How To Know What Size Central Air Conditioner To Buy

Each house is different when it comes to its size and space, which means that different houses will call for different air conditioner units. The design of an AC will rely on a lot of factors, apart from the size of a room. Some of the variables that matter are the number of windows, wall heat transfer, ceiling height, and roof size. The size specifications mentioned of the AC may not take these variables under consideration, meaning the size of AC that you have bought or thinking of buying may not be right. So if you’re wondering how to know what size central air conditioner to buy, then read on.

How to determine size

Since not everyone will be familiar with the nitty-gritty of an AC and its required size, let’s try to explain it in a layman’s language. So, there are quite a few ways to know which AC size will be best suitable for your house. Before getting to know which AC size one should buy, you need to know which sizes do AC come in. ACs will come in all shapes and sizes, and they are measured in tonnage. Contrary to what you may think, the tonnage of an air conditioner can actually be decided based on its weight; tonnage is basically the measure of an AC’s ability to cool a room. If you buy one ton AC, it means that your AC will be able to cool 12,000 BTUs in an hour. Simultaneously, if you are purchasing a 2-ton AC, it means that it will be able to cool 24,000 BTUs in an hour.

Now, you may question what BTU stands for — BTU is a British Thermal Unit, and it’s the required amount of energy used by the machine to cool or heat one pound of water.

Usually for homes, the air conditioners that get installed may range from 1.5 to 5-ton units. If you pick an AC with more than 5-tons, that will be a light commercial HVAC unit, which is not advisable and available for residence. If you need an AC that is more than five tons, you will have to install multiple air conditioners. This means that if you ‘re looking for a 6-ton AC for your house, you will have to install 3-ton ACs. Of course, two ACs will cost you more, but the benefit is that even if one AC stops working, you have the second one running. This will certainly not make the room cool enough that it requires 6-ton AC, but it will certainly help your room not get skyrocketing hot.

Why does size matter?

If you end up buying an air conditioner that’s too big for your rooms, the AC will cool your room at a rapid state and will frequently shut down again and again. You may feel that there is no harm in buying an AC that is bigger since it will cool down the room faster, but the issue is that the AC will shut down repeatedly since it’s not going through the complete cycle that the AC has been designed for. Frequent shutting down and turning it on will ultimately affect your electricity bill.

The second point is that those who buy an AC that is too small will deal with different problems. Your AC will keep on operating all day long because it can’t cool down the huge room efficiently. Keeping the AC on all-day-long will undoubtedly make you feel better, but since the small ACs are not designed for bigger rooms, it will end up consuming more energy, leading to increased electricity bills.

If you buy an AC that is of the right size, it will operate and function properly, keeping your house nice and comfortable, and neither will you end up paying burning-high electricity bills.