/8" | 50 ft |
| 2.5tons | 3/4" | 3/8" | 50 ft |
| 3.0tons | 7/8" | 3/8" | 50 ft |
| 4.0tons | 7/8" | 3/8" | 40 ft |
| 5.0tons | 1-1/8" | 3/8" | 40 ft |
Composite or poured concrete pad, level within 1/4" across the diagonal. Set on tamped pea gravel — never on bare soil.
Service side gets 24" minimum for tech access. Coil-intake faces (the fin sides) keep 18" clear of fences, shrubs, and AC drips.
Pad sits on a 4" gravel/turf shoulder above grade so spring rain runoff and irrigation overspray do not pool around the base.
Required on Texas Gulf coast and any wind-zone install. Two anchored straps to the pad, sealed against pad penetrations.
The new equipment is half of an install. The other half is the day-of commissioning sequence — and most "installs" skip half of it. Here is the full ledger we hold ourselves to, with the gauge target on every step.
Lineset is pressurized with dry nitrogen and held under gauge for fifteen minutes. Any drop = leak. No leaks pass before refrigerant goes in.
Two-stage vacuum pump pulls the system down to 500 microns three separate times, then has to hold the reading. This is what gets all the moisture out — moisture is what kills compressors first.
Charge weighed on a digital scale to the manufacturer's data-plate spec, not topped off until the gauges "look right." Subcooling and superheat verified at the equipment after the system stabilizes.
Manometer on the supply and return plenums after start-up. Total external static under 0.5 inches of water column = ducts deliver the rated airflow. Over and we hand back the duct fix before walking off the job.
Trap primed, secondary safety-float switch fired by physically raising the water level — not by jumpering the wire. The system shuts down. We watch it shut down before signing off.
Equipment-side stages configured (single, two-stage, variable-speed). On heat-pump installs, the dual-fuel balance point is set to the climate zone — Plano runs at 35°F, Akron at 25°F. We walk the homeowner through the schedule.
Equipment serial numbers go into the manufacturer warranty portal before we leave. Most warranties die on day-31 if the unit was never registered. Most installers never register. Ours does.
Manual J output, pressure-test gauge photos, deep-vacuum log, charge weight, static pressure reading, balance-point setting, warranty confirmation. Everything emailed same day. Yours whether you call us back or not.
§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page
§ 02.01HVAC
Half the no-cool calls are a duct problem.
A 25 Pa pressurized leakage test takes 20 minutes and tells you in CFM how much air your duct system is losing. Cheap fix before expensive one.
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§ 02.03HVAC
Sized for the day it actually gets cold.
A heat pump that runs year-round, plus a gas furnace that takes over when the temperature crashes. 10-year parts and labor warranty in writing.
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§ 02.04HVAC
When the AC dies at midnight, somebody picks up.
Average DFW response under 2 hours. Trucks staged in Dallas, Plano, Fort Worth. Flat-rate price on the porch — same number weekday, weekend, holiday.
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§ 02.05HVAC
Five symptoms, five honest verdicts.
Most window calls are not a full replacement. Fog is a glass swap. Drafts are a sash. A stuck sash is hardware. A rotted sill is the only one that needs the whole unit. We walk it with you.
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§ 04.01Programs
Your storm. Your scope. Your carrier's check.
Fifteen years on the carrier side. Documented loss, written scope, adjuster meeting on-site. Out-of-pocket: deductible only.
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§ 06Reach the dispatch desk
A free walk — Manual J on the envelope, gauge photos, and a ranged quote in writing. No high-pressure sales. We will name the cheap fix before the expensive one.
(214) 578-9961