#Sizing ac unit calculator how to#

Check out this post for some tips on choosing a good HVAC company in Phoenix, Arizona. Installation is arguably best left to professionals who can determine the ideal placement of your air conditioner. Once you know how many BTUs you need for the area you’re looking to cool, your next step will be purchasing an air conditioner capable of providing it. Find an air conditioner that offers the capacity you need based on your calculations.

#Sizing ac unit calculator how to#

Our air conditioning services in Phoenix will be of great help if you live in the area and aren’t sure how to navigate these more nuanced calculations. It can be difficult to gauge which of these factors apply to you.

If you’re purchasing an air conditioner specifically for your kitchen, add 4,000 to the capacity.

If your property is occupied by more than two people at a time, increase the capacity by 600.

Conversely, if your home gets a lot of sunlight (such as in Phoenix, Arizona), increase your capacity by 10%.

If your home is heavily shaded, subtract 10% of the capacity.

Environmental Protection Agency) recommends the following. Energy Star (a program jointly operated by the Department of Energy and U.S. While the calculations you’ve made so far have left you with a rough estimate of how many BTUs you need, there are several additional factors you need to take into account. Multiply your square footage calculation by 20 and you’ll have a good ballpark figure for what capacity air conditioner you need.

While there are many different opinions on how many BTUs you need per square foot, 20 is a good rule of thumb. Just remember to multiply your measurement for each floor. Note: If your house is a perfect square or rectangle, you may be able to calculate the square footage with one easy measurement. Remember to only measure living spaces and exclude areas of your home you’re not looking to cool. If you’re buying an air conditioner to cool your entire home, you’ll need to repeat this process for each room then add the square footage together. If your room is a more complex shape, divide it into smaller triangles and squares then combine each section’s measurements. For triangular spaces, add an extra step and divide the result of that calculation by two (remember, a non-equilateral triangle is just half of a square or triangle). For square and rectangular spaces, multiply the room’s length and width. If you’re cooling a single room, this is easy. How many BTUs you need depends on several factors, which we’ll explore next. Under this application, one BTU translates to the amount of heat an air conditioner can remove within an hour.

Nonetheless, the HVAC industry uses BTUs to measure cooling capacity. It’s a bit of an odd metric, particularly in the United States where we’ve shunned most British measurement units. The British thermal unit (BTU) is a metric used to represent the amount of heat it takes to raise a pound of water’s temperature by one degree. What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need? Understanding British Thermal Units In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps experts use to determine what size AC unit is required. Failure to do so can result in airflow problems and other long-term effects that will cost you time and money to fix. What size air conditioner do I need? This is a very important question to answer correctly when shopping for a new HVAC unit.