One ton of cooling also called refrigeration refers to the amount of heat needed to melt a pound of ice over 24 hours, according to FurnaceCompare. Wait, why ice? Good question! Before the advent of electric air conditioning, people cooled their homes and businesses with large blocks or tons of ice.
As it slowly melted, the ice absorbed the heat in the room. The process worked just like the modern-day air conditioner. The takeaway: Merge what you know about BTUs and tonnage to determine the best-sized air conditioner and cooling capacity for your home. Before you commit to a particular AC unit, you may want to know how much electricity it may consume to cool your home.
That way, you get an idea of how it will influence your utility costs. BTUs, when converted to kilowatts and kilowatt-hours, can help you figure that out. First, a quick explainer: A kilowatt is 1, watts, which is a measurement of power. A kilowatt hour measures the amount of energy needed to run an appliance, tool or machine for one hour. When it comes to your air conditioning, a kilowatt hour tells you how much energy your AC is using, which could be instrumental in helping you decide what kind of unit to buy.
Within that period, your air conditioner would use If you want to determine your estimated energy costs, multiply your kilowatt hours That gives you kilowatt hours per month. As of May , the average electricity rate in the U. Energy Information Administration. By multiplying your electricity rate by your kilowatt-hours, you can determine your energy costs:.
But hopefully those calculations can help you make a more informed purchasing decision. BTUs are an essential part of identifying the air conditioner that will best fit your needs.
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However, below we have listed some general BTU recommendations that will help get you started. This is due to the added ambient heat added due to the environment. This may mean going up to the next available cooling power. If there is going to be more than two people in the area at a time, you should add approximately BTUs per additional person.
If you plan on using your air conditioner in your kitchen, or any area of your home where your appliances will likely generate higher levels of heat, you will need to add 4, BTUs to the recommended cooling power.
Lastly, you want to consider whether or not your space is open or confined. Our square footage recommendations are meant for confined areas, so if your room open ups into another space without the option of closing a door, you will want to add in that other space. For example, if you want to cool a kitchen that opens into a living room, you will want to combine the size of those two rooms as if they were one space and use that as your determinate square footage.
For help calculating the right BTU for your needs, feel free to give our portable air conditioner experts a call at 1. Kara Zorn is a wife and working mom who loves life hacks that help her schedule allow for as much quality family time as possible. She enjoys cooking with locally sourced food and produce and recently took up brewing Kombucha. How big of an air conditioner would I need to cool a house with 5 bedrooms a kitchen and dining room and how can you tell if its a or a unit.
A sqft house is usually good with a 5 ton ac. My apartment faces the sun and it stays hot even during the winter if the sun is out. I hardly get any air in my bedrm. I previously had a 12, btu which just gave out after 10yrs. Would a 14 or 15, btu work better. In need of a new one. Please help. Thank you in advance. I know that the BTU is a unit of energy and that even if a candle is left on long enough, it can deliver any amount of BTUs.
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