Read our guide on how you can choose the right capacity or size of the air conditioner to ensure that you get optimal cooling and removes the humidity in your home.
If you want to enjoy a cool summer without making a dent in your pocket, it is very important to get the right size or capacity of the AC. It’s pretty clear that size matters when you’re buying an air conditioner. While an AC that’s too small will struggle too hard to keep the room at a comfortable temperature, an oversized air conditioner would end up cooling the room too quickly without removing enough humidity from the air.
A common mistake people make when buying an air conditioner is choosing one which is too large under the impression that it would provide better cooling. Although it may seem so, an oversized AC unit is not just less effective but also wastes a lot of energy. An air conditioner also removes humidity from the air and an oversized unit will cool the room too quickly but would fail to remove some of the humidity making the room feel damp and clammy.
Here’s HomeTriangle’s guide on how you can choose the right capacity or size of the air conditioner to ensure that you get optimal cooling and removes the humidity in your home.
The Room Size
While it is true that a lower-capacity AC is cheaper, the truth is that it would increase your energy consumption and decrease the lifespan of the appliance. An air conditioner without the required capacity would need to consume a lot more energy to provide the requisite cooling.
When you buy an AC with more than enough capacity, not only does it cost more, but you end up paying larger utility bills. Thus, getting the right tonnage is the key to buying the right AC for your home.
You can multiply the length times the width of a room or area to be cooled to calculate its size. Multiply that number by 25 BTU or British Thermal Units. This allows ample cooling, no matter if it is a rainy, moist day or a hot, sunny, humid day.
Let's think of the room as 12 feet wide by 15 feet long. That means the room has an area of 180 feet. So, that means, the capacity of the air conditioner that can cool the said room should be 180x25 = 4500 BTU.
Amount Of Sunlight
A room that has a window or balcony door in the north direction is bound to get more light and subsequently more heat. If that is the case, we suggest increasing the AC capacity by at least 10 percent for efficient cooling.
Another factor that is essential is the floor on which your house is located. We would suggest you get an AC with a slightly higher capacity if sunlight falls on your house directly like the top floor.
The Type Of Air Conditioner
The next major part of choosing an AC for your home is the type of air conditioner you want to buy. Check out HomeTriangle Guides: Finding The Right AC For Your Home! to read more about the 4 different types of air conditioners and the pros and cons of each of them.
