Since an oversized AC is too powerful for your home, it will quickly cool your home then shut off, which can raise your energy bills and wear out your AC (from all the starts and stops).
An HVAC system with excess capacity can heat or cool your home faster, but that speed often results in a couple of other issues. First, your home won't benefit from gradual, even heating and cooling. As a result, you could end up with a number of hot or cold spots throughout your home.
An oversized air conditioner may not have enough time to remove moisture from the air, leading to high humidity levels and a damp, uncomfortable indoor environment. Uneven cooling: An oversized air conditioner may cool some areas of the space more quickly than others, leading to uneven cooling and hot spots.
Homes measuring 1,000-1,500 square feet: You'll need a 2-ton unit, which corresponds to a cooling capacity of 24,000 BTUs per hour. Homes measuring 1,500-2,000 square feet: You'll require a 3-ton unit, equivalent to 36,000 BTUs per hour. Homes measuring 2,000-2,500 square feet: A 4-ton unit is necessary.
An oversized air conditioner may cool the space too quickly, causing it to turn on and off frequently. This can lead to increased wear and tear on the system and decreased energy efficiency.
As a guide, consider 5,000-BTU models for rooms 150 square feet or smaller, 8,000 BTUs for medium-size rooms (340 square feet), and 12,000 to 14,000-BTU models for rooms with square footage from 550 to 800. Having the correct power is imperative.
You Have an Oversized AC
If the AC unit is too big for your house, it quickly cools the rooms and shuts off. The system will keep turning on and off frequently, and these short cycles prevent good air circulation. The moist air will then condense on the coils and freeze up.
Hot or Cold Spots
If your air conditioning system is too big, it cannot completely cool your home. This means that you'll have hot or cold spots throughout your home. An AC system that is too large doesn't run long, so the cool air can't be equally distributed through your home.
But when an oversized unit is in place, it cools far faster and limits the cycle, which causes muggy, damp conditions in many cases due to high humidity. This can also lead to mold formation and a musty, uncomfortable smell.
However, the truth is an oversized system will not do a better job of cooling the house or provide any extra comfort over a properly sized unit. Air conditioner size is calculated in BTU (British Thermal Units) and tons, and measures how much heat the system can remove from the home in one hour.
An air conditioner with BTUs that exceed the recommended square footage in your home may also take on more wear and tear over time because it will initiate its on/off cycle more frequently. It could also create a subpar cooling experience because your AC's compressor may turn off much sooner than it should.
The idea that more is always better does not apply to air conditioning systems. In fact, having too much refrigerant in a cooling system can be just as detrimental as having too little. This is because an overcharged system puts extra strain on the equipment, ultimately leading to damage and a shorter lifespan.
A 3 Ton air conditioner is typically necessary for homes up to 1,500 to 2,500 square feet. Other factors such as climate, home insulation, and number of windows can also influence the right air conditioner size for your home, so be advised that this is just a general example.
Every air conditioner ton can efficiently cool around 500 square feet of a home. Depending on the system's model, this estimated square footage can be slightly more. This being said, a 3-ton AC system is a reasonably sized unit for a 2,000-square-foot home.
If you're wondering what size air conditioner do you need for a 3000 sq ft house. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) recommends a cooling capacity of around 48,000 BTUs per hour or 3.5 to 4 tons for a house of this size.
-1.5Ton AC: Suitable for rooms up to 180 sq ft. -2Ton AC: Suitable for rooms up to 250 sq ft. You may also come across stars on your AC and other large home appliances. In simple words, more stars (out of five) means better power efficiency.
Neither oversizing nor undersizing your AC unit is ideal. Both scenarios can lead to issues with efficiency, comfort, and longevity of the system. Oversizing: If your AC unit is too large for your home, it will cycle on and off frequently, leading to inefficient operation and increased energy bills.
Since an oversized AC is too powerful for your home, it will quickly cool your home then shut off, which can raise your energy bills and wear out your AC (from all the starts and stops).
Larger units provide more cooling power, but they also consume more energy. In addition, big cooling systems are expensive and run in short cycles.
Is your central air conditioner is running constantly? This leads to a big energy bill and can even damage your cooling system!
An aircon unit too big for the size of your room is likely to turn on and off more frequently and in effect, consume more energy in the process. On the other hand, an aircon that is too small for the size of your room never stops running as it will continuously work to reach your desired temperature level.
You Will Experience Higher In-Home Humidity Levels
In fact, AC units that are bigger than what is appropriate for your home may even increase the humidity levels you endure while indoors. This is largely due to on and off cycles that are too short or too long.