A 6 000 BTU air conditioner can cool a room that is up to 300 square feet at the most, for it to cool efficiently.
If you have an air conditioner in your home, you can beat the hot summer days and nights and keep cool in your indoor living spaces as opposed to dealing with uncomfortable humidity. There are good air conditioners that are the right size for any indoor room or space.
Finding the right air conditioner size is a fundamental part of the process of purchasing and installing one. This can be the difference between cooling that is satisfying, and cooling that becomes overwhelming and uncomfortable.
6 000 BTU air conditioners
The size of the air conditioner you get should be determined by the size of the room you intend to have it cool. A 6 000 BTU unit can cool a room of a certain size in the same way that a 5 000 BTU unit can cool rooms of 150 to 250 square feet in size.
It is important to note that if the room size is bigger than the maximum size that a specific air conditioner can cool optimally, the unit will be inefficient and it will struggle to cool the big room.
What size room should a 6 000 BTU air conditioner cool?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that as a way to measure the BTU size you need, 20 BTUs can cover 1 square foot.
Before purchasing an air conditioner, is important to know the square footage of the room you want to install the air conditioner in.
Measure the length and the width of the room to determine this, then use the figure you get as a guide when you look for the right air conditioner size.
If you have a room that is between 150 and 300 square feet, and you have been looking at finding the right air conditioner size, a 6 000 BTU unit will work best for your space.
According to the EPA’s measuring tool, a 6 000 BTU unit will efficiently cool a room that is 200 to 300 square feet in size, but if you compare this with the recommendation of the Energy Star Guidelines, a 6 000 BTU air conditioner can cool rooms that are 150 and 250 square feet in size.
You still need to make the necessary adjustments to the unit’s BTU if a room gets more sunlight during the day, if there are more than two people occupying the room with air conditioning, if you have higher ceilings, and if the unit is inside or close to rooms that produce a lot of heat, such as the kitchen.
Ultimately, a 6 000 BTU unit can cool rooms of up to 300 square feet at the most, but adjustments to the room can change this.
What are rooms between 150 to 300 square feet equivalent to?
Rooms that are between 150 and 300 square feet will have different dimensions. Your 6 000 BTU air conditioner can accommodate rooms that are 10×10, 12×10, 12×12, 12×20, and 12×24.
Essentially, a room that is 300 square feet in size can be equivalent to the size of a tiny apartment.
Increasing the AC BTUs if there are more than two occupants in the room
Humans produce body heat that can increase the humidity inside a room if there are more than two occupants in it. You will know that heat and humidity has accumulated in the room when moisture starts to form on the windows.
Therefore, if a room has more than two occupants in it, 600 BTU’s need to be added to the initial 6 000 BTU’s of the unit, so that each person can get a better BTU to accommodate the number of people in the room simultaneously and still cool it efficiently.
If 600 is not added per person, the unit may struggle to provide efficient cooling in the room.
Should the BTUs be increased if the unit is in a kitchen?
The kitchen can be one of the warmest rooms in a house, as plenty of heat is generated by hot appliances such as stoves, kettles, and ovens. Despite that, however, some people do place their air conditioners close to the kitchen or in the kitchen.
If this is the case, a 6 000 BTU AC will not be able to withstand the amount of heat, and often humidity, that it needs to reduce and will struggle to cool the space optimally.
This is why an additional 4 000 BTU’s should be added to 6 000 BTU units if you want it to cool the space effectively in or near the kitchen.