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What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need?

April 21, 2020 by Ross

woman adjusting her thermostat, happy with her air conditioning

If you’re in the market for a new air conditioner, it’s important to get one that’s the right size. With an air conditioner that’s too small or too big, you won’t be as comfortable, your energy bill will be higher, and your unit won’t last as long. So how do you know what size air conditioner you need? Check out our tips below.

Signs Your Unit Is Undersized

It’s always running. If your air conditioner is always on, then it simply isn’t cut out to do the job you want it to. Just like you, it wants to take a break every once in a while. If it never cycles off, then it’s using up a lot of extra energy, and it’s going to have a much shorter lifespan. 

It isn’t cooling your home. If your air conditioner can’t quite get your home to the temperature you want, then it’s simply not the right size for your space. Sized properly, an AC should cool your home to your desired temperature every 30-60 minutes or so, and then cycle off for some time.

Your electric bill seems high. When your AC has to run around the clock to cool your home, it’s going to use up more energy. Even more so if it’s an older unit with a low SEER rating. Because of this, your electric bill is going to seem high every month.

Signs Your Unit Is Oversized

It only runs 10-15 minutes at a time. If you find that your air conditioner shuts off shortly after it turns on, that means it’s too powerful for the size of your home. The constant switching between on and off will shorten the lifespan of your unit and cause it to break down more frequently.

Your home is unevenly cooled. Because your air conditioner can’t run for very long before triggering the thermostat, it isn’t going to have a chance to circulate cool air throughout your entire house. This will leave you with uneven temperatures — some areas will stay warm while others get plenty cold.

What You Need to Look For

BTU Rating. The BTU rating is an air conditioner’s capacity. It stands for “British Thermal Units.” In order to know the optimal BTU rating for your home, you need to know the square footage of the area you want to cool first, whether that’s a room, a floor or an entire house.

Once you know your square footage, you can use this chart by EnergyStar.gov to determine the approximate number of BTUs needed. Factors that can shift the BTUs you need up or down include ceiling height, the condition of your insulation, sun exposure and how many people are in your household.

SEER Rating. We recommend you select a unit with a SEER rating (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) of 14 or higher. As you increase beyond that, you’re going to spend more money upfront, but save on energy costs over time.

If you have any questions about determining the correct size AC for your home, don’t hesitate to call us. We don’t want you to risk making a bad investment. We’d be more than happy to walk you through what you need to consider in order to select the right size air conditioner.

Filed Under: Helpful Tips Tagged With: AC replacement, air conditioner, air conditioner size, air conditioning, new AC, new air conditioner, replace air conditioner, right size AC

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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14
Sparks, NV 89431
Phone: (775) 425-2525
Fax: (775) 425-2526
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Testimonials

I can’t begin to express the excellent service Ross Heating & Air provided to me. Not only was their service call/routine maintenance half the cost of all the other heating & air conditioning companie…
Raquel B.
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Had an oil furnace that needed to be switched out to natural gas. Ross Heating gave me a fair estimate on paper of parts and labor. He was very thorough on the work and did the job correctly and to co…
Chris O.
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We have a very old furnace and A/C system and had a lot of problems with it until we found Ross Heating. Damian is very honest and able to fix both the heating and cooling system for us. As our house…
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Wow! Our air conditioner quit right in the middle of a record heat wave. I found Ross Heating and Air on Yelp. They had a good review and were close, so I called. My call was taken by a pleasant woman…
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I can’t recommend Damian Ross and Ross Heating and Air Conditioning enough! Damian came out on a Sunday in the heat of the summer and stayed until the house was cool. Reasonably priced, independent an…
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Ross did a heating check up, filter change and AC installation for me. They are honest, friendly, reliable and a pleasure to work with.
Danhui N.
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Very personable and prompt. Discovered AC didn’t work over the weekend and was able to fit a service call in for the next day. Got it fixed and very reasonable parts & labor.
Al L.
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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning is a wonderful small business in Northern NV. They are very accommodating with scheduling the 2 times a year check ups on my furnace and air conditioning unit. My sc…
Elizabeth E.
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Ross Heating converted our 3 old nasty oil furnaces into 3 new natural gas, high efficiency furnaces with air conditioning. This was a lot if work as we need gas lines from city, power for AC and ever…
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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.


1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14
Sparks, NV 89431
Phone: (775) 425-2525
Fax: (775) 425-2526

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Address: 1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14, Sparks, NV 89431 | Phone: (775) 425-2525

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