What size AC for Hueytown, AL? 3.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

3.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 38,700 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.2 tons. This is one of the climates the chart was written for.

If a contractor quotes you more than 3.5 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 621 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 19.3 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Bessemer 3 Wsw (1 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 91.8°F and a low of 70.5°F, with about 80 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 98°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 3,096 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $511 at Alabama's average residential rate of 16.51¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 7 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Hueytown

Of the 38,700 BTU/hr, 16,560 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 98°F afternoon (43%), 13,000 is sun on the house (34%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 7,000 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Hueytown'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 31,680 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Hueytown

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 2,900 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 6,800 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 11,600 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Hueytown

Jul alone uses 24% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,145 hours a year at full output.

Hueytown against nearby cities

Of 66 Alabama cities here, Hueytown has the 31st highest cooling load. The range runs from Boaz at 30,600 BTU/hr to Montgomery at 44,000.

Where Hueytown's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Bessemer 3 Wsw, 1 miles from the center of Hueytown at 445 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Hueytown's summers.

No other city in this set uses Bessemer 3 Wsw, so this sizing is Hueytown's alone.

The sun over Hueytown in late July

At 33.41°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 77.0° above the horizon over Hueytown and the day runs 13 h 54 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.

16,185 people live in Hueytown, the 45th largest of the 66 Alabama cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 33.4086, -87.0166.

Hueytown AC sizing questions