What Does the HVAC Tonnage Number Mean?
If it’s time to replace your AC/heating system, you’ll want to be sure that your unit is strong enough to keep your home in South Central Texas comfortable without being so powerful that it has to constantly turn off and on. While we at GVEC are happy to help with this calculation to ensure your system is properly sized for your home, it’s still good to understand some basic terms related to air conditioning. Although the SEER rating of a specific system is an important place to start, the tonnage of a particular system is also important to consider. It All Comes Down to BTUs Although the concept of air conditioning is fairly new, the idea of energy transfer is quite old. Since an air conditioning system is essentially just a sophisticated energy-transfer system, the terms related to energy transfer apply. That’s why BTUs play an important role in determining the tonnage of a given system. Essentially, the tonnage measurement of an HVAC unit is the amount of heat a system can remove from a space in an hour, which is based upon a predetermined formula derived from how much energy it takes to melt a literal ton of ice...
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