What size AC for Abbeville, LA? 4 tons for 2,000 sq ft

What size AC a 2,000 sq ft house in Abbeville needs

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 42,100 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.5 tons. This is one of the climates the chart was written for.

If a contractor quotes you more than 4 tons for an average 2,000 sq ft house here, ask to see the Manual J load calculation behind it before you sign. That works out to one ton per 570 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 21.1 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at New Iberia Airport - Acadiana Regional (15 mi away). Aug is the hottest month, averaging a high of 92.4°F and a low of 74°F, with about 93 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 99°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 4,609 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $612 at Louisiana's average residential rate of 13.27¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 8 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Abbeville

Of the 42,100 BTU/hr, 17,280 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 99°F afternoon (41%), 13,000 is sun on the house (31%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 9,700 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Abbeville's summer air (23%).

Heat through the shell is the biggest share here, so insulation and air sealing cut the size you need more than shading would. Sensible heat totals 32,400 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Abbeville

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 3,200 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 7,400 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 12,700 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Abbeville

Aug alone uses 19% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,565 hours a year at full output.

Abbeville against nearby cities

Of 35 Louisiana cities here, Abbeville has the 20th highest cooling load. The range runs from Covington at 37,800 BTU/hr to Natchitoches at 45,900.

Where Abbeville's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is New Iberia Airport - Acadiana Regional, 15 miles from the center of Abbeville at 16 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Abbeville's summers.

1 other city uses the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Abbeville: New Iberia (18 mi away, 4.2 mi from the station). Abbeville is farther from the station than 1 of them.

The sun over Abbeville in late July

At 29.98°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 80.4° above the horizon over Abbeville and the day runs 13 h 39 min from sunrise to sunset. With the sun that close to overhead, the roof takes most of the heat at midday and the west wall takes the rest after 3 pm. Shorter days give the house a longer night to shed the day's heat.

10,902 people live in Abbeville, the 33rd largest of the 35 Louisiana cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 29.9754, -92.1272.

Abbeville AC sizing questions