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How Air Conditioners Work Home Depot DIY

Videos
by Marshall Brain and Charles W. Bryant

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Inside this Article

1. Introduction to How Air 4. Chilled-w ater and
Conditioners Work Cooling-tow e r AC Units More Home & Garden
Videos »
2. Air-conditioning Basics 5. BTU and EER
3. Window and Split-syste m 6. Ene rgy Efficient Cooling
AC Units Sys tem s
7. See m ore »

BTU and EER

Most air conditioners have their capacity rated in British thermal units (BTU). Generally speaking, a BTU
is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound (0.45 kg) of water 1 degree
Fahrenheit (0.56 degrees Celsius). Specifically, 1 BTU equals 1,055 joules. In heating and cooling terms, Ads by Google
1 "ton" equals 12,000 BTU. Plate Heat Exchanger
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A typical window air conditioner might be rated at 10,000 BTU. For comparison, a typical 2,000-square- Taiwan
foot (185.8 m2) house might have a 5-ton (60,000-BTU) air conditioning system, implying that you might 111.67.198.3
need perhaps 30 BTU per square foot. (Keep in mind that these are rough estimates. To size an air
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The energy efficiency rating (EER) of an air conditioner is its BTU rating over its wattage. For example, if a NanoAndMore.com/Tips
10,000-BTU air conditioner consumes 1,200 watts, its EER is 8.3 (10,000 BTU/1,200 watts). Obviously,
you would like the EER to be as high as possible, but normally a higher EER is accompanied by a higher cooling systems
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price.
cases.
Let's say that you have a choice between two 10,000-BTU units. One has an EER of 8.3 and consumes www.arneg.it/International
1,200 watts, and the other has an EER of 10 and consumes 1,000 watts. Let's also say that the price
difference is $100. To understand what the payback period is on the more expensive unit, you need to
know approximately how many hours per year you will be operating the unit and How much a kilowatt-hour
(kWh) costs in your area

Let's say that you plan to use the air conditioner in the summer (four months a year) and it will be
operating about six hours a day. Let's also imagine that the cost in your area is $0.10/kWh. The difference
in energy consumption between the two units is 200 watts, which means that every five hours the less
expensive unit will consume 1 additional kWh (and therefore $0.10 more) than the more expensive unit.

Assuming that there are 30 days in a month, you find that during the summer you're operating the air
conditioner:

4 mo. x 30 days/mo. x 6 hr/day = 720 hours

[(720 hrs x 200 watts) / (1000 watts/kW)] x $0.10/kWh = $14.40

The more expensive unit costs $100 more, which means that it will take about seven years for the more
expensive unit to break even.

See Climate Magic for a great explanation of seasonal energy efficiency rating (SEER).

In the next section, we'll look at cutting these costs with some new, energy-efficient cooling systems.

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Inside this Article

1. Introduction to How Air Conditione rs Work 5. BTU and EER
2. Air-conditioning Basics 6. Energy Efficient Cooling System s
3. Window and Split-syste m AC Units 7. Lots More Inform ation
4. Chilled-w ater and Cooling-tow e r AC Units 8. See all Hous ehold Appliances articles

Related Ad Categories
Air Conditioner BTU Calculating
Air Conditioning BTU Load Calculator
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Related Content

Prices: Air Conditioners

APC NetworkAIR AP7003

7200 BTU Portable Air
Conditioner
Portable, 7200 BTU/hr, 3
Fan Speeds, Reusable
Filter
$479.00 - $585.00

Sunpentown International
WA-1230E 12000 BTU
Portable Air Conditioner
Portable, 12000 BTU/hr,
12.63 EER, With Remote
Control, Reus able Filter
$339.00 - $488.00

Sunpentown International
WA-9020E 9000 BTU
Portable Air Conditioner
Portable, 9000 BTU/hr,
10.31 EER, With Remote
Control, Reus able Filter
$250.00 - $402.00

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