When choosing a heating or cooling system for your home, it’s important to pay close attention to the letters BTU. These letters stand for British thermal unit which is a form of measurement for energy. It refers to the amount of energy needed to increase a pound of water by 1-degree Fahrenheit. Determining how many BTUs you need for your room or house is essential for choosing a system that is best suited to your space. While selecting a system with too many BTUs will waste energy and increase your electric bill unnecessarily, choosing one with too little will be ineffective. To determine the number of BTUs your space requires, here are key factors to consider.
How big is your space?
The size of your space is one of the largest indications of how many BTUs your temperature control system will require for optimum efficiency and comfort. Generally, your temperature control system should have 20 BTU for every square foot of living space in the area you wish to heat or cool. For example, if your room or area is 400 square feet in size, then you should opt for a temperature control system with a capability of around 8,000 BTU.
Is your space well insulated?
How well your space is insulated is another indicating factor of how many BTUs you need for your room or house. If an area is poorly insulated, more warm or cold air will escape. As a result, your temperature control system will have to work harder and use more energy to effectively heat or cool your space. Thus, your system will require more BTUs to compensate for the larger amount of energy required. If you are heating or cooling an area of 400 square feet with moderate insulation, you may need around 12,000 BTU; if there is poor insulation, you will likely need closer to 18,000 BTU.
Do you live in a cold or hot climate?
If you live in a particularly warm climate and are attempting to warm your space, your system will require far less energy than if you lived in a cold climate. As such, those who live in warmer climates, such as Florida or Texas, should multiply the square footage of the space they’re heating by only 10 to 15 rather than 20 to get their suggested BTU. Those that live in a colder climate, such as North Dakota or Alaska, should bump the number they multiply their square footage by up to around 30 or 40. The reverse can be done to determine how many BTUs a cooling system requires.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Recommendations
The DOE generally recommends 20 BTUs per square foot of living space. That is based on size alone. Therefore, a simple formula for calculating BTUs is to multiply the total square footage of your home by 20. But you may need more BTUs per sq. ft. if you have high walls, live in a hot climate like Florida or Arizona, a particular room usually faces the sun, and it has more/larger windows than average.
Comments
Post a Comment