We contacted four HVAC companies to give us an estimate for replacing our old 3 or 3.5 ton central unit and told them up front that we did not have a "rule of thumb" house and described the improvements we'd made. I related I wanted to go with a smaller unit. None of the four HVAC contractors did a "Manual J" test on the house when they prepared a quote. One said we needed 4 tons, two others said the size we had was exactly what we needed. The forth guy just agreed with me that I needed a smaller unit and he'd put a 2.5 ton in for me. Each of the first three mentioned came back and used that "rule of thumb" when they gave me their quotes completely ignoring what I'd said.
That was why I had a home energy audit done on my house and why I felt good in downsizing to a 2 ton variable speed 19 SEER unit. The auditor was the only one that did not have a financial incentive to put in a bigger unit. Plus, I was afraid I'd intimidated the fourth guy into putting in the wrong size unit. Without the audit, we'd have installed a 2.5 ton unit. With the audit, at the audtors suggestion, we upped the cellulose in our attic from 5" to 15" so we could comfortably use the 2 ton unit.
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