In today’s day and age, with temperatures increasing everywhere and more and more people spending increasing amounts of time indoors, it is only natural that you would want to invest in a good quality air conditioner for your home.
However, there are some obvious questions that come to mind while thinking of installing an AC, like what the best possible unit for the space that you own is and, of course, how much electricity it consumes. When tackling these questions, the sheer amount of information and choices that you find these days may be overwhelming. But we are here to show you how you can make that work in your favor. You may even be able to save some money on electricity. Read on to find out how.
What is BTU, SEER, and Watt?
When looking to buy an air conditioner, there are a lot of things that one must consider, and it is normal to be confused by terms such as wattage or BTU, or SEER. Suppose someone says to you, “5000 BTU AC wattage is approximately 500 watts”. What can you do with these numbers? The answer is a lot. In fact, if you know what they mean and how to use them right, it can make all the difference.
First, there is BTU or ‘British Thermal Unit,’ which refers to the amount of energy an air conditioner uses to remove heat from your space i.e., the cooling capacity of your AC. The second is SEER or ‘Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio’, which is a rating determining the energy efficiency of an AC. The higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficient an air conditioner is. The third is watts which refer to the rate at which the energy moves through an electrical system i.e., the amount of electricity your AC will end up using to cool your space.
How to Calculate Wattage of AC using BTU
Therefore, the higher the wattage, the higher the amount of energy consumed i.e., the higher the electricity bill. Therefore, knowing the wattage of your air conditioner can come in handy while choosing an air conditioner that is the most energy efficient for your space.
Here, the BTU and SEER ratings, which are usually present on the labels of the air conditioner, may come in handy. After all, you can use the BTU and SEER to calculate the wattage or power consumption of your AC. All you must do is divide the BTU with the given SEER rating, and you will get the wattage or number of watts used by your AC.
That is BTU/SEER rating=Wattage
Let’s say, you must find 5000 BTU AC wattage, and the SEER rating of that AC unit is 9.5. All you must do is divide the two numbers, and you will have your 5000 BTU AC wattage, which is 526 watts.
Factors that Affect How Many Watts Air Conditioners Use
Although it is useful to know the wattage of power your air conditioner may end up using, you should remember that these calculations will be rough. How many watts an air conditioner may end up using depends on several other factors as well, such as:
- Rate of electricity in your region
- Size of your room
- Size and tonnage of your AC
- The number of hours you keep your AC running
As you can understand, what the most suitable AC for your room is depends on a lot of things, especially the size of the space. For an average-sized space, the most economical choice is a 5000 BTU AC.
How Many Watts Do 5000 BTU Air Conditioners Use
The most used AC units in spaces of about 100-250 square feet are, of course, the 5000 BTU ACs. Rooms of this size are usually a small bedroom, guestroom, study or home office, and a 5000 BTU AC serves them the best. On average, 5000 BTU air conditioners have a SEER rating of 9-10 or slightly higher. Based on this, we come to know that a 5000 BTU AC wattage is usually about 450-550 watts.
Variations in the SEER rating may bring changes to the wattage of a 5000 BTU AC. For instance, if an air conditioner has a higher SEER rating of 12, then the 5000 BTU AC will use precisely 416 watts of energy. Therefore, the higher the SEER rating, the lower the wattage of your 5000 BTU AC will be.
As a 5000 BTU AC has a wattage of about 500 watts, similarly, the various other kinds of ACs all have their own wattage specifications.
How Many Watts Do Other Air Conditioners Use
There are so many kinds of air conditioners for so many kinds of spaces, all of which have distinct physical and metric dimensions. As a result, it is useful to have an idea of how many watts the different air conditioners use to cool your space.
Here we will be looking at four types of air conditioners, namely:
- Window ACs
- Portable ACs
- Mini-Split ACs
- RV ACs
Window Air Conditioners
Window air conditioners are the most common and convenient kind of air conditioner. They are generally used for small, ductless spaces. They can cool spaces ranging from 400 square feet to 1000 square feet. Small window ACs with less cooling capacity (BTU) are used for relatively smaller spaces, and larger models are used for larger spaces. Thus, the number of watts used by window air conditioners ranges from 500 to 1400 watts per hour.
Portable Air Conditioners
Portable ACs are also used for ductless spaces like window ACs. The only difference is that they are manufactured to cool larger spaces where the Window ACs will not work.
However, Portable ACs have two significant disadvantages:
- You need a hose to drain the condensate and exhaust the heat from the system.
- They have an extremely high wattage i.e., and they use extremely high amounts of power ranging from 2900 to 4100 watts of power.
Mini-Split Air Conditioners
Mini-split air conditioners are also used in ductless spaces. They consist of one indoor unit and one outdoor unit. They are considered more energy efficient than window or portable AC. They are usually rated at 12,000 BTUs and end up drawing 700 to 2000 watts of power. If all the units of a split AC are in function, the power consumption is higher. However, if only one of the units of a mini-split AC is in cooling mode, the amount of energy used is much less.
RV Air Conditioners
Air conditioners in RVs basically ensure that the air within such small spaces is circulated and cooled. RV air conditioners are extremely important for a proper RV lifestyle. In terms of cooling capacity, RV ACs have a cooling effect of about 13,500 to 15,000 BTU. They usually do not have high SEER ratings, i.e., and they are not that energy efficient. In fact, the average range of SEER rating for RV air conditioners is 6-10. Therefore, on average, RV air conditioners end up using 1500 to 2500 watts of power. However, better quality RVs which have bigger spaces require ACs with higher capacity (BTU). In this case, the wattage is even higher.
How Many Watts Do Air Conditioners use?
The next time you hear someone struggling to understand what “5000 BTU AC wattage” means, go and help them out. After all, knowing how many watts your AC uses is such invaluable knowledge not only to know what the best air conditioner is for you based on your budget, space and energy ratio but also to regulate the amount on your electricity bill at the end of the month.
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