Basic Air Conditioning Square Foot Size Guide An air conditioning unit is a must-have for hot summer days. Air conditioners keep your home cool and comfortable on warm days and are relatively easy to install and inexpensive. Before you buy an air conditioner, it's best to understand a few points about square footage. The power of an air conditioning unit is represented by British Thermal Units per hour (BTU/h or simply BTU). In general, a 20-foot by 20-foot room requires 6,000 to10,000 BTU. For multiple rooms up to 800 square feet, a unit between 10,000 and 16,000 BTU is suitable. Begin by calculating the square footage in your house. Measure all the rooms you would like to be cooled by multiplying the length by the width. Add these together for the total square footage for your house. Begin with the base BTU range for your square footage. See the chart on InspectAPedia in the Resources section for a complete listing of base BTUs by square footage. Depending on the room type and setup, you might need to add additional BTUs to the base BTUs.

For rooms with an uninsulated roof or ceiling, add 4,000 BTUs. floor mounted ac unitFor kitchens, add 4,000 BTUs. charging your ac unitFor each window that receives sunshine throughout the day, add 1,500 BTUs. how much should a 5 ton ac unit costAlso, add 600 BTUs for each person that will be occupying the room (e.g., a bedroom). Subtract 1,000 BTUs if the room is on the shaded side of the home. The base BTUs plus the additional BTUs should give you a rough idea of what kind of air conditioning unit you need. However, there are a couple things you should keep in mind. Do not buy a bigger air conditioning unit than you need. Air conditioners that are too powerful for the space cool the air too quickly and will shut off before the air is dehumidified.

Ultimately, this will cause the units to use more energy. You'll also need to adjust if your building gets an unusual amount of direct sunlight or is in a sunny region. High ceilings also require more cooling power. EPA - Air Conditioners They would typically be used for rooms in which the total square footage was below 800 square feet. Apply the square footage to size the correct air ... What Size Central Air for 1200 Square Feet? The size of a... Basic Air Conditioning Square Foot Size Guide; Air Conditioner BTU Vs. Square Footage; How do I Select a Room Size Air Conditioner?... Heating systems are commonly rated in BTUs (British Thermal Units). One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature... How to Calculate AC Requirements How do I Calculate the Heating & Cooling for 900 Square Feet? How Big of an Air Conditioning Unit Should I Put in a 1500 Square Foot... What BTU Air Conditioner Do You Need? How to Calculate Air Conditioner Footage

The Best SEER Air Conditioner for a 1,600-Square-Foot HouseToday’s air conditioners come in several different sizes, whether they are a central air conditioner, a stand alone air conditioner or a window air conditioner. To have your air conditioning in your home run at peak efficiency you should size it to the area you are trying to cool. In order to figure out the correct cooling area you will need to measure all areas you are trying to cool. This will give you a close estimate on what size air conditioner you will need to keep you cool. In order to calculate this you will need to multiply the length times the width of the rooms you will be cooling. Once you have that number you can multiply that total time 25 BTU. This will give you excellent cooling whether it’s a sunny hot day, humid day or a moist day. Here is an example of figuring out what BTU is appropriate for your cooling demands. If the room you are trying to cool is 14 feet wide by 16 feet long that would mean you have 224 square feet.

So we will take the 224 and times it by 25 BTU per square foot. So 224×25 = 5600 BTU’s. This is the minimum you would want to use to efficiently cool your room. So what would happen if you were to use an air conditioner that is to small or to large. An air conditioning unit that is rated for less BTU’s will want to continually run so it can keep up trying to meet the cooling needs required. This will make your electric bill go up and will not effectively cool the room. A larger air conditioning unit can be overkill. In the air conditioning business bigger is not better. An air conditioner that is too large for the area will cool more quickly, but that is not always best when trying to properly cool a room. When your air conditioner is on and cooling the room, it is also extracting moisture from the air. Moisture in the air is humidity which makes us feel hot and sticky. Even though the air will be cooler in a short amount of time, it does not give the air conditioning unit time to extract the moisture out of the air.

So to properly calculate the size of the air conditioner you will require, measure the area to be cooled and take this information to an air conditioning company or an appliance store where they can make the proper recommendations on what size air conditioner will best suit you.So how do you know which size air conditioner you need given the many different sizes available? It depends on the size of the room or rooms you are trying to cool. To start you need to measure the area that needs to be cooled and this will give you a good idea of the correct size air conditioner you will need. If you are looking for an air conditioner that will cool your entire house then please call us as there are many other factors needed to calculate this. To calculate the size you need to multiply the length times the width of the room or rooms you are trying to cool. When trying to cool two adjacent areas determine each space separately and add the totals together. Then refer to our chart to the right to see how many BTU’s your air conditioner needs in order to cool the room(s) properly.

Example 1: You want to cool just one room that is 10′ long and 12′ wide. 10 X 12 = 120 By looking at our chart you would need an air conditioner with 5,000 BTU’s to cool this room of 120 sq. ft. Example 2: You want to cool two adjacent rooms. Room #1 is 10′ long and 11′ feet and Room #2 is 8′ wide and 10′ long. Room #1: 10 X 11 = 110 Room #2: 8 X 10 = 80 Total of both rooms is 190. You would need an air conditioner with 6,000 BTU’s to cool these rooms. Once you have determined the number of BTUs that will most efficiently cool your rooms, you need to make adjustments based on other factors as well: How many BTUs to cool a room? Here are some common room sizes and the needed BTUs: 8 X 10 = 80 sq. ft. | 9 X 10 = 90 sq. ft. | 10 X 12 = 120 sq. ft. | 11 X 13 = 143 sq. ft. | 12 X 12 = 144 sq. ft. | 12 X 14 = 168 sq. ft. | 13 X 19 = 247 sq. ft. | 14 X 18 = 252 sq. ft. | 16 X 20 = 320 sq. ft. |