What size AC for Lighthouse Point, FL? 3.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

3.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 40,200 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.4 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 596 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 20.1 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Pompano Beach Airpark (2.6 mi away). Aug is the hottest month, averaging a high of 90.7°F and a low of 77.7°F, with about 59 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 97°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 7,238 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $1,109 at Florida's average residential rate of 15.32¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 12 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Lighthouse Point

Of the 40,200 BTU/hr, 15,840 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 97°F afternoon (39%), 13,000 is sun on the house (32%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 9,300 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Lighthouse Point'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 30,960 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Lighthouse Point

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 3,000 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 7,000 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 12,100 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Lighthouse Point

Aug alone uses 13% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 2,572 hours a year at full output.

Lighthouse Point against nearby cities

Of 173 Florida cities here, Lighthouse Point has the 121st highest cooling load. The range runs from Miami Shores at 36,500 BTU/hr to Plant City at 44,900.

Where Lighthouse Point's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Pompano Beach Airpark, 2.6 miles from the center of Lighthouse Point at 15 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Lighthouse Point's summers.

5 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Lighthouse Point: Deerfield Beach (3 mi away, 4.6 mi from the station), Pompano Beach (4 mi away, 1.4 mi from the station), Coconut Creek (6 mi away, 5.1 mi from the station), Boca Raton (7 mi away, 8.7 mi from the station), Delray Beach (12 mi away, 14.5 mi from the station). Lighthouse Point is farther from the station than 1 of them.

The sun over Lighthouse Point in late July

At 26.28°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 84.1° above the horizon over Lighthouse Point and the day runs 13 h 25 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.

10,878 people live in Lighthouse Point, the 167th largest of the 173 Florida cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 26.2778, -80.0886.

Lighthouse Point AC sizing questions