Air Conditioning

Why Choosing the Right Air Conditioner Matters for Comfort, Bills, and Longevity Choosing the right air conditioner shapes how evenly a home cools on the hottest days, what shows up on the power bill, how well humidity is tamed, how clean the indoor air feels, and how long the equipment lasts. In our field work, we have seen most comfort complaints trace back to the initial choice, not the thermo ...

Why Consider a Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioner? Ductless mini split air conditioners are typically heat pump based, which means they move heat rather than generate it. That heat transfer principle is the core distinction: resistance heaters and gas burners create heat, while a mini split relocates it, into the space when heating and out of the space when cooling. Think of it like a refrigerato ...

Should You Air Condition Your Garage? What to Know Before You Start Garages are not built like living rooms. They are often thin on insulation, full of air leaks, hit with heavy sun, and exposed to vehicle exhaust and stored chemicals, so quick stick-on fixes rarely work. To make cooling worthwhile, treat the garage as a true conditioned space. Start by tightening the envelope: add insulation to w ...

What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need for a 1,500 Sq Ft Ranch? Quick Answer A practical baseline is the BTU per square foot rule of thumb: plan about 20 BTUs for each square foot. For a 1,500 sq ft ranch, that works out to roughly 30,000 BTUs, about 2.5 tons. In our day to day sizing, this is the starting point we use. Think of capacity like choosing a bucket for a spill, undersized overflows, overs ...

What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need? A Quick Overview Choosing the right size AC is critical for comfort, humidity control, energy use, and equipment life. After 30+ years sizing systems in all kinds of homes, we see two common mistakes: undersized units that run nonstop and still feel warm, and oversized units that short cycle, leave rooms clammy, and wear out faster. This overview shows how to g ...

What Is BTU in Air Conditioning? A Clear, Short Answer A BTU is the amount of heat required to raise 1 pound of water by 1 F. In air conditioning, we use it almost exclusively as BTU per hour (BTU/h), which tells you the cooling capacity: how much heat the system can remove in an hour. Think of it like the size of a bucket, the bigger the BTU/h number, the more heat it can carry out of a space in ...

What Size Room Will a 6,000 BTU Air Conditioner Cool? Quick answer A 6,000 BTU room or window AC is built for small spaces. We size this class for about 150 to 250 sq ft, and up to roughly 300 sq ft in ideal conditions such as good insulation, shaded exposure, and low occupancy. Choosing the right size drives comfort, energy cost, and humidity control. When the capacity matches the room, you get s ...

Types of AC Systems: A Complete Guide: What This Guide Covers Air conditioning options run the gamut, from whole home central systems to single room units and advanced variable refrigerant and geothermal designs. This guide is written for homeowners, landlords, and small business operators choosing equipment for houses, condos, apartments, and light commercial spaces such as offices or retail suit ...

HVAC vs Air Conditioning: Why the Difference Matters for Comfort, Cost and Air Quality Many people use HVAC and air conditioning interchangeably, but they are not the same. HVAC is a whole-home system that includes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. AC refers only to cooling. Think of HVAC as the full toolbox, and AC as one tool inside it. Every HVAC setup includes air conditioning, but a ...

Should I Replace My 25 Year Old AC Unit? What to Know First If your 25-year-old AC still cools, that speaks well of the original design and your upkeep. It is also usually not a reason to keep it. Units that old sit far below today's efficiency, cost more to run, and are more prone to sudden breakdowns. In hot places like Northridge, CA, long cooling seasons magnify those downsides. Keeping it is ...

Why Right Sizing a Mini Split in 2026 Is the Single Most Important Decision Getting the capacity right is everything for comfort, efficiency, and equipment life. In 2026, right-sizing is the single most important decision because oversizing wastes energy and shortens runtimes, and undersizing leaves rooms clammy and noisy as the system struggles. This section gives a practical, stepwise path you c ...

What Is a Major Load Air Conditioning System and Why It Matters The major load air conditioning system is the primary, high capacity unit that carries the bulk of a home or building's cooling during the hottest, stickiest hours. Think of it as the main engine that does the heavy lifting at peak conditions. In practice, sizing that major load comes from a real heat gain picture of the structure, no ...