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When it’s time to get a new air conditioning system for your home, one of the most important steps in choosing the right model is to size it. This doesn’t refer to the physical size of the AC, but to how much cooling capacity it has and the amount of heat it can remove from a space. It’s essential that an air conditioner is sized accurately or it will struggle to cool your home, waste power, and run down early. Let’s go into more detail on sizing and why it’s so vital.
How the “size” of an AC is measured
The cooling capacity of an air conditioner is measured in “tons.” This doesn’t mean the weight of the AC. It’s a measure of the amount of heat it draws from the house. One ton of heat is the amount necessary to melt a ton of ice in 24 hours. A one ton AC can remove 12,000 BTUs of heat per hour from a space. Most homes will need an AC between 4 to 8 tons.
Too small?
If you have an AC installed that’s undersized for the home, it won’t be able to provide enough cooling for comfort. The compressor will run and run as it attempts to remove enough heat from the house to reach the thermostat target—a target it can’t reach. This means a house that’s still too hot and energy bills that are too high.
Too large?
It’s a common error to think that it’s better to have an AC that’s a bit too large than one that’s too small. But an oversized air conditioner is as much a problem as an undersized one. The trouble with an air conditioner that’s too powerful for a house is that it will short-cycle: the AC will lower the temperature so rapidly that the thermostat will register that it’s already finished the job and shut it off.
The AC will turn back on a short time later and repeat the process. This puts immense wear on the unit which wastes power and shortens its service life. The AC will also not stay on long enough to cool all of the house.
Sizing an air conditioner
So how can you find out the right size of air conditioner? You need to have a load calculation done for the house. This calculation takes into account multiple factors about the house that affect how much cooling it requires. These factors include:
- Square footage of the home
- The number of residents
- The number of windows and their facing
- Heat generated from lights and appliances
- Level of insulation and how fast the house gains heat
If the load calculation is done accurately, it will provide the amount of cooling in tons necessary for an AC to cool the home effectively and efficiently.
How do I do a load calculation?
Although you can find methods online, we don’t advise you to attempt this on your own. It’s too complicated and too important a job—call for our professional HVAC services in Tillmans Corner. You’ll need professionals to actually install the AC, so start by having them perform a load calculation to accurately size the unit you need. We’ll ensure you have the ideal new cooling system for your home.