Where Your HVAC Should Be in Your Home

If you’re planning to replace your home’s heating and cooling system, or you’re building a brand new home, it’s vital to know that HVAC placement can have a big impact on your energy bills, the lifespan of your new equipment and your day-to-day comfort. Here’s some helpful placement advice for a central HVAC system’s two main components: the indoor air handler and outdoor condenser units.

Indoor Unit

This portion of your forced-air HVAC system contains the furnace burner/heat exchanger and evaporator coil, which share a blower unit that’s connected to ductwork for air distribution.

• Ideally, the unit should be situated in a central location in your home to make air distribution as efficient as possible.
• The HVAC unit should be installed within your home’s conditioned envelope, in a location such as a utility room or in your insulated basement.

• It’s important to have adequate space around the HVAC cabinet so you can easily change out the air filter, and your technician can access the various components to perform maintenance or repairs.

• It’s not advisable to install your HVAC equipment or ductwork in an unfinished attic where it has to compensate for extreme temperatures, which makes heating and cooling less efficient and puts extra wear and strain on the components.

Outdoor Unit

This unit contains the compressor that pumps refrigerant and the condenser coil where heat captured indoors is released into the outdoor air.

• The condenser/compressor shouldn’t be sited where it’s exposed to direct afternoon sun, which can add to the equipment’s workload and increase its energy consumption. The north or east sides of a home are usually the best locations.
• Ample airflow around the condenser is essential to aide the heat transfer process, so there should be two feet of clearance allowed on all sides.
• If the outdoor unit has to be situated in a sunny spot, you should plant trees to provide shade, but be sure to allow sufficient space so they don’t crowd the HVAC unit as they mature.

To schedule a new installation with expert HVAC placement, contact the comfort pros at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about HVAC equipment and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 845-367-4482.

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