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

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

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 43,000 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.6 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 558 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 21.5 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Odessa Schlemeyer Field (3.9 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 95.3°F and a low of 71.5°F, with about 115 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 103°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 3,654 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $586 at Texas's average residential rate of 16.03¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 7 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Odessa

Of the 43,000 BTU/hr, 20,160 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 103°F afternoon (47%), 13,000 is sun on the house (30%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 7,800 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Odessa'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 35,280 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Odessa

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 7,500 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 12,900 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Odessa

Jul alone uses 23% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,214 hours a year at full output.

Odessa against nearby cities

Of 252 Texas cities here, Odessa has the 219th highest cooling load. The range runs from Levelland at 37,300 BTU/hr to Laredo at 51,500.

Where Odessa's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Odessa Schlemeyer Field, 3.9 miles from the center of Odessa at 2,983 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Odessa's summers.

No other city in this set uses Odessa Schlemeyer Field, so this sizing is Odessa's alone.

The sun over Odessa in late July

At 31.88°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 78.5° above the horizon over Odessa 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.

119,748 people live in Odessa, the 32nd largest of the 252 Texas cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 31.8805, -102.3453.

Odessa AC sizing questions