How big a room does a 12,000 BTU air conditioner cool?
According to the ENERGY STAR sizing chart, 12,000 BTU is the recommended capacity for 450 to 550 square feet (about 42 to 51 m²) with an 8 ft ceiling and normal sun. That is roughly a 19 × 26 ft room.
- Very sunny room: add 10% to the load, so 12,000 BTU covers about 10% less floor area.
- Shaded room: take 10% off the load.
- More than two people: add 600 BTU for each extra person who regularly uses the room.
- Kitchen: add 4,000 BTU.
Window vs portable at 12,000 BTU
A window unit's 12,000 BTU rating is its real cooling. Portables are different: the big number on the box is the ASHRAE rating, while the DOE's SACC figure, which accounts for heat leaking back through the hose and casing, is usually a few thousand BTU lower. In our list, portables boxed at 14,000 BTU deliver about 10,000 BTU of real cooling.
12,000 BTU in tons and kilowatts
12,000 BTU per hour is 1.00 tons of cooling (1 ton = 12,000 BTU) and about 3.52 kW.