AC Size Estimator

The size of your AC is one of the most important things you need to keep in mind when buying a new AC system. British thermal units per hour, or BTU/hr, and “tons” are two of the most commonly used units in North America when it comes to understanding the cooling capacity of your HVAC system. These units don’t describe the physical weight or size of the AC but rather have to do with how much heat the AC can remove from your home.

Our tool takes into account many factors like the zip code, square footage, insulation quality, sun exposure, number of windows, and number of residents in your house to calculate what size of AC your house needs. Just input the required information and then click on “Estimate AC Size” to get the results!

How to use the AC size estimator tool

● Enter Your Zip Code:

Enter the ZIP/Postal code of the area where you live. Different parts of the country get drastically different climates, and that impacts the size of AC required. Your ZIP code helps the tool pinpoint your location and determine what AC size will best meet your needs.

● Provide Square Footage:

Input the square footage of your house, essentially a measure of its size. The size of your AC will be most heavily influenced by how big of an area you are trying to cool. It’s a no-brainer that larger houses need more powerful cooling systems.

● Select Insulation Quality:

Select whether the quality of insulation in your house is poor, excellent, or somewhere in between. A well-insulated home minimizes outside heat coming into the house, contributing to reducing the AC’s workload. A house with bad insulation will need more cooling.

● Select Sun Exposure:

Select how much sun exposure the area around your house gets, whether it’s low, high, or moderate. More sun exposure naturally means more heat and thus more cooling will be required, and vice versa.

● Number of Windows:

Enter the number of windows in your house. While the correlation may not seem obvious at first, your windows are one of the ways heat enters your home. A larger cooling system will be needed in a home with plenty of windows.

● Number of Residents:

Enter the total number of occupants in your house. All the cooling is ultimately for the comfort of the residents of the house after all, and the more people there are the higher the cooling demand. Fewer people mean less heat generated so less cooling is required as well.

● Estimate AC Size:

After entering all the necessary information, the final step is to click on the “Estimate AC Size” button to get your results. The tool will calculate an estimate for the size of AC needed for your home from all the information you have provided.

● View Result:

The results will be shown in tons as well as the BTU/hr it is based on. For example, 1 ton is equal to 12000 BTUs per hour, meaning a 1-ton AC will be able to remove 12000 BTUs of heat from your home per hour.

The results provided by this tool might not be exactly perfect, but they are a good estimate for you to work with. It’s crucial for you to choose the right size of AC for your home, as an undersized or oversized system will give rise to problems such as uneven cooling and inefficient energy consumption, and even reduce the AC’s lifespan. For the best cooling results, always get a proper-sized AC for your home.

Explore more helpful tools at The Chill Brothers to optimize your HVAC system. Check out our Duct Size Calculator, BTU Calculator, and Energy Saving Calculator for precise calculations. These tools ensure your home stays comfortable while saving energy. Try them all for efficient heating and cooling solutions!