Ways Furniture Can Affect Your HVAC

There are numerous factors that affect how your home’s HVAC system performs. Many are key considerations for properly sizing new equipment, such as your home’s square footage, level of insulation, orientation, and number of windows. You may not realize that your home’s interior finishes and furniture can have HVAC effects as well. Here are some of the ways they impact your HVAC.

Cooling Load Variations

How much furniture you have in your home can impact the timing and extent of your cooling load. Generally speaking, the more furniture you have (and the larger the individual pieces) the lower the cooling load, and the easier it is to cool your home.

The materials your furniture and other home contents are made from affect how hard the HVAC has to work to meet your comfort settings. A material that absorbs the sun’s heat coming in through the windows, for instance, can increase your HVAC’s workload, so it takes longer to cool the space and uses more energy.

The thickness of wall and flooring materials play a role in HVAC system performance. A thick material that doesn’t absorb as much heat will have a lower thermal mass, so it won’t add to your cooling load.

Your window treatments can also influence your home’s cooling requirements. Well-fitted cellular shades are a good example — they can block as much as 85 percent of summer heat gain through the windows, and save HVAC wear and energy.

Airflow and Performance

The location of furniture and home decor items can negatively affect essential HVAC system airflow. For instance, furniture or long window coverings that block HVAC vents can restrict airflow and put extra strain on your cooling equipment. Over time, airflow restrictions can impact your system’s energy efficiency, reliability and lifespan.

Indoor Air Quality

Common components used in interior finishes and furniture release toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that erode the quality of the air circulated by your HVAC system. These items can include paints, stains, carpet, flooring, textiles and furniture adhesives.

Contact us at CCAC for ways to minimize troublesome HVAC effects in your Coastal Bend home.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about your HVAC system, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495.