Does .5 tons make any difference?

[mesostinky]

Am do a total replacement of our HVAC system minus ducts because its 25 years old and the blower motor in the furnace is going.

I have a ~1000 sq foot Townhouse. 2 floors with 2 bedrooms upstairs. There is a balcony where you can see from downstairs to upstairs over the front hallway.

We live in North NJ and have lots of shade behind us as its a forest so
cooling downstairs is never a problem but the upstairs is always much much hotter than downstairs.

Both estimates said a 2ton coil fits for our space but the one estimate said we might as well go with the 2.5 ton since his estimate puts it just a little bit over 2 tons so he said "you might as well size up". We would be putting in a plain jane system, no multi-stage, or dual speed. or anything.

Cost is not an issue but is there any harm in going 2.5tons here or other problems it could cause? Thanks very much for any help. Mike

[catmanacman]

Does the 2 ton unit keep it comfortable ,Also might consider a 2 zone 2 stage unit

[beenthere]

That .5 ton could be the difference between high humidity and low humidity in a well shaded home.

[mesostinky]

Wow that was quick. Thank for the fast response. The 2 ton keeps the downstairs fine but upstairs is an issue on hot days. 2 zone would be great but can't afford that. 2 vs 2.5 in the unit we are looking at makes little diffference in cost though. We are moving within 5 years so we are only putting in a very basic unit.

I also just heard back from the rep who quoted the 2.5 ton one. He said the calculation for our home was 2ton for 1 floor and to use 2.5ton for 2 floors.

[beenthere]

Its probably not a problem with your unit only be 2 tons. more like its a problem with your duct system that is causing your second floor not to cool right.

[mesostinky]

Any problem with him doing 2.5 though? I like this company and they have a good reputation so i was thinking of using them.

[BaldLoonie]

Sometimes going bigger makes the upstairs hotter. The bigger A/C cools the downstairs quicker and it shuts off leaving the upstairs warm.