What does "BTU" mean regarding air conditioners?
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BTU is an old fahioned term "British Thermal Units" and was used to calculate the amount of energy required to raise the temp of a room by a degree (using Therms as a unit here too), and is uses an energy calculation rather than a straight "how much air does it push" sort of calculation. Obviously the calculation works for heating and cooling since it is still about energy to change temperature.
The problem for you is the number of variables. You need to look at:
1. size of room
2. volume of room (not the same as size since a large room with a low ceiling requires a different amount of air conditioning that a smaller high ceiling room of the same volume)
3. Ambient temperature & desired temperature (how many degrees you wan to drop the temperature)
4. Heat sources present - windows facing the sun, ventilation holes, number of people typically in the room, appliances usually switched on in the room that emit heat such as TV, fridge etc.
There are some air conditioner manufactures that have tables showing approximate sizes required on their websites. try York, National and Carrier (I can't remember which ones have it)
Try to buy a unit that has a good energy conservation rating - good for the environment and good for your pocket in the long run due to lower power usage.
It is a standard of measuring cooling or heating capacity. BTU stands for British Thermal Unit.
British Thermal Units
British Thermal Units? Well it might mean that. I haven't had an air conditioner in years but I think it shows the cooling capacity of the air conditioner. You need to determine the size of the room to cool before just buying an air conditioner. You might need a 5000 BTU unit or even a big one like 10,000 BTU, or larger depending on the size of the space you are cooling. You can't just pick a giant one because they work better when the proper size is married to the room.
As stated before it is British Thermal Unit. Portable air conditioners and heaters are rated in BTUs. Central air conditioners are rated in Tons. 1 ton=12,000 BTUs.
Sizing an air conditioner depends on room size, ceiling height, air infiltration, sun exposure, etc.
British Thermal Units
BTU in simple terms is like Coal when it burns the higher the BTU the more energy it can produce most coal burns between 9,000 and 12,000 BTU's , an air conditioner is like that in reverse, the higher the BTU the more it can cool . I hope this will help. GOOD LUCK
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