BTU is a common term that you will encounter when you’re shopping for most of the electrical appliances such air conditioners, grills, etc. Although each of the HVAC appliances will be accompanied by a fact sheet indicating its technical specifications, very few people check out this helpful information.
BTU is an acronym standing for British Thermal Unit which is used to measure the thermal energy that an electrical device is capable of generating over a period. One BTU can be defined as the actual amount of energy required to increase the temperature of a single pound by 1oF.
However, this definition doesn’t apply to air conditioners since they are designed to lower air temperature and not raise it. The BTU unit indicated on an AC refers to the amount of heat the AC can eliminate from the air.
The size of the heating or cooling equipment doesn’t determine the number of BTU units on it. Smaller appliances can have a higher BTU value compared to the large devices which is normal. However, the bigger your home, the more number of BTUs you’ll need since it means that heating or cooling will provide more heated or cooled air.
Why Do BTUs Matter?
It’s always important to pay close attention to the square footage BTU recommendation for each air conditioner or heat pump you consider buying. If you get an AC or heat with the wrong level of BTU, then it means that you won’t heat up or cool your home as required which will automatically lead to higher energy bills.
For instance, if you’re using an AC unit with an insufficient number of BTUs, you will not be able to achieve your desired comfort level. The heat load will be too much for your AC unit to handle which will cause it to run continuously and never reach the set temperature level. This will make it to overwork hence shortening its lifespan.
Contact us today, and we will help you determine the appropriate number of BTUs for your home
