What Size Ac Unit For 1200 Square Feet

Fourth dimension to add some cooling to your home and wondering what size unit you need? Perhaps a 2.5-ton vs a 3-ton air conditioner?

Here's a tip, bigger isn't always better.

Here's some other tip, and this one is critical. Properly sizing any HVAC appliance is based on a whole lot of math, not guestimates or estimates. Just yep, estimates are easier to come by. And they're costless.

And manufacturers practise provide estimates, which helps homeowners narrow down their choices.

For example, a 30,000 BTU, 2.v-ton air conditioner is fabricated to effectively cool a dwelling house between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet. A slightly larger 3,600, 3-ton unit, is designed for homes that are 1,500 to ane,800 square feet.

Only as I said, this is an guess, and you shouldn't purchase a 3-ton ac unit simply considering your home is i,600 square anxiety. So what should you lot do and why?

First, and because estimates are beneficial, I'll provide the size y'all probably should be looking at based on your abode size. Then I'll explain how you have that ballpark gauge and make sure it actually is the right size for your home. Because possibly you should exist ownership something smaller.

Estimating the Right Size Air Conditioning Unit for Your Home

Every bit mentioned, the HVAC industry does provide general guidelines for sizing an air conditioner. And it'south skillful to have these in your head before you phone call several of your local HVAC professionals to come and give you quotes. Because knowledge is power.

2 air conditioner — Check guidelines for sizing of air conditioners before calling your local HVAC

How Air Conditioner Sizes are Measured

The cooling chapters of an air conditioner is based on the number—in tons—of British Thermal Units (BTUs) information technology can remove in an hr.

The industry standard for primal air conditioning units is that they begin from a minimum size of 1.v tons and go larger in half-ton sizes. And so, 1.5-ton, 2-ton, 2.5-ton, and then on. And each half-ton will cool an estimated 750 to ane,000 square feet of space.

Here are your ballpark estimates. Just delight note these are at the higher end of the scale, not the lower end.

Air Conditioner Size	Dwelling house Size
1.v-ton unit (18,000 BTUs)	ane,500 square foot home
2-ton unit of measurement (24,000 BTUs)	2,000 square foot dwelling house
2.5-ton unit (30,000 BTUs)	2,500 square foot dwelling house
3-ton unit of measurement (36,000 BTUs)	three,000 square foot home
three.v-ton unit of measurement (42,000 BTUs)	3,500 foursquare foot dwelling house

From there, things get much more granular.

One extremely of import piece of data needs to be calculated into the equation when sizing HVAC equipment. Where you lot live, and how hot it is there.

The HVAC manufacture uses zones for this, typically zones 1 through five.

Let's do some comparisons of the 3 sizes we're specifically talking about. 2, ii.5, and 3-ton air conditioners. And I'll utilise zone 1 and zone 5. The hottest and coldest zones respectively.

If you accept a one,200 square foot home and live in a hotter climate, depending on a lot of variables, you could need a 2 (24,000 BTUs) or 2.5-ton (30,000 BTUs) unit. Merely if you lot live in a cold climate, a two.five-ton unit will probable be oversized.

Here's some other example.

If y'all live in a home that'south about ane,800 square feet, has standard 8-foot ceilings, average sun exposure, and it's a cold climate, you'll probably need a iii-ton, (36,000 BTUs) unit of measurement. Change that to a hot climate, and you lot'll demand to upsize that to a 3.5-ton (42,000 BTUs) unit. Assuming all variables remain the same.

What are the Variables?

I mentioned a few variables that will touch on what size equipment you need, but that is simply the tip of the iceberg.

bedroom with big windows — Windows are one of the variables yous need to consider for your HVAC organisation

Here's a list of variables that an HVAC professional will take into consideration when properly calculating the size.

Appliances. Are you cooling your kitchen as well? Or your laundry room? Appliances that requite off heat are a variable.
Building Materials. Is your domicile fabricated of brick? Stucco? Siding? All will impact heat gain differently.
Ceiling meridian. If you have higher than standard ceilings, this can create a cooling deficit due to the increased volume of air.
Climate. If you live in a hotter climate, you'll probably need a larger unit of measurement.
Electronics. Just like appliances above, your electronics give off rut.
Insulation. What R-value is your insulation, and how much of it do you have?
Lighting. The type and amount of lighting in your habitation will affect rut gain.
Occupants. Yes, your body gives off heat.
Windows. The area of windows in your dwelling house. What direction they face, and how many hours of direct sunlight you become. Exercise you lot have any natural shading confronting the house? Trees, hedges, and and so along.

How to Properly Size an Air Conditioner

Starting time, this can be done by the homeowner, assuming they tin can wrap their heads around it. And there are proper rut load calculators you lot can notice online, but however, the procedure is fairly complex.

So what is heat load?

If yous add upwardly all the atmospheric condition I mentioned above, you'll become your heat load—sometimes called estrus gain. And the sum will be expressed in either BTUs or Kilowatts.

This sum is important because your air conditioner needs to be sized big enough to be greater than the heat proceeds.

Everything that'due south going on on the other side of our doors and windows—temperature-wise, at least—has an impact on the interior temperature of our homes. Rut load simply refers to the corporeality of heating or cooling that is necessary to counteract it, allowing us to be comfortable within.

Here is the method to calculate your HVAC load.

Footstep one. Take the foursquare footage of the area to exist cooled and multiply by 31.25
Step 2. Calculate heat gain through your windows and so multiply that amount times ane.4, bold yous have no shading against your south-facing windows. Note that y'all would merely use 1.iv nether these specific conditions. The number would change if yous had, for example, s-facing windows with no shading.
Stride 3. Calculate the oestrus generated past each occupant, using 600 BTUs per person.
Step 4. Add upward all the heat generated by all appliances and electronics in the dwelling, using the power wattage for each, and then multiply past 3.4.
Step 5. Add together up the total wattage used past all household lighting, and so multiply by 4.25.
Step vi. Add the totals of steps ane through v to detect your total rut load.

In theory, calculation up all those BTUs should provide you with the HVAC load necessary to heat or cool a abode.

Completely lost? Not surprising. And this is why getting a professional in to suggest a proper size based on their load calculations is the all-time thought.

Having said that, yous'll notice that even some pros desire to cut corners and ballpark the number for you. And that means yous could end upwardly with a unit of measurement that is too large or too minor for your dwelling. Either volition be inefficient in your space and volition end upward costing you more in operating costs than it should.

If you have a pro that doesn't want to do a proper job correct from the showtime, do you actually want them installing equipment in your home? Think about that for a bit.

Conclusion

So, which size is better for yous? Should you get with a two ton, 2.5 ton, or 3-ton air conditioner? Well, if yous made it through all of the in a higher place without your eyes crossing, you'll know I tin't answer that for you.

Or at to the lowest degree I can't answer that with any caste of certainty. And you desire certainty because dubiety won't come cheap in this case.

But I can provide you with vague, loose, estimates.

2-ton unit (24,000 BTUs)	2,000 square pes domicile
ii.5-ton unit of measurement (30,000 BTUs)	two,500 square pes home
3-ton unit (36,000 BTUs)	3,000 square pes dwelling

Thanks for reading! Hopefully, nosotros've provided some useful information. And while yous're here, why not check out the related manufactures beneath? Possibly we can help you with something else as well.