If you want to maintain the right temperature in a particular room, it is important to choose the right room air conditioner for your home. You need to consider the size of the room and its purpose before making your decision to buy an air conditioning unit.
What BTU’s Have To Do With Properly Cooling Your Room
It’s important to match the room size to the BTU rating so that the air conditioner will be able to cool the room properly.
BTU: British Thermal Unit
Before you can make a decision about an air conditioner for a particular room in your home, you will need to know more about BTUs (British Thermal Units). A BTU is an international measure of energy that is used to describe the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
In the heating and cooling industry, BTUs are used to measure the amount of heat that an air conditioning unit can remove from a room per hour. As the BTU rating on a particular unit increases, the size, weight and cost also goes up.
Recommended BTU By Room Size
If you are looking for an air conditioner for a room measuring say 10’ x 15’ (150 square feet), the recommended BTU range is up to 5400. If your room is 10’x 20’ (200 square feet), you’d need to look at a 6,000 BTU unit. Once you get into 340 and 400 square feet per room, you’d need an 8,000 or 9,000 BTU air conditioner, respectively.
Kitchens need more cooling power, since you’ll be operating the oven, which adds heat to the room. Add an additional 4000 BTU to the recommended size for an air conditioning unit in your kitchen.
High ceilings or unusual floor plans also require additional cooling power, which means you should plan for another 10 percent above the standard BTU level. Living in a warmer climate also means you need to add on between 10-20 percent more BTUs per room.
Air Conditioner Size And Cooling Ability
So you’re still wondering if an air conditioner with a higher BTU will cool your room faster, right? Read on:
If your air conditioner has a bigger BTU rating than the room size needs, it will cycle off too quickly, waste energy, and will not adequately dehumidify the space. So a higher BTU than needed is definitely not recommended.
Installing an air conditioner that is too small for the space is also not recommended, since it will run continuously. It will not be powerful enough to cool the space adequately.
Turn To The Air Conditioning Experts!
Whether you need to better cool just one or two rooms or your entire home, our air conditioning experts are here for you!
Cool Breeze Comfort Solutions is Tucson’s and White Mountain Region’s leading air conditioner experts. We can advise you about the right size unit for your home and provide expert installation and maintenance services!
Experience The Cool Breeze Comfort Solutions Difference – Call Us Now!