Canadian Chat → Re: [Rant] My A/C has died

We take the opposite approach, we always slightly undersize units based on heat gain not sq footage.

Reasons;

1) it's able to drop the humidity out

2) It doesn't short cycle the compressor. They like to run, they don't like to stop and start frequently.

3) worst case is, on hot days, the temp inside creeps up a bit. It's still much cooler inside than out and no one notices. That and the crazy hot days are very rare and should not be designed for.

You are looking at it from a mechanical perspective, not operational. It would cost a lot more to run the A/C 24/7 then it turning on and off based on the thermostat.

You can solve #2 just by setting the thermostat to a wider temperature range like mine is -- it doesn't turn on until the temp is more than 0.5°C above the setting, and doesn't turn off until the same amount below. Keeping the fan running prevents the upstairs from getting too hot, and the A/C doesn't cycle often at all, yet it's still powerful enough to cool the place down quite fast and can get it much colder than I would ever need, which the undersized unit in the previous house could never do -- on a day like today, it would have run continuously or close to it.

One advantage of having an A/C running almost continuously on a hot day is that if you have a thick-furred large dog, and you have a wall-mounted air vent, the dog can snuggle right up to it when he has his nap!