Air Conditioner Sizing

Can anyone tell me if they've had experience in sizing air conditioners.

We want to put a unit into a room 6m x 6m (approx 380 sq ft). Its a sunny room in the afternoons but window blinds take care of that and the room will be used as a lounge. This will not be a 24x7 usage, merely to cool the room when needed so minimal use

Have done some searching on the net and I found a couple of listings where they show for rooms 250 - 400 sq ft install a unit 6,000 - 8,500 BTU, does this sound right. Would a 9,000 BTU unit suffice?

I ask because in both Homepro and Global are trying to sell me a 12,000 BTU unit. The websites I've been reading also say bigger is not better and to size the unit correctly.

Any ideas folks... Thanks

It will depend on whether you have any insulation in your walls or on your ceiling. I have a corner room that's a little over 5m x 5m that gets full sun in the late afternoon and a 9,000 BTU works fine. But, I have well insulated walls and fiberglass on top of the ceiling. If you have the standard Thai build with block/brick walls and no ceiling insulation and you get sun on your walls you may be happier with a 12,000 BTU unit.

“This will not be a 24x7 usage, merely to cool the room when needed so minimal use”

If you use the room only occasionally cooling it quickly would be important so for this reason alone I would say the 12,000 BTU unit would be best.

Don't listen to the "salesmen" at Home Pro or Global House. You could explain to them you want to install AC in a 1x1 broom closet and they'd steer you to their top-of-the-line, most expensive model.

They could care less what you want.

Thanks Gents,
Yes Fremmel the froof is lagged with fibreglass backed with silver paper stuff, the walls are double lined small red brick but no insulation between apart from air....
Dropped into Homepro again today, for something else, a different sales guy insists a 24,000 BTU unit is what we need all for 34,000 bht, thank you very much, he even showed me the table of sizes on the wall next to the unit display,

It shows
9000-95000 BTU for 9-15 sq m
12000-13000BTU for 16-20 sq m
18000 BTU for 21-30 sq m
24000 BTU 31-35 sq m
28000 BTU for 36-40 sqm.

Think I'll plump for a 12,000 unit

http://www.air-n-water.com/Portable-AC-Size.htm


Note: a unit that's rated too large will not cycle or cool efficiently,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Has anybody seen the portable units for sale in Udon? We have a small room in the village (wife's father's bedroom) that is less that 150 sq ft. and has a low ceiling. The portable unit might be a good option rather than installing a permanent unit that won't be used much.

Thanks in advance...................Shado

Thanks a lot jackspratt. Was shopping at Tesco yesterday and guess I simply didn't see them. Good to know that they are available in the area. The wife's father turns 90 years old this month and he is suffering from the heat. This type of unit might be just the ticket for providing him with some relief. Most of the time the old fella is cold and bundled up in a long sleeve shirt the ever-present shawl/towel thingy that he keeps drapped over his shoulder. He only complains of the heat for about 10 weeks a year.

I appreciate the quick reply.

Shado wrote:Has anybody seen the portable units for sale in Udon? We have a small room in the village (wife's father's bedroom) that is less that 150 sq ft. and has a low ceiling. The portable unit might be a good option rather than installing a permanent unit that won't be used much.

Thanks in advance...................Shado

Try Robinsons, they had had them.

Yeah, now that I've started looking, I see that Makro carries them as well. They all seemed to be the same brand and priced about the same too. Reckon its just a matter of going to get it now. The wife seems to think it is the best solution. If she's happy, I'm happy.

Well after searching the stores of Udon and looking at pricing around the B20k+ mark with install in 3-4 days we stopped by an electrical retailer in Kutchap on the way home and bugger me they've got a brand new LG 13,000BTU sat in the shop for B15.5k with free installation. OK thak you very much when can you install..... Paid for it at 2:30PM installed and running by 6:30PM. Happy days.....

Some days it pays to get out of bed . Enjoy the cool.

Chriss wrote:Well after searching the stores of Udon and looking at pricing around the B20k+ mark with install in 3-4 days we stopped by an electrical retailer in Kutchap on the way home and bugger me they've got a brand new LG 13,000BTU sat in the shop for B15.5k with free installation. OK thak you very much when can you install..... Paid for it at 2:30PM installed and running by 6:30PM. Happy days.....

Was this an Inverter type A/C Just interested.