Summer is synonymous with good weather and heat and, inevitably, air conditioning. It is time to start the ‘bikini operation and, also, to prepare your home for the arrival of high temperatures. Now, when buying an air conditioner, how to choose the right air conditioner power?
Factors to take into account to choose the air conditioner power
The surface to be cooled is perhaps the most important factor when choosing the power of air conditioning. The more volume you have to maintain at the desired temperature, the more energy (and power) you need. Follow the tips for running air conditioner in winter season
As a general rule, experts recommend that you should provide 100 frigories per square meter. However, this is a very general guideline value, which should be weighed taking into account other aspects:
The difference of temperature with the outside. It does not do the same heat in Vigo as in Seville. At the higher temperature, more power.
The orientation of the house and the number of windows. The sun is an important source of energy. If your house has south orientation or many windows, you will need more power.
If it is a flat, a single-family house or an attic. The heat also “enters” through the walls and ceilings, increasing the necessary frigorías to 120 or even 140 per square meter.
The height. The higher the height, the greater the volume of air to be cooled. The most accurate is to do the calculation by volume (the result of multiplying the square meters by the height). It is estimated at about 40 BTU per cubic meter.
The number of people and the activity. Do not produce the same heat a couple watching a movie on the sofa that a family with three children running around the room.
Some practical examples
For a bedroom of 16m2, with a height of 2.5 meters, a normal window and little direct light, 1,600 BTUs would be more than enough.
For the same bedroom, in an attic, with a height of 3 meters and a balcony overlooking the south, it would be advisable around 2,500 BTU.
And in that same penthouse, for a dining room of 25 square meters, with a height of 3 meters and a south orientation, the calculations indicate that it would take an appliance of about 4,000 frigorías.
What happens is that 4,000 BTUs is a lot of power (most devices are between 2,000 and 3,000). Therefore, to improve energy efficiency, many installers recommend weighing these measures downwards by 30%, especially for large spaces.
Calculate the power of the air conditioner
We believe that these formulas will help you to choose the air conditioning with the power you need, although we ALWAYS recommend going to an accredited air conditioning installer that is the one that will really make an accurate study of the necessary power and will recommend the equipment you need.
Thermal power or electrical power?
Before making any calculation, it is convenient to explain the difference between thermal power and electrical power, as well as explain the units of measurement that are usually used to refer to each of them. The thermal power refers to the cooling capacity (or heating) of the equipment, the electrical power measures the electrical consumption that occurs. The electrical power is lower than the thermal power since this would be the maximum power that the equipment could reach when cooling. The electric power is expressed in kW or kilowatts and the unit of thermal power is the kilocalorie or kc. In the case of refrigeration equipment, the thermal power is measured in frigorie.
The frigoría is the unit of measurement for refrigeration and air conditioning systems and serves to express the power, normally, it is usually done in frigorie/hour.
The BTU appears on many computers, a British measure referring to the British Thermal Unit: a British thermal unit, equivalent to 0.252 kcal, that is, a frigoría (or kilocalorie) equals about 4 BTU.
Watts, frigorías, BTUS … calculate the power that our air conditioning needs can be converted into a true via Crucis, we recommend you continue reading to dispel your doubts and know what power your air conditioning needs to operate efficiently.
Calculation of frigorie
The first thing to know is the space that will need to be heated and in this way to establish a ratio of each square meter we need 100 BTUs, in this way a space of 40 square meters will need 40 BTU per square meter, and so on. 1 kw of refrigeration is equal to 0.86 kcal. We recommend reading the article ” Calculation of air conditioning frigorie” to make the necessary calculations before purchasing the air conditioning equipment that best suits your needs.
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