Keep your family nerveless without wasting energy with our usher to gentle wind conditioner size .

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Depending on the location , an air conditioner may be a temporary contraption , like awindow unitthat ’s only used for a few months of the yr , or a permanent part of your home’sHVAC systemused year around . These appliances put to work to decrease the temperature inside the base , so residents can catch some Z’s , eat , and work in a comfortable environment .

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However , if an melodic phrase conditioner is too lowly for the plate , it will run constantly to attempt to keep up with demand , leading topremature clothing and tearon the contraption . Despite running extra time , the aviation conditioner will belike be unable to meet the needs of the home , so it will neverfeel properly cooled .

invest in an outsize air conditioner might cool down the domicile , but a unit that is too enceinte will scourge a raft of energy , force up heating and cooling bills . rather , take some sentence to learn how to find the correct unit for your home with the aid of this informative usher , so you may suffice the head : what sizing air conditioner do I need ?

Understanding Air Conditioner Sizes

When seek to receive the correct AC unit , it ’s authoritative to have a canonic understanding of air conditioner sizes . This does not look up to the physical size of the unit . Rather , air conditioner size is a measurement of the cool down content , which is typically stage in BTU .

BTU ( British Thermal Unit)is used to evaluate energy . Specifically , it is a measurement of the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water by one arcdegree Fahrenheit at ocean level . When used with air conditioners , the higher the BTU evaluation , the swell the energy output of the appliance . This imply an air conditioner with a high BTU military rank will cool a house best than an air conditioner with a low BTU rating .

In some case , the output of the tune conditioner may be express with aBTUh ( British Thermal Units per hour)rating . This is fundamentally a measurement of how much vigour the atmosphere conditioner uses to remove heat from the home within one hour .

Window air conditioning unit installed in window

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However , this rating can also be stated in tunnage , with 12,000 BTUh adequate to one ton . These terms are not as common , but it ’s still significant to understand what a net ton is and that there is a difference of opinion between BTUh and BTU .

7 Air Conditioner Size Considerations

Before catch into the necessary calculations to find the right air conditioner size of it , it ’s important to see about the various factor that can touch the heating and cool down demands of a home . If you purchase an air conditioner without considering these variable , the unit you purchase might not be able to adequately cool down the home .

How to Calculate the Right Air Conditioner Size

In ordination to bump an tune conditioner that ’s the good size for your home , it ’s necessary to determine the square footage of the home , turn over any factors that could affect the ambient temperature , and calculate the idealistic BTU output .

Start bymeasuring the square footage . If you ’re only buy an air conditioner for a individual room , you only take to measure that elbow room . For whole - home plate air conditioner , it ’s necessary to appraise the square footage for each room , then add the amount together to find the square footage for the intact home .

An air conditioner generally demand about 20 BTU per straight foot of be space . Once you ’ve cipher the straight footage of the elbow room or base , reproduce the result by 20 to find the breeze conditioner size for the home . For lesson , if the square footage of the home is 2,000 square feet , you may find the right air conditioner size by multiplying 2,000 by 20 . The result , as present in this chart , is 40,000 BTUs .

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However , it ’s necessary to consider any factor that could affect the ambient temperature in a room when asking yourself , " what sizing AC unit do I demand ? " Factors like live in a hot mood , cause a home with lots of window that faces the sun for the majority of the sidereal day , or a colored home outside can make it hard to keep a home cool , so you may want to increase the size of the air conditioner accordingly by a few thousand British thermal unit .

Frequently Asked Questions

As a cosmopolitan prescript , aim for 20 BTU per square foot of living distance . Once you ’ve compute the room or home ’s straight footage , multiply the consequence by 20 to find the match BTU .

The square footage to BTU computation rate is the same for HVAC and window units . However , window whole are typically best suit to small spaces , as the big residential units typically only go up to 25,000 BTU .

Look for a high-pitched SEER military rank , which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio and show how Energy Department - efficient the breeze conditioner is based on standards set by the US Department of Energy . And / or look for the ENERGY STAR ® certification , which is given to gadget that have a high SEER valuation and use 8 % less energy than conventional new model .

woman adjusting thermostat at home

fit in to theU.S. Department of Energy , " ENERGY STAR qualified central breeze conditioners must have a SEER of at least 14 . By kick upstairs from SEER 9 to SEER 14 , you may reduce your energy usance by more than 35 % . If you are paying $ 100 per month in direct temperature reduction costs , you could reduce your monthly utility bill by up to $ 35 by switching to the SEER 14 betray air conditioning organization . "

Room melodic line conditioners . ( n.d . ) . Energy . Gov. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/room-air-conditioners

Window air conditioning unit installed in window

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