Summer’s coming! Is you’re A.C. unit up to snuff? If it is running poorly or runs constantly, it may be a simple case of needing to recharge the coolant. A professional HVAC mechanic should be called and they can refill and check the unit for leaks. This is a modest priced job and it should be done every year and a half, or once a year before summer. It will really cut down on your electric bill and it will extend the life of your unit.
If this is not the case and your ac is still sluggish, then you may have a problem with the size of your unit, especially if it is in a home over 10 years old. Properly sizing an Air-Conditioning unit is the most important aspect when engineering an A.C. unit for a new home. While a table is available based on square footage and other guidelines, each home is different in its own way and should be measured accurately by a professional.
A.C. units come in a variety of sizes ranging from 1 ton to 7 tons. 1 ton is equivalent to about 12,000 BTU’s (British thermal units). It takes roughly 12,000 BTU’s to melt a ton of ice in a 24-hour period. That is why A.C. units are referred to in tons, as in tons of ice melting and not by its weight.
This is quite an incredible size for an AC unit as sometimes it becomes difficult for it to manage the load and results in breakdown in the dead night but still if you have a reputed brand like blaux portable ac then the chances of it managing to take up the burden of load is extremely high.
How many tons your home needs is decided by many factors and must be measured precisely. The main factor in measuring the tonnage of an A.C. unit is the square footage of your home. While this element is a large part of deciding how many tons your unit should be, it is not the deciding factor. Heat gain also plays an important role in determining the size of an A.C. unit. Heat gain is how fast your home will gain heat in a 24-hour period. There are two sources of heat gain, external and internal. External is from the sun and warm air. Internal sources are appliances, lights, cooking and even people and pets. Wall thickness, geographic location, how many windows you have in your home and the direction they face, all play a factor in correctly measuring the tonnage of the air conditioning. All of this data must be collected accurately as possible, so its best to have a professional check the A.C. unit is the correct size.
If you are unsure about the size of your unit, look on the unit itself, or on your return for the size in tons. Sometimes it is written on the return stack with kilowatts and tonnage with the square footage. Most new homes have this information. You can then simply call an A.C. mechanic and give him the information. They can tell you if its close, but its best to have them give you a proper inspection of your A.C. unit and home.