There are many ways to objectively measure the power and output of an HVAC unit or system, like a heat pump or even a Goodman 5 ton AC unit. You can measure the system in terms of BTUs, or British Thermal Units, to give an indication of how much raw power a system can deliver in heating or cooling. You can measure it in terms of tonnage. For example, a 3 ton AC unit should be able to manage 3 tons of air, whereas a 5 ton unit can manage 5 tons. You can also assess the horsepower of the blower motor because that will impact how effectively the unit can circulate air.
But these are all just numbers, and for most homeowners and business owners, they are fairly abstract. For most of you reading this, you’re probably looking for some way to get an impression of how to correlate the power or size of an AC unit to the size of a home or business. There’s a better way to do so – it’s with square footage estimates.
Now, admittedly, this process provides at best an estimate and is not a guarantee that the air conditioner in question will adequately cool a space. The orientation and configuration of your homes and the rooms in it will also affect the performance of a cooling system. However, for the bare purposes of assessing whether or not an air conditioner or system will be a fit for your home, you can start here and then bring your refined questions to an HVAC specialist.
There’s one more thing you need to know about your home when you’re looking at a more subjective way to measure the cooling power that an air conditioning unit can provide. There are some methods for dividing the United States into zones, from 1 to 5, with Zone 1 being the farthest south and experiencing the hottest summers, and Zone 5 being the farthest north and experiencing the mildest summers.
If you’re looking specifically at a Goodman 5 ton AC unit, it’s probably going to have a BTU rating of something in the area of 50,000 to 60,000 BTUs. Again, this isn’t a particularly clear representation of how well an air conditioner will cool a space; with a rating like this, you can expect a 5 ton unit to cool a space with a square footage between 2,300 to 2,400 square feet on the low end in Zone 1 where it’s the hottest in the summer, and up to 3,300 square feet in Zone 5 where it gets the hottest in the summer.
As we have taken pains to illustrate, these are only estimates and don’t give a precise representation of how much cooling power an air conditioner will provide. The only way to know for sure how well a given unit will be able to cool your home is to provide much more specific information about your home’s size and configuration to an HVAC specialist. With that information in hand, a specialist will be able to tell you just how a given unit will be able to keep your home comfortable.
To learn more about the function of air handlers in cooling systems, about the energy efficient solutions that exist in HVAC, or about how well central air and split systems can cool your home, contact the specialists at Budget Air Supply. Their team will give you some more definite information on how well an air conditioning system will cool your home, Goodman or otherwise. They also have a large inventory of heating and cooling systems on hand, at the best prices possible. They even cover you with a price match guarantee and provide free shipping on their systems. Contact them at 855-473-6484 to learn more today.
