Calculating the square footage of a room can guide you in getting the right British Thermal Unit size air conditioner for your home and guarantee efficient cooling.
Overview
Having a good air conditioner for your home requires ensuring that you choose the right size unit for your home. The right size is not determined by the physical dimensions of a unit, but rather by the cooling capacity it has to effectively cool down a room or space.
The cooling capacity is meant by the size of an air conditioner and it is determined by how many British Thermal Units (BTU) it has. If you want to purchase a new air conditioning unit, you have to know how many BTUs you need in a unit.
BTUs in air conditioners
The size of an air conditioner is in the number of BTUs it has. The BTU is the cooling capacity of an AC unit, meaning it is the level of power it has to cool a room of a certain size. BTU is the metric of measurement used to determine the power of an air conditioner’s cooling capability.
When you are searching for an air conditioning system, the BTU is important for the size of your space and you need to know how many BTUs you need to look for to efficiently cool your space or home.
How many BTUs in an air conditioner do I need?
The British Thermal Unit is the international standard for measuring thermal (heat) energy. Part of finding out what size air conditioner you need requires that you measure the size of the room or space in which you are going to place the unit. This will give you the square footage.
The various BTUs of air conditioners will be able to cool rooms of a certain size in square feet. So, if you have a room with a square footage of 500, then you need to look for an air conditioner that can cool rooms of up to 500 square feet.
To get your square footage, measure the length and width of the room and multiply them. If you have a triangular shaped room, take your square footage and half it.
Is a bigger BTU unit better for cooling faster?
Assuming that an air conditioner with a bigger BTU will likely guarantee faster cooling is a mistake many buyers make. It is important that you only buy a unit with enough BTU to cool the size of your specific room.
A bigger unit may not be ideal for your room if it is too small to accommodate a high BTU unit. The unit will cool faster but might shut itself down when it reaches your desired temperature, causing it to cycle.
Why a smaller BTU unit will not work for bigger rooms
People also often have the misconception that opting for a smaller unit with a lower BTU will help them save on running expenses. This is far from the truth as doing this will, in fact, increase your expenses.
If your BTU unit is too small and your room is much too big for the unit, it will have to work twice as hard to cool down the room.
This, in turn, increases your electricity bills drastically as the unit is overworking and running non-stop to try to cool the large space adequately.
Other considerations for choosing the right BTU size unit
In some cases, there are additional factors you should consider when it comes to your home. Sometimes, you may need to adjust the BTU you need.
This is because some rooms have higher ceilings than others and it may be necessary in this case to get a slightly bigger BTU size air conditioner to accommodate the high room’s height, so that the unit is not struggling and overworking to cool the room. If you have a hotter climate and bigger windows, a bigger BTU will also be needed.
Final thoughts
Air conditioners come in different sizes, as determined by the BTU cooling capacity of the unit. The BTU is the measurement of how powerful a unit is in cooling rooms of a certain size. When purchasing a new air conditioner, buyers need to know which BTU to get for their unique space.
It is crucial that the unit’s BTU matches the size of the room you are purchasing it for, and you need to calculate the room size to get its exact square footage. You will know which BTU air conditioner to get when you know what the square footage of the room is that you intend to cool.