How Large of an Air Conditioner Is Needed for 12,000 Square Feet?

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Cooling 12,000 square feet of space is a lot more complicated than selecting a window box air conditioner for a 1,200 square foot apartment. In fact, you are no longer simply talking about an air conditioner. Now you're talking about an HVAC air conditioning "system." Large spaces require larger units and hundreds of thousands of BTUs of power. By understanding some of the basics involved in making the calculations you'll be better prepared to analyze estimates, review options and make a smart buying decisions.

The British Thermal Unit capacity is one of the core determinants for selecting the size of air conditioner. To start your ballpark size estimate, multiply the square feet (12,000) by 25, which yields a working subtotal of 300,000. Use this number as the basis for the total of BTUs per hour that the air conditioner must generate.

The number of windows, occupants, whether you have a kitchen, and exposure to sunlight and shade must be factored. Energy Star.gov directs you to count the total windows and multiply the number by 1,000. Count occupants and multiply that number by 400, and add 4,000 if you have a kitchen. Add these numbers to the base BTU total of 300,000. If the dwelling receives lots of sunlight, increase the total by 10 percent. On the other hand, if the dwelling receives lots of shade, decrease the total by 10 percent.

Let's say that the 12,000 square foot space is used for as an office, and that it has 50 windows, 20 employees, a kitchen for use by employees and it gets full sunshine. As a result, we will add 50,000 for the windows, 8,000 for the employees, and 4,000 for the kitchen, which makes our new subtotal for the BTU base 362,000. We will also add 3,620 (or 10 percent) to account for the sunshine. The resulting total is now 365,620 -- meaning that the air conditioner must have a BTU per hour capacity of 365,620. There are 12,000 BTUs in one ton, which means that a 30-ton air conditioner might be required to cool the 12,000 square foot building.

When you contact licensed HVAC professionals, they will factor a wide range of additional variables to pinpoint precisely the right size system. She just cut her electricity bill to 60%, click here to read. This will include the number of floors of the building, frequency of opening and closing doors, influx of people coming in and out, wall density (inside and outside), additional electrical equipment such as computer server rooms, and essentially anything and anybody that consumes cool air and produces heat. They will use the additional data to calculate what is called the "heat load," which essentially measures how different things (animate and inanimate) increase the indoor temperature.

Most HVAC professionals rely on "Manual J," which is the 100-plus page "bible" and software program of the HVAC trade, and the recommended reference in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. However, don't be surprised if the final estimates vary from one company to the next, as companies sometimes account and weigh variables differently to recommend final air conditioning system sizes.

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