What size AC for El Paso, TX? 4 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 44,800 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 536 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 22.4 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at El Paso International Airport (4 mi away). Jun is the hottest month, averaging a high of 97.1°F and a low of 70.6°F, with about 117 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 105°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 3,924 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $629 at Texas's average residential rate of 16.03¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 7 months of the year here.

What drives the load in El Paso

Of the 44,800 BTU/hr, 21,600 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 105°F afternoon (48%), 13,000 is sun on the house (29%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 8,100 is moisture the coil has to wring out of El Paso's summer air (18%).

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 36,720 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in El Paso

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 3,400 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 7,800 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 13,400 BTU/hr.

Month by month in El Paso

Jul alone uses 23% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,253 hours a year at full output.

El Paso against nearby cities

Of 252 Texas cities here, El Paso has the 172nd highest cooling load. The range runs from Levelland at 37,300 BTU/hr to Laredo at 51,500.

Where El Paso's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is El Paso International Airport, 4 miles from the center of El Paso at 3,944 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are El Paso's summers.

4 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to El Paso: Sunland Park (10 mi away, 13.1 mi from the station), Socorro (18 mi away, 13.9 mi from the station), Horizon City (18 mi away, 14.3 mi from the station), San Elizario (21 mi away, 17.5 mi from the station). El Paso sits closer to the station than any of them, so its numbers are the best measured of the group.

The sun over El Paso in late July

At 31.85°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 78.6° above the horizon over El Paso and the day runs 13 h 47 min from sunrise to sunset. A lower noon sun puts more of the day's heat on east and west walls than on the roof, which is why shading west glass pays off here. Shorter days give the house a longer night to shed the day's heat.

681,723 people live in El Paso, the 6th largest of the 252 Texas cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 31.8478, -106.4311.

El Paso AC sizing questions