When the temperatures are high and too much to handle, you want a system that can reduce the temperature as fast as possible. So, it’s essential to understand what size air conditioner you need to get the best cooling experience,
However, when people talk about what size they need, you should know they’re referring to the system’s cooling capacity.
If you find yourself asking ‘’what size air conditioner do I need?’’ You should know the right air conditioner for your room depends on some factors, including the insulation you have, where your home is located, and the orientation of your home.
In this article, we’ll help you understand how to calculate how big of an air conditioner you need and understand the factors that affect the efficiency of your air conditioner.
Factors that Determine the Right Air Conditioner Size for You
Purchasing an air conditioner is a significant long-term investment that continuously costs you some power and maintenance fees. Therefore, you should take precautions to choose the right one for your living space.
To get started, you need to understand the factors that influence the size of the air conditioner you should purchase. They include:
Size of your room
Generally, the bigger your room, the bigger the air conditioner it takes to cool the room. However, many people only consider the size of their floor space when considering their room size.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t check all the boxes. You need to know the total volume of your room before making a decision. For example, a room with high ceilings will require more energy to cool its air than a room with low ceilings.
Room Insulation
Insulation helps you manage heat well, so you probably have less heat in your living space than you usually would without insulation.
You need to know how efficient your room’s insulation is. If you don’t have one, you should install one before purchasing an air conditioner. It’ll reduce the workload of your air conditioning system and prolong its life span.
Room Orientation
What direction does your home or room face? If your room’s window faces the north or the west, you’ll have more heat in the summer than a room that faces the south. So, consider how much you’ll experience before deciding what size air conditioner you’ll need.
Geographical Location
If you live in a generally warm and humid area, you need an air conditioner that effectively dehumidifies your room. However, if your geographical location is where there’s high temperature but low humidity, you need an air conditioner that doesn’t remove much moisture from the air.
Type of Air Conditioner
Generally, you’ll either purchase a central air conditioning system or a window air conditioner. While central air conditioners are great, air conditioners mounted on the windows are better and more efficient at circulating cool air in specific areas as they sit about 5 feet above the floor.
However, if you have an open layout living area or office, you might then be asking yourself, what size central air conditioner do I need?
How to Determine the Right Size Air Conditioner for You
In battling heat, you may have wondered, “how big of an air conditioner do I need?” To determine the right air conditioner size for you, you need to do some calculations and consider all the factors that influence the type of air conditioner to buy.
Your calculation will give you the total volume of your room and the cooling capacity of the air conditioner to buy, usually in British Thermal Units (BTU).
You can calculate by using online calculators to get the right size air conditioner for your space. However, you can also calculate manually.
Follow these steps to manually calculate the right size air conditioner for you.
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Calculate the volume of your room by multiplying the length, breadth, and height of the room. If you want to cool the air in more than a room, calculate all the areas you want to cool.
Note: Calculate in square foot
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Multiply the result of your room volume calculation by 25.
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Your result is the cooling capacity of the right air conditioner for your space.
Here is an example;
If your room is 10m long, 12m wide, and 3m tall, convert your room dimensions to read in feet. That means your room is 32.8 x 39.4 x 9.8 feet.
So, the volume of your room will be 12,644.7 cubic feet. Multiplying it by 25 gives us 316,177.5. That means you need an ac unit with such cooling capacity to cool that room.
You can have two or three air conditioners to meet that capacity and produce the desired cooling result.
Why Should you Choose the Right Size Air Conditioner for Your Space?
Accurately answering the question ‘’what size air conditioner do I need?’’ comes with some benefits, and they include:
Efficient Cooling
The right size air conditioner cools the air in your space without leaving humidity behind. It gives you the right comfortable feeling of coolness after some time, usually 15 minutes, and leaves the humidity level in the air optimal to maintain that coolness. Using an air conditioner with less capacity than you need will dehumidify the room faster and leave you feeling dry.
Right Power Consumption
The proper air conditioner size consumes just enough power to cool your space. However, an oversized air conditioner consumes more energy and increases your power consumption costs. Also, going for a smaller air conditioner than you need will mean it’ll constantly run at maximum output, increasing power costs.
Less Maintenance Cost
The right size air conditioner will consume the right amount of power and work at its optimum output level, giving you fewer technical issues. Consequently, you can save on maintenance costs.
Hire an Air Conditioner Installation Expert Today
“What size air conditioner do I need?” requires some calculations to answer. You can do that calculation by using the guide in this article or just use online calculators. Alternatively, you can allow your HVAC expert to determine what size is best for you using the Manual J calculation.
Thinking of purchasing an air conditioning system in Spokane, WA? Hurliman Heating can help you upgrade to a more energy-efficient unit. This will save money on your energy bills and help you avoid unnecessary repairs.
