What is Aircon BTU?
An Aircon BTU Guide is a big help to people who are installing aircons in their new homes. If this is your first time buying Aircon, you will be bombarded with foreign terms such as: 9000 BTU + 18000 BTU. To explain aircon BTU meaning, BTU stands for British thermal unit, which is the amount of energy needed to raise or cool one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. If you turn the aircon inside the room on and didn’t close the door, chances are your house will not get cooled. Why? This is because you have insufficient BTU to cool the whole house due to the increase in space. Hence in short, the bigger the room, the more BTU you need to cool the area. This article is an Aircon BTU Guide for your reference if you’re looking for help before aircon installation.
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What are some of the factors that affect BTU?
As you have learned in science class back in Primary school, heat travels from hot to cold places. Hence, a room with other heat sources would require the Aircon to work even harder. This means you will require a higher BTU for a crowded room. On the other hand, if it is a commercial property with a lot of printing equipment, the BTU level needed is much higher as well. Besides heat sources from the inside, you will have to consider the potential heat source from outside. This means if you have a window facing the east or west direction, that room may need more BTU than normally required. This is because the sunlight will heat up the room during certain times of the day, depending on where your window is facing. Even if you install curtains, the sun could still heat up the wall, causing your room to be stuffy and hot. This is especially so for units on the highest level, it will be hotter than usual as the sun can shine on your ceiling directly.
Is excess BTU a good thing?
Your Aircon in the room won’t cool the whole house because it doesn’t have enough BTU. However, can your Aircon in the living room be used to cool your room then? Answer is – YES it can. But is it good for you? It definitely isn’t. BTU that is higher than required will cause it to cool too quickly, cycle off, then cycle back on in order to maintain the lower temperature. This is known as short cycling. This can cause the Aircon compressor to overwork quickly, resulting and more wear and tear. It will definitely increase your electrical bills as well, even if you are using an inverter Aircon.
Will my room be cooled if my aircon BTU is insufficient?
You will still feel a sense of cool breeze in your room. And depending on the time of the day, it could still be cold. However, on very hot days, this will not hold true. In addition, it’s not just a matter of whether you room will be cooled. If your Aircon BTU is insufficient, it will cause the compressor to keep running, as the thermistor will indicate that it’s not sufficiently cooled yet. This will cause huge wastages in your electricity consumption and cause insanely high electricity bills. Hence, it will be better if you err on the side of caution and choose higher BTU.
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BTU Calculation
For aircon installation, calculate aircon BTU will be the most important step as the right BTU can allow you to find the suitable aircon options to cool your room. For HDB units, it is pretty straightforward. You can simply follow these pointers here for a rough estimation on the amount of BTU required:
| Normal Room | 6500 BTU |
| Master Bedroom | 9000 BTU |
| Living Room | |
| 2 / 3 Room Flat | 12000 BTU |
| 4 Room Flat | 18000 BTU |
| 5 Room Flat | 21000 BTU (Only Daikin) or 24000 BTU |
There are anomaly whereby some areas in Singapore has bigger room or living. For example. some of the 4-Room Flat in Tampines have large living rooms that may require more BTU to cool the room. Hence, to be safe, you can also calculate the amount of BTU required on your own, taking your floor plan into consideration.
Two ways to calculate BTU for your aircon
Method 1
Take the area of the room (in sq ft) that you wish to install the aircon at, and simply multiply by around 50-60. You will get the BTU you need. Size of an average HDB room is 130 square feet. There’s no definite thumb of rule to follow, saying which number you should multiply by, but the range given is 50-60. So to gauge, you can see if you have encounter these scenarios:
- Multiple Electrical Appliances within the room
- Internal/External Heat Sources
- Direction of Sun, depends on where your room is facing towards
- Ceiling Height (High Ceiling will require more BTU)
If you have encountered all scenarios, then you should multiply by 60. Otherwise, you can just multiply by 50 if you didn’t encounter any of these scenarios.
Method 2
Get the area of the room (in sq metres) that you wish to install the aircon at, and simply divide by 5. You will get the the cooling capacity in Kilowatt (KW). Following which, to convert Kilowatt into BTU required, take that result and multiply it by 3412.
If you have been measuring your house based on square meter, you can simply take that area and divide by 5. However, the cooling capacity that you will get is in terms of KILOWATT (KW). To convert kilowatt into BTU, multiply the result by 3412.
Will the BTU calculation be accurate?
The method is referenced from Singapore’s Energy Efficient website. However, as described in earlier paragraphs, you will have to take note of the internal and external heat source generated from your room. Other than heat source, you will also have to take into account the height of the room. Furthermore, do note that the calculations we have provided only helps to calculate your required BTU base on square feet. So for warehouse or places with high ceiling, you will have to get higher BTU too. We would personally advise you to contact us at +65 9177 5500 to book a free site visit with us so we can assist you in better diagnose your aircon needs. Besides advising you on BTU, we will recommend specific brands and systems for you too. Alternatively, you can click on the button below and it will direct you to our WhatsApp directly.
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Conclusion
It is very to instill an air-conditioner, especially at commercial spaces. If it doesn’t fulfil your cooling requirements due to insufficient Aircon BTU calculation. You might have to change the entire air-conditioning system. Hence, it is better to get this accurately right from the start. You will have to take into consideration other factors like crowd level, direction of the sun, internal/external heat sources and ceiling height. If you are still unsure of the BTU that you required for your place, you might want to contact us at +65 9177 5500. We will be more than happy to be of your assistance in aircon related enquires.
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Here at Silverback Aircon, our friendly staff and technicians provide you with the most efficient service for the best price. Besides Aircon Installation, we also perform repair works and services. All of our Aircon spare parts are tested, refurbished and commissioned before selling it to you so you can trust us with all your aircon needs! Furthermore, if you are still unsure about how much BTU you need, call us for free over-the-phone consultation or even book a site visit appointment with us! We will be glad to offer you any assistance you need.
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