How do you determined what size air conditioner to get for a room?

Answer 1

A rule of thumb is 500 square feet per ton. Now, this is an average, and if you have a ton of glass, or skimpy insulation, you will need additional cooling capacity. Given this formula, then, a 20X20 room has 400 square feet, requiring .8 tons. A ton of cooling b.t.u's is 12, 000 X .8 = 9600 b.t.u.'s.

Just remember, that several factors weigh in on sizing: overhangs, glass area, glass tinting, window shades, ceiling & wall insulation, exterior wall area, expected amount of people in the room, times of usage, just to name a few. As long as you don't grossly oversize the unit, it is wise to purchase some additional capacity. I would use a 12,000 b.t.u. unit for a 20x20 room, for example.

Answer 2

Size Air Conditioner For Room

Answer 3

They measure power in "BTUs". IF you plan to purchase one call a big store and ask them, preferably the one you would purchase it from. I think you have to measure the area you want cooled. Like width times length times height. If you live at the top of a building you should tell them to see how to calculate the extra heat. I had an apartment like that and bought a heavy duty air conditioner and it took about 15 mins. to cool the apartment. Another thought is that if you do buy one you might want to spend a little more for extra power to be safe. If you live in an old building you can get ones for "low amp" like 7 amps here where I am. Ask the building manager or landlord if you need a "low amp" air conditioner and what the amp number is. Also don't forget they now have many brands that do not require being installed in a window. You might want to buy one that is movable that is good for all the rooms you want to use it in. Maybe it will have wheels on the bottom that will not hurt the floor. OR ,If you just want to know how to calculate the power needed for an air conditioner and are not looking to buy one...go to the library or ask a friend if they have the documentation from their air conditioner and see if that info is in there. If you want to buy a particular brand always remember that any big company probably has an 800 number that's free to call for info (800-555-1212 will give you all listings of 800 or any others like 866 or 877 numbers no matter what the company)

Answer 4

You do need to take the size of the room into consideration but that is not where you stop. In many situations if you size an a/c on room size alone you will not be close and definitely no cigar not to mention sweltering and stewing in your own juices cursing the company that made the unit and the company that the unit was purchased from and anybody or anything involved with the a/c.

The "heat load" is as important if not more important than room size. You need to consider type and size of windows and doors, doors going to the interior or outside, roof or another floor above, amount of people in the room, insulation and heating devices in the room (cooking appliances, refrigerators etc. etc...).

Here is the URL to a site that will calculate what size is needed. Scroll toward the bottom of the page for the calculator.

http://www.warmair.com/html/window_air_cond.htm

Answer 5

typically you measure the room and go with the specs that are on the side of the box.... but what you want to do .. is find out what the specs recommend and then go with one a step up from that... i work at lowes and have sold a few a/c's and ive been told by ALOT of people that the 6200 btu a/c is not worth buying b/c you have to run it all the time just to keep the place cool...and they were telling me the room size it was in was like 10 x 12... so

i recommend going with the biggest one you can afford. b/c you can always turn it off when it gets cold. considering most of them are inefficient as far as energy goes.

hope that helped.

Answer 6

Take a look at this chart http://www.relenergy.com/resources/what-size-air-conditioner-do-i-need/ as it gives the BTU's needed to cool different size rooms. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

a reasonably basic ordinary answer is to apply 30 btu consistent with sq. foot. For a library 40' x 20', the calculation may be (40 x 20) x 30 = 24,000 btu or 2 a lot (12,000 btu = a million ton).

Answer 8

Usually 500 sq feet per ton which is 12k btu

Answer 9

if you're purchasing a window unit, it will usually say in the specs how a large of a room it will cool (e.g. so many square feet) . measure the room or rooms which will be cooled and go from there.

Answer 10

by the sq.ft. that u are wanting to cool.