You must have heard these letter “BTU” while looking for a new AC on market. These important three letter tells how well it cools your room. What exactly does BTU mean though, and why are they so important?

Let’s see why you need to know about BTU before buying a new AC.

What is BTU?

BTU or “British Thermal Unit” describe the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. It is an international measure of energy.

As the rating of BTU increases on a particular unit, the size, weight, and cost also increase.

1 Btu is equal to 1055 joules. If you put the higher the BTUs output, the hotter the radiator or heated towel rail is going to be.

Different radiators provide different BTU outputs; For example, vertical column radiators provide a BTU output of 7913 BTU while slim panel radiators provide 1120 BTU.

To avoid a big amount of energy bills, it is necessary to find a radiator with BTUs that meets your needs. Every room has different heating requirements. The radiator has to be different according to the room.

Some specific values ​​for how hot each room needs to be:

• Living area: 21–22 ° C / 70–72 ° F
• Kitchen: 20 ° C / 68 ° F
• Bedrooms: 18 ° C / 65 ° F
• Bathrooms: 21 ° C / 70 ° F

Why is it called a British thermal unit?

BTU first thought came in British railroad engineer, Thomas Tregold. He was involved in heating and ventilating buildings in public areas.

What do BTUs mean for your AC?

The amount of BTUs you need to cool your room depends largely on the size of the space; That is, how much air you have to cool. You can find out by measuring the length and width of your room and multiplying these numbers together to determine its square footage. Once you know the size of your room in square feet, you can consult the BTU chart breaking down the amount of cooling power required to keep that space comfortable. A BTU is a bit of a “start-up cost”, when it’s cold, you’ll find that a small room of 150 square feet will require 5,000 BTUs, but a room three times as large as three times as large. Does not require many BTUs to remain calm.

If you are looking for an air conditioner measuring 10 ‘x 15’ (150 sq ft) in a room, the recommended BTU range is up to 5400. If your room is 10’x 20 ‘(200 sq ft), you’d need to see a 6,000 BTU unit. Once you reach 340 and 400 square feet per room, you need 8,000 or 9,000 BTU air conditioners respectively.

The kitchen requires more cooling power, as you will be operating the oven, which adds heat to the room. Add 4000 BTUs to the recommended size for an air conditioning unit in your kitchen.

Recommended BTUs for room size