how to figure out what size ups you need
BTU Calculator
AC BTU Estimator
Employ this calculator to approximate the cooling needs of a typical room or house, such every bit finding out the power of a window air conditioner needed for an flat room or the fundamental air conditioner for an entire house.
| Size | |
| Room Ceiling Height | |
| Number of People Inside Regularly | |
| Type | |
| Insulation Condition | |
| Lord's day Exposure | |
| Climate | |
 | |
General Purpose AC or Heating BTU Computer
This is a full general purpose calculator that helps estimate the BTUs required to heat or cool an surface area. The desired temperature change is the necessary increase/decrease from outdoor temperature to achieve the desired indoor temperature. As an example, an unheated Boston domicile during winter could accomplish temperatures equally low every bit -5°F. To achieve a temperature of 75°F, it requires a desired temperature increase of lxxx°F. This calculator can simply gauge rough estimates.
| Room/House Width | |
| Room/House Length | |
| Ceiling Height | |
| Insulation Status | |
| Desired Temperature Increment or Decrease | e.g. 75°F for Boston winter, 45°F for Atlanta winter. |
| | |
What is a BTU?
The British Thermal Unit, or BTU, is an energy unit. It is approximately the free energy needed to estrus one pound of water by i degree Fahrenheit. 1 BTU = 1,055 joules, 252 calories, 0.293 watt-hours, or the free energy released by called-for one match. 1 watt is approximately 3.412 BTU per hour.
BTU is frequently used as a betoken of reference for comparing different fuels. Even though they're physical commodities and quantified appropriately, such every bit past volume or barrels, they can be converted to BTUs depending on the free energy or oestrus content inherent in each quantity. BTU every bit a unit of measurement is more useful than physical quantity because of fuel's intrinsic value as an energy source. This allows many dissimilar commodities with intrinsic free energy properties to exist compared and contrasted; for case, one of the most popular is natural gas to oil.
BTU can also be used pragmatically as a point of reference for the amount of heat that an appliance generates; the higher the BTU rating of an appliance, the greater the heating capacity. As for air conditioning in homes, even though ACs are meant to cool homes, BTUs on the technical characterization refer to how much heat the air conditioner can remove from their corresponding surrounding air.
Size and Ceiling Pinnacle
Plainly, a smaller area room or business firm with shorter lengths and widths requires fewer BTUs to cool/heat. However, volume is a more accurate measurement than area for determining BTU usage because ceiling summit is factored into the equation; each three-dimensional cubic square foot of infinite will require a certain amount of BTU usage to cool/oestrus appropriately. The smaller the book, the fewer BTUs are required to cool or oestrus.
The following is a rough estimation of the cooling capacity a cooling arrangement would need to effectively cool a room/house based only on the square footage of the room/house provided by EnergyStar.gov.
| Area To Be Cooled (foursquare feet) | Capacity Needed (BTUs per hr) |
| 100 to 150 | v,000 |
| 150 to 250 | vi,000 |
| 250 to 300 | 7,000 |
| 300 to 350 | 8,000 |
| 350 to 400 | 9,000 |
| 400 to 450 | 10,000 |
| 450 to 550 | 12,000 |
| 550 to 700 | 14,000 |
| 700 to 1,000 | xviii,000 |
| 1,000 to 1,200 | 21,000 |
| 1,200 to 1,400 | 23,000 |
| 1,400 to 1,500 | 24,000 |
| 1,500 to two,000 | xxx,000 |
| ii,000 to 2,500 | 34,000 |
Insulation Condition
Thermal insulation is defined as the reduction of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in the range of radiative influence. The importance of insulation lies in its power to lower BTU usage past managing every bit much every bit possible the inefficient wasting of it due to the entropic nature of heat – information technology tends to catamenia from warmer to cooler until there are no longer temperature differences.
Generally, newer homes have meliorate insulating power than older homes due to technological advances besides as a more strict building lawmaking. Owners of older homes with dated insulation that determine to upgrade will not only improve on the ability for the home to insulate (resulting in friendlier utility bills and warmer winters), merely also have the value appreciation of their homes.
