Load Calculations

[student of hvac too]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I did this correct. I have just finished my load cal exam and keep wondering if I did it right. The house was about 6000 Sq ft with an uncondition basement, 9 ft ceilings, R-30 ins in the attic, and R-13 in the walls with a brick facing. House had tight construction and 2 tight fireplaces. I placed the furnace in the middle of the house and ran the ducts up through the walls with registers out the ceiling. My question is that would I have been better to have went with a multi-zone design, or the way I did it. Please give you input. Thanks

[mark beiser]

I definatly would have gone with multiple zones. That large of a home will have noticably different heat loss and heat gain in different parts of the home throughout the course of a day. One system would not keep all parts of the home comforterable at all times unless it has a zone system or is just a huge cube with no windows.

Another considderation is what size equipment you need. There are not to many 6000 sq ft homes you can heat/cool with a single residential system. You would likely end up having to use commercial equipment wich usually is louder, designed for higher static pressures and has lower warranties than residential equipment. Commercial condensing units almost always require 3 phase power supplies also.

[beenthere]

As Mark said, at that sq. footage, the load varies from area to area, 2 systems, 2 zones each, depending on lay out.