Many people do not realize that size of an air conditioning unit plays an important role to the central cooling system and will often select which ever size is in their budget. However, the air conditioning’s size does not reference the width and height. The size of an air conditioning unit actually involves its tonnage. An air conditioner can actually be too big for your home, so in this case, bigger does not mean better. With this in mind, we at Air Supply Air Conditioning & Heating would like to discuss the air conditioner’s tonnage today. This entails its meaning, the importance of trusting a professional to help you configure the size and more to help you select the right air conditioning unit for your home.

How is Cooling Power Measured?

For those not familiar with the terms and verbiage used in the HVAC industry, tonnage can be a confusing word. Though it sounds like an air conditioner measurement of the weight or size of an air conditioner, a measurement of how powerful the system is at cooling off a space is actually tonnage. Cooling power units are tons. How much power it has is described when professional say that a system is a “two ton” or “five ton” system. Equivalent to 12,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of heat removed per hour from a space is one ton. Similarly to how you measure calories, BTUs are the measurement of heat, which basically, to change the temperature of a specific amount of water by one degree Fahrenheit, the measurement is the amount of heat needed. By removing heat from it first, an air conditioner is able to cool your home, hence units of heat are used to measure how powerful any given AC system is as providing cooling. Because this is the amount of heat needed to melt a one-ton block of ice, 12,000 BTUs is considered a “ton.” In order to be efficiently cooled, your home needs to have enough heat removed from your house per hour to melt two tons of ice if your home needs a 2-ton air conditioner.

AC Contractor Should Determine the Size of Your AC Unit

Between 1.5 to 5 tons in size is the average residential air conditioning system. The air conditioner has to be sized by a team of experts in order to figure out the correct tonnage air conditioner to provide your specific space with enough efficient cooling. When it comes to air conditioners, a common misconception is that the bigger the better, as we touched on before. It will cool down the space too fast and will start short cycling as a result if your air conditioner has too much tonnage for your space. A premature system replacement and costly repairs are generally expected under these conditions. To determine the appropriate tonnage, trained and experienced professionals is a mathematic equation that factors in square footage, how many windows and doors, how high the ceilings are, and the insulation circumstances.

Central Air Conditioning Diagnosis, Repair, Replacement, Maintenance & More in Summerlin, North LV, Henderson, Centennial, Enterprise, Lone Mountain Village, Paradise, Sunrise Manor, Spring Valley, Aliante, Desert Shores, Eldorado, Peccole Ranch, Silverado Ranch, Tuscany Village, Whitney, Winchester & Las Vegas Nevada

For you air conditioning unit replacement in the Las Vegas Desert, call in the professionals of Air Supply Air Conditioning & Heating and let us assist you with AC replacement services.