The watts needed to run every single air conditioning unit varies based on the type of air conditioner, the specific model, and the capacity of the unit.
There are benefits for your health and electronics associated with installing an air conditioning unit additionally to just cooling down your space.
However, air conditioning units draw a lot of power and based on the specific unit you choose, they can use up to 3500 Watts or more, per hour.
Benefits of having an air conditioner
Air conditioning systems are often considered a luxurious appliance in a house, but there are many benefits associated with having an air conditioner, besides the comfort of cooler air in hot weather.
Air conditioners can remove excess moisture from the air, which means that you are less likely to suffer asthma attacks, you will sleep much deeper during the night, and less insects will enter your home.
Since air conditioners actually cool down air as opposed to fans that just circulate air around in a space, using an air conditioner on hot and humid days can reduce heat stress on your electronics significantly.
Watts needed to run an air conditioner
If you are considering installing an air conditioner in your home or office space to take full advantage of all of these benefits, it is important to consider the vast range of air conditioners available on the market, and how much power each of these options typically consume.
Every individual air conditioning unit has its own specifications in terms of how many watts you need to run it, but the average watts needed to run air conditioners are as follows:
| Type of air conditioning unit | Estimated square footage being cooled | Estimated watt usage |
| Window air conditioning units | 400 square feet to 1000 square feet | 450 to 1440 Watts per hour |
| Portable air conditioning units | About a single floor of a residential building | 950 to 4100 Watts per hour |
| Central and Ductless air conditioning units | About 2000 square feet or larger | 1000 to 3500 Watts per hour |
It can be difficult to compare the amount of watts that different air conditioners use, because the wattage is often determined by how much power the air conditioner uses per hour of cooling a specific amount of space.
This is specific to every individual air conditioner, which is why it may be best to compare specific air conditioners to see which one gives you the best value for money in terms of the space it can cool, its watts, price, and the type of air conditioner that would be ideal for your needs.
How many watts are needed to run a window air conditioner?
Window air conditioners are a popular way to cool down smaller spaces, and they come in many shapes and sizes. This is why it is important to find a window air conditioner that has the right British Thermal Units (BTU) for your space.
In general, you need about 20 BTUs for every one square inch of living space. One of the most popular low-energy window air conditioning units is this LG Mounted Wi-Fi 6,000 BTU Smart Window Air Conditioner, which only consumes between 450 and 800 Watts to cool a room that is approximately 450 square feet.
This unit can be compared quite closely to the Midea 12,000 BTU EasyCool Window Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier and Fan, which can cool a room of about 550 square feet, only using about 667 Watts.
How many watts are needed to run a portable air conditioner?
Portable air conditioners are convenient because they can cool almost an entire floor of your home and you can move the unit around to other floors, but their power usage and capacity differ from one model to the next.
To illustrate this, the BLACK+DECKER 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Remote Control uses about 950 Watts to effectively cool a small room that is150 square feet in size.
If you want to cool a larger space, the SereneLife SLPAC12.5 Portable Air Conditioner Compact Home AC Cooling Unit uses about 1150 Watts, but it can cool a space of up to 450 square feet.
How many watts are needed to run other types of air conditioners?
Larger air conditioning units, such as central units and ductless units, have higher BTUs and a higher tonnage. This means that they will use more watts to run, since they have to cool down more air in a larger space.
For bigger units, you can estimate that they use about 1000 Watts to run one ton of cooling capacity. You will need about 3.5 tons of cooling capacity to cool a 2000 square foot home, which is equal to 3500 Watts of power.
The most accurate way to determine how many watts your specific air conditioner uses, is to use a watt meter to take measurements of your unit’s power usage.
Watt meters, like this Poniie PN2000 Plug-in Kilowatt Electricity Usage Monitor, are plugged into the power socket and then your air conditioner is plugged into the watt meter.
This meter will then give you a digital read-out of the amount of kilowatts that your air conditioning unit uses per hour.
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