What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need For My House

What Size Air conditioning Unit Does Your Firm Need?

Written on: June 23, 2020

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If you've decided to invest in a cooling organization for your dwelling , you already know it'due south a major investment, so you want to be sure you're buying the right unit for your house.

While in that location are several things to consider when deciding which Air-conditioning unit to buy , perchance the nigh important question you may be asking yourself: What size AC unit practice I demand?

Not but practice you want to avoid wasting money on the incorrect air conditioner, but you also don't want to throw your money out the window each month, as the unnecessarily large Air-conditioning unit burns upward your free energy bill.

Likewise, you don't want to buy a unit that's too pocket-size for your house, which means it volition exist running all the time to effort and cool you downwards, eventually leading y'all to buy a 2nd unit of measurement.

Thankfully, y'all can avert guessing games and calculate the right size Air-conditioning unit your business firm needs.

Calculating The Right Size Ac Unit of measurement

There are several things you volition need to consider, all of which will affect the size of the Air-conditioning unit you will need for your house:

What is the square footage of your house?
What geographic region do you live in, and what is the local climate like?
How much insulation do y'all have and how erstwhile is it?
How many windows practise yous have in your house?
Does your house become a lot of shade or sun?
How quondam is your ductwork and how old is it?
How many people live in your house?

To come upwards with a ballpark, the iii almost important numbers you demand to know:

The square footage of your house
The required tonnage of the unit
The height of your ceilings

What Is Air-conditioning Unit Tonnage?

Tonnage actually has nothing to exercise with weight. A ton refers to the Air conditioning unit's capacity to cool the air, in other words, how much heat the unit can remove in one hour.

That capacity is measured in BTUs or British Thermal Units . Why BTU? A long time agone, they adamant it takes 286,000 BTU to completely melt ane ton of ice in a 24-hour period. HVAC experts somewhen divided that number by 24 hours and came up with 12,000 BTU/1-ton Air-conditioning capacity.

Using that measurement, a two-ton Air conditioning unit volition remove 24,000 BTUs, while a three-ton AC unit will remove 36,000 BTUs. Therefore, the more tonnage the Ac unit of measurement is rated for, the more than air it can cool down.

DIY Calculations

To get a rough judge of the tonnage you volition need from your AC unit of measurement, use the following calculation:

Foursquare footage of your home x 25 (estimated energy to absurd one square human foot is 25 BTU) / 12,000 –1 = Air-conditioning Unit of measurement Tonnage

For example, the calculations for a 1,200-foursquare-human foot home:

(1,200 ten 25) / 12,000 –1 = ane.v Tons

Y'all would demand a 1.v ton AC unit of measurement for your business firm.

If you alive in a drier or hotter region, don't subtract 1.

For case, the calculations for a ane,200-square-foot dwelling located in New United mexican states:

(1,200 x 25) / 12,000 = 2.five Tons

Y'all would need a 2.5 ton Ac unit for your house.

This table should give you an idea of what size Ac unit of measurement you need, depending on the square footage of your house (located in a temperate climate region):

Square Footage	BTUs per hour	Ac Unit Tonnage
450 to 550	12,000	1 Ton
550 to 700	14,000	i.five Tons
700 to 1,000	xviii,000	1.5 Tons
1,000 to 1,200	21,000	2 Tons
i,200 to 1,400	23,000	two Tons
1,400 to 1,500	24,000	two Tons
1,500 to 2,000	xxx,000	2.five Tons
2,000 to 2,500	34,000	iii Ton

Of course, all the other factors we previously discussed will likewise impact the unit you ultimately terminate upward purchasing:

What geographic region practice you live in, and what is the local climate similar? Volition y'all need higher or lower power to go on you absurd?
How much insulation do you take and how old is information technology, and how erstwhile is your ductwork? If your insulation or ductwork is old, air can escape, requiring more ability to go along your home cool.
How many windows do you have in your house, and does your house get a lot of shade or sunday? Natural sunlight can rut your home up actually quickly. Without proper sunblocks on your windows, you might demand a stronger Air-conditioning to proceed your home cool.
How many people live in your house? The more than torso heat in your home, the more than energy you'll need to keep your house absurd.

Which Blazon Of AC Unit Do I Need?

There are commonly two different types of air-conditioning systems yous can install in your domicile: a packaged unit or a split system.

Packaged Unit

The packaged unit air conditioner is the one nigh commonly associated with a central air system. With this organization, the evaporator, condenser, and compressor are placed in one unmarried cabinet. This cabinet is most often located on a concrete slab outside or on the roof. This type of packaged air conditioner usually includes electric heating coils or a natural gas furnace. This removes the need for an entirely split up furnace.

Dissever-System Primal Air

This type of arrangement is most often used in homes that already have a furnace simply no air conditioner installed. Information technology'southward the nearly cost-constructive fashion to install air conditioning in a business firm.

With a split-organization central air-conditioning unit, an outdoor chiffonier holds the condenser and compressor. An indoor cabinet holds the evaporator. This indoor cabinet may also hold the furnace.

Buying The Right AC Unit of measurement

While it's fairly elementary to come up with a rough gauge on the right size Ac unit of measurement you will need for your house, ultimately, it's safer and will save yous money in the long run, if you work with an HVAC skillful to decide the proper size.

Installing central air tin cost you between $iii,779 and $vii,429 , according to HomeAdvisor.com. So you lot want to make certain y'all're buying the right unit the start time.

Getting the right unit will ensure your cooling arrangement can perform efficiently for years, especially with regular maintenance .