What size AC for Corpus Christi, TX? 4 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 44,000 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.7 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 546 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 22 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Corpus Christi NAS (8.6 mi away). Aug is the hottest month, averaging a high of 93.5°F and a low of 80.4°F, with about 96 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 101°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 6,659 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $1,067 at Texas's average residential rate of 16.03¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 11 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Corpus Christi

Of the 44,000 BTU/hr, 18,720 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 101°F afternoon (43%), 13,000 is sun on the house (30%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 10,200 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Corpus Christi'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 33,840 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Corpus Christi

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 3,300 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 7,700 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 13,200 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Corpus Christi

Aug alone uses 16% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 2,165 hours a year at full output.

Corpus Christi against nearby cities

Of 252 Texas cities here, Corpus Christi has the 179th highest cooling load. The range runs from Levelland at 37,300 BTU/hr to Laredo at 51,500.

Where Corpus Christi's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Corpus Christi NAS, 8.6 miles from the center of Corpus Christi at 15 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Corpus Christi's summers.

1 other city uses the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Corpus Christi: Ingleside (8 mi away, 13.6 mi from the station). Corpus Christi sits closer to the station than any of them, so its numbers are the best measured of the group.

The sun over Corpus Christi in late July

At 27.75°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 82.6° above the horizon over Corpus Christi and the day runs 13 h 30 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.

317,317 people live in Corpus Christi, the 8th largest of the 252 Texas cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 27.7543, -97.1734.

Corpus Christi AC sizing questions