Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can do more than heat and cool your home. It can also keep the humidity at a comfortable level in winter and summer. It’s a delicate balance: if it’s too low, you’ll feel the effects of colds, respiratory infections, and asthma more, and some of the furnishings in your home will literally dry out. If it’s too high, you’ll be uncomfortable but mold and mildew will flourish. They love moisture!

Residential HVAC systems balance temperature and humidity. The best person to design a system appropriate for your climate and your comfort needs is a professional ACCA member contractor. He or she understands the science of your home and applies the principles contained in the ACCA design and technical manuals to the design, selection, and installation of an HVAC system that’s right for you.

ACCA manuals are the industry standard, often incorporated into local building codes and endorsed or recommended by the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and equipment manufacturers.

Whether your comfort system is old or new, in a new or old home, in an apartment or a single-family home, there are many little things you can do to optimize its efficiency and minimize your utility bills. They’re definitely worth the small amount of time and expense they take, because in the long run, they’ll save you money.

Most of us don’t think about “design” when we think of heating and cooling, but it’s just as important as a solid architectural design. A professional HVAC contractor won’t simply replace what you have now with new equipment. It’s possible that your existing system wasn’t sized properly to begin with!

To make sure your new HVAC system meets your needs for comfort and energy efficiency, a quality contractor performs a series of calculations that take into account the overall climate where you live; how your home is sited (for example, if it faces south or north); the amount and quality of insulation in walls, basement or crawl space, and attic; how many windows the home has and how efficient they are; other sources of ambient heat, such as kitchen appliances and lights; even landscaping near the house.

These are called “load calculations.” The formulas, which are included in ACCA’s Manual J^®, were developed by HVAC experts at ACCA and are the industry standard, often incorporated into local building codes.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, pollution is everywhere. And with the type of cleaning products, manmade goods, and activities undertaken within homes and buildings, indoor environments can become very uncomfortable. Even “fresh,” outdoor air has as many as 30 million dust or pollutant particles per cubic foot.

There are, however, measures you can take to lessen the effects of these particles in your home. Since the home is essentially an enclosed system, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) contractors are able to tackle pollution head-on by moving the air through a high-efficiency air cleaner.