BTU Calculator

AC BTU Calculator

Use this calculator to estimate the cooling needs of a typical room or house, such as finding out the power of a window air conditioner needed for an apartment room or the central air conditioner for an entire house.

Size
Room Ceiling Height
Number of People
Inside Regularly
Type
Insulation Condition
Sun Exposure
Climate

General Purpose AC or Heating BTU Calculator

This is a general purpose calculator that helps estimate the BTUs required to heat or cool an area. The desired temperature change is the necessary increase/decrease from outdoor temperature to reach the desired indoor temperature. As an example, an unheated Boston home during winter could reach temperatures as low as -5°F. To reach a temperature of 75°F, it requires a desired temperature increase of 80°F. This calculator can only gauge rough estimates.

Room/House Width
Room/House Length
Ceiling Height
Insulation Condition
Desired Temperature
Increase 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 energy needed to heat one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit. 1 BTU = 1,055 joules, 252 calories, 0.293 watt-hours, or the energy released by burning one match. 1 watt is approximately 3.412 BTU per hour.

BTU is often used as a point of reference for comparing different fuels. Even though they're physical commodities and are quantified accordingly, such as by volume or barrels, they can be converted to BTUs depending on the energy or heat content inherent in each quantity. BTU as a unit of measurement is more useful than physical quantity because of fuel's intrinsic value as an energy source. This allows many different commodities with intrinsic energy properties, such as natural gas and oil, to be compared and contrasted.

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 label refer to how much heat the air conditioner can remove from their respective surrounding air.

Size and Ceiling Height

Unsurprisingly, a smaller room requires fewer BTUs to cool/heat. Typically, BTU usage is measured based on the volume of the space.

The following is a rough estimation of the cooling capacity a cooling system would need to effectively cool a room/house based only on the square footage of the room/house, as provided by EnergyStar.gov.

Area To Be Cooled (square feet)Capacity Needed (BTUs per hour)
100 to 1505,000
150 to 2506,000
250 to 3007,000
300 to 3508,000
350 to 4009,000
400 to 45010,000
450 to 55012,000
550 to 70014,000
700 to 1,00018,000
1,000 to 1,20021,000
1,200 to 1,40023,000
1,400 to 1,50024,000
1,500 to 2,00030,000
2,000 to 2,50034,000

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 ability to lower BTU usage by managing the loss of heat due to its entropic nature – heat tends to flow from areas of warmer air to cooler air until there is no longer a difference in temperature between the adjacent areas.

Generally, newer homes have better insulating ability than older homes due to technological advances as well as stricter building codes. Owners of older homes with dated insulation who decide to upgrade their insulation may not only benefit from lower utility bills, but may also see an appreciation in the value of their homes.

Thermal resistance, which is a measure of a material's resistance to heat flow, is indicated by a material's R-value. The higher the R-value of a certain material, the more resistant it is to heat transfer. In other words, when shopping for home insulation, higher R-value products are better at insulating, though they're usually more expensive.

When deciding on the proper input for the "insulation condition" field in the calculator, use generalized assumptions. A beach bungalow built in the 1800s with no renovations should probably be classified as poor. A 3-year-old home inside a newly developed community most likely deserves a good 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 Increase or Decrease

To find the desired change in temperature to input into the calculator, find the difference between the unaltered outdoor temperature and the desired temperature. As a general rule of thumb, a temperature between 70 and 80°F is a comfortable temperature for most people.

For example, a home owner in Atlanta might want to determine their BTU usage during winter. Atlanta winters tend to hover around 45°F and temperatures may fall as low as 30°F occasionally. Given that the desired temperature of the residents is 75°F, the desired temperature increase would be 75°F - 30°F = 45°F.

Homes in more extreme climates are subject to larger fluctuations in temperature, which typically results in higher BTU usage. For instance, heating a home in Alaska during winter, or cooling a home during a Houston summer will require more BTUs than heating or cooling a home in Honolulu, where temperatures tend to stay around 80°F year-round.

Other Factors

Along with the factors discussed above and their effect on BTU usage, there are other factors to keep in mind:

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