❄️ BTU קלאַסיק

װײַז די װײַז־פּראָגראַם

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is a unit of heat, and air conditioners and heaters are rated by how many BTU per hour they can move. This calculator estimates the capacity a room actually needs so you neither undersize the unit (which then runs flat out and never keeps up) nor oversize it (which short-cycles, wastes energy and leaves the room clammy). For cooling it starts from the U.S. EPA rule of thumb of about 20 BTU/h per square foot, then adjusts for ceiling height, sun exposure, occupancy and heat-producing rooms. For heating it scales the floor area by a BTU-per-square-foot factor that rises with a colder climate.

The cooling adjustments are: scale by ceiling height relative to the standard 8 ft; subtract about 10% for a heavily shaded room or add 10% for a very sunny one; add roughly 600 BTU for each occupant beyond the first two; and add about 4,000 BTU for a kitchen, where appliances throw off heat. As a worked example, a 300 sq ft moderate-climate living room with standard ceilings, average sun and two people needs about 300 × 20 = 6,000 BTU/h — a typical window-unit size. Heating that same room in a cold climate uses a factor near 60 BTU/sq ft, or roughly 18,000 BTU/h.

The result is also converted to tons and kilowatts and rounded up to a sensible unit size, using 1 ton of cooling = 12,000 BTU/h and 1 kW ≈ 3,412 BTU/h. So a 6,000 BTU need is about half a ton or 1.76 kW. These are planning estimates: a proper HVAC load calculation (Manual J) also weighs insulation, window quality, air leakage and local climate data, so treat the number as a well-informed starting point for shopping.