One of the most common questions asked during an on-site survey is the capacity of the air conditioning system that will cool and heat the home. In this article, we want to give you some pointers on how to size it correctly.
One of the most important pieces of information is that cooling kilowatts are not the same as power consumption, so an air conditioner in the 2.5kW cooling class does not draw 2.5kW of power, but only 6-800 watts, which is less than a third of the power consumption of a vacuum cleaner.
The kilowatt of the air conditioner is a cold air delivery value that indicates the cooling capacity of the air conditioner, not its electricity consumption.
Today's modern machines constantly monitor the room temperature and cool the home very economically over a very wide range. So a commonly installed (2.5kW size class) air conditioner can cool from 0.6kW up to 3kW steplessly, which is practically enough for a small room of 10 square metres to a small living room. The 3.5kW class operates in a larger range, with up to 4 kilowatts of cooling capacity, and can be used to cool living rooms and larger spaces.
In general, the two most common sizes of 2.5-3.5kW air conditioners are exactly the same unit, only the dispensing valve and electronics are different, which is why the 3.6kW may have a larger final capacity.
It is worth knowing that two differently sized air conditioners will draw exactly the same amount of power under the same conditions, because the regulation will cause the larger air conditioner to draw the same amount of power, so it will not draw more power.
After the two commonly used sizes come the 5-6kW air conditioners, which can be used to cool larger and more confined spaces. Here, the outdoor and indoor units are much larger and the heat dissipation surfaces are much larger. In larger spaces, a small air conditioner will only struggle to "catch up", in which case a larger unit with a more serious cooling capacity is needed.
The operation and efficiency of air conditioning is just like radiator heating: the room with a cooling unit will be cold, but the room next to it will not. Not only does the heat not travel through the door, but the cold air doesn't mix! So if you have a larger home with more rooms, you may need more air conditioners to air condition the whole home.
These factors should be taken into account when sizing:
- the occupancy of the building
- size and orientation of window surfaces
- location and occupancy of boundary walls
- expected heat load from the ceiling (flat roof, attic)
- the number of people living or working there
- how open the spaces are
- heat emissions from electrical appliances, computers, kitchen equipment
- the floor area you want to cool
- what temperature difference we want to achieve
- expected shading in summer, blinds, shading, trees, shrubs
- type of neighbourhood (suburban or inner-city environment, dwelling facing stone walls, asphalted street)
- insulation
These aspects can actually be clarified in a few minutes during the assessment and the professional can give precise guidance on the correct sizing of the air conditioner and, just as importantly, its placement within the home.
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