Two popular questions we often get asked at Specialty Air when receiving a call for an estimate; Why do you have to come out to give me an estimate? Why can’t you just give me one over the phone? As easy as that may sound it is not that simple. Residential furnaces come in different sizes measured in British thermal units also known as BTU. You can get a furnace ranging from 40,000 BTU to 100,000 BTU. If you get one too small for your house it will not heat or cool your house properly. It would be working very hard to cool or heat your residence causing it to break down often costing you more money in repairs. If a unit is too big for your residence, it will use up more energy than you need to cool or heat your residence therefore costing you more money.
Some of our customers think that by giving us the square footage of their home we can give them an accurate estimate on a new furnace. Others also think that owning a small house means you would need a furnace with a smaller BTU. The way we determine the correct BTU for your house is based on energy-loss calculations, window areas, the amount of insulation and other factors. We need to go room to room and evaluate all these factors. At Specialty Air, we use manuals and computer programs to guide through the calculations to find the perfect furnace for your home. Energy-loss calculations are not done just for new furnace installations but for replacements as well. When replacing an existing unit energy-loss calculations need to be redone especially if the home has been remodeled. Extra windows or installation that might have been added during the remodel changes the existing calculations
People who shop around trying to find the cheapest price on a new or replacement system will find a company that cuts corners. When a company cuts corners they tend to not evaluate the energy-loss factors and will recommend systems that were not properly sized for their house. Specialty Air does not cut corners. This is why we rarely ever give estimates over the phone and why we require city permits for all jobs. At Specialty Air we care, we care about our customers and their families.