The R-value is the commonly used measure of thermal resistance, or ability of rut to transfer from hot to cold through materials and their assembly. The higher the R-value of a certain cloth, the more it is resistant to heat transfer. In other words, when shopping for abode insulation, higher R-value products are better at insulating, though they're usually more than expensive.
When deciding on the proper input of insulation weather condition into the reckoner, utilise generalized assumptions. A beach bungalow built in the 1800s with no renovations should probably exist classified as poor. A 3-twelvemonth-onetime abode inside a newly developed customs nearly likely deserves a practiced rating. Windows normally have poorer thermal resistance than walls. Therefore, a room with lots of windows normally means poor insulation. When possible, try to install double-glazed windows to improve insulation.
Desired Temperature Increment or Decrease
To notice the desired modify in temperature to input into the calculator, notice the difference betwixt the unaltered outdoor temperature and the desired temperature. As a general rule of pollex, a temperature betwixt lxx and eighty°F is a comfortable temperature for near people.
For example, a house in Atlanta might want to determine the BTU usage during winter. Atlanta winters tend to hover effectually 45°F with chances to reach 30°F occasionally. The desired temperature of the dwellers is 75°F. Therefore, the desired temperature increase would be 75°F - 30°F = 45°F.
Homes in more than extreme climates will apparently crave more radical changes in temperature, resulting in more BTU usage. For instance, heating a home in Alaskan winter or cooling a home during a Houston summertime will require more than BTUs than heating or cooling a home in Honolulu, where temperatures tend to stay around 80°F year-round.
Other Factors
Obviously, size and space of house or room, ceiling height, and insulation weather are very important when determining the corporeality of BTUs required to oestrus or cool a house, but there are other factors to keep in mind:
- The number of dwellers residing inside the living spaces. A person'south body dissipates rut into the surrounding temper, requiring more BTUs to cool and fewer BTUs to warm the room.
- Try to place the air conditioner condenser on the shadiest side of the house, which will usually be northward or eastward of it. The more than the condenser is exposed to straight sunlight, the harder it must piece of work due to the higher surrounding air temperature, which consumes more than BTUs. Not only will placing it in a shadier area result in greater efficiency, but it will extend the life of the equipment. It is possible to endeavor and place shady trees effectually the condenser, but continue in mind that condensers besides require skilful surrounding airflow for best efficiency. Make sure neighboring vegetation does not interfere with the condenser, blocking air flow into the unit and choking information technology.
- Size of air conditioning condenser. Units too large cool homes too rapidly. Therefore, they don't become through the intended cycles, which were intentionally designed for out of the factory. This may shorten the lifespan of the air conditioner. On the other mitt, if the unit of measurement is besides small-scale, it will run too frequently throughout the solar day, also overworking itself to burnout considering it isn't being used efficiently as intended.
- Ceiling fans tin can assist in lowering BTU usage by improving air circulation. Any home or room can be a victim of dead spots, or specific areas of improper airflow. This can be the back corner of the living room behind a burrow, the bathroom with no vent and a big window, or the laundry room. Thermostats placed in dead spots can inaccurately manage the temperatures of homes. Running fans can help to distribute temperatures evenly across the whole room or house.
- The colour of roofs can affect BTU usage. A darker surface absorbs more radiant energy than a lighter one. Even dirty white roofs (with noticeably darker shades) compared to newer, cleaner surfaces resulted in noticeable differences.
- Efficiency decrease of the heater or air conditioner with time. Like most appliance, the efficiency of the heater or air conditioner decrease with usage. Information technology is non uncommon for an air conditioner to lose 50% or more of its efficiency when running with bereft liquid refrigerant.
- Shape of the domicile. A long narrow firm has more walls than a square house with the same square footage, which means heat loss.
haydentwiletionly.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.calculator.net/btu-calculator.html