Equipment
- Goodman 18,000 BTU (1.5-ton) high-efficiency heat pump
- Matched indoor air handler
- New refrigerant linesets
- Smart thermostat
- Sealed duct connections
- New disconnect + surge protection
The starting situation
A San Ramon homeowner in a single-story house had an HVAC system that was old, noisy, and unable to hold steady temperatures through the day. The customer wanted a modern heat-pump solution sized appropriately for their home, not oversized “just in case.” That’s actually the rarer customer ask, and it usually leads to a better install: people who understand that oversizing equipment is the most common way to end up with a system that short-cycles and gives uneven comfort.
We did the load calculation. The right answer for this house was an 18,000 BTU (1.5-ton) heat pump, small by Bay Area standards but exactly matched to the actual square footage and envelope. A 3-ton would have short-cycled itself to early failure in this house. The 1.5-ton runs longer, holds temperature steadier, and lasts longer.
What we installed
- Goodman 18,000 BTU (1.5-ton) high-efficiency heat pump: outdoor condenser sized to calculated load, not square-foot rule-of-thumb
- Matched indoor air handler with factory R-410A charge
- New refrigerant linesets running from outdoor to indoor unit
- Smart thermostat with heat-pump-aware staging
- Sealed duct connections at the air handler, we re-mastic-sealed every joint during the swap rather than reusing the original seal-tape that had been failing
- New electrical disconnect, whip, and surge protector on the high-voltage side
The detail that mattered
Right-sizing is unsexy. Customers walk in expecting their installer to recommend the biggest unit that will physically fit. We do load calculations and recommend what the math says. On this house the math said 1.5-ton; we installed 1.5-ton. The system was pressure-tested, vacuumed to spec, and charged to manufacturer-specified subcool. The result: a system that runs longer cycles at lower compressor speed, which is exactly how modern heat pumps are designed to operate.
The opposite scenario: a 3-ton in this house, would have hit setpoint in 8 minutes, shut off, drifted, kicked on for another 8 minutes, repeated all day. That cycling pattern wears out compressors and the homeowner experiences temperature swings of 4-5°F between cycles. Right-sizing is what avoids that.
What the homeowner got
Quiet operation, stable temperatures throughout the day, energy bills that reflect actual load (not oversized waste), and a heat pump that should run smoothly for its full rated service life. 10-year parts + 10-year labor warranty on our install plus Goodman factory equipment warranty.
The photos below show the original outdoor unit, the disconnect and removal sequence, and the new refrigerant-line and condenser install in progress.
Before
After
