Do You Know How Many Watts Your HVAC Consumes?

Buying a new cooling system is making a huge investment for your Northern California home and/or business. You need to feel confident that you are making the best choice for your family and budget. The process of selecting a new HVAC unit brings with it a dizzying array of choices and options. Wattage is one of the foremost contributing factors in deciding which air conditioner to purchase. This guide will explain why AC watts matter.

Importance of Watts for HVAC Units

You are probably familiar with the concept of watts from using lightbulbs in your home. More watts mean more energy is consumed. But, it also means brighter light. A similar concept applies to your heating and cooling system. Watts are a great place to start if you are wondering how soon you can start seeing a return on your investment.

Use of Watts in Air Conditioning

The rate at which an HVAC system uses energy for keeping a home comfortable is an important consideration while evaluating energy efficiency. You can attain a concrete baseline understanding by determining the number of kilowatts used per hour by the unit. You can multiple amps and volts and convert the number into kilowatts per hour, if the system you use doesn’t label the watts clearly. You can use the calculated kilowatts for measuring the cost of running the unit per hour by using the rates provided by your electric company.

Consider Total Watts

A number of homeowners make the mistake of considering only the compressor when determining the extent of energy used by their system. You should be sure to include all power needs when determining the watts used by a new unit.

Watts, BTUs, and SEER Rating

BTU refers to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a pound of water by a degree. A watt contains 3.14 BTUs approximately. You can also calculate the number of watts used by dividing the BTUs. Watt calculation becomes more straightforward when the label shows both BTUS and SEER rating.

All you would need to do is divide the BTU number with the SEER rating. The result is the number of watts used by the unit. You would need to convert this figure into kilowatts for determining the kind of utility bill to expect.

Average Wattage for Residential HVAC Units

You need to ensure that you carry out a detailed calculation before purchasing a new system to avoid unnecessary disappointments. This is a general guide of the watts used by common residential HVAC units in California:

• 417 - 625 watts per hour is used by 5,000 BTU cooling systems
• 500 - 700 watts per hour is used by 6,000 BTU cooling systems
• 667 - 1,000 watts per hour is used by 8,000 BTU cooling systems
• 833 - 1,500 watts per hour is used by 10,0000 to 12,000 BTU cooling systems
• 1,250 - 2,250 watts per hour is used by 15,000 to 18,000 BTU cooling systems

There are a few benefits of choosing an AC system that makes use of more watts. You can understand the cost of operation better by calculating the number of watts used. BTUs and SEER ratings are a better way of choosing a new air conditioner system.