What size AC for Plant City, FL? 4 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 44,900 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 534 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 22.5 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Plant City (1.3 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 93.8°F and a low of 73.4°F, with about 111 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 102°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 6,044 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $926 at Florida's average residential rate of 15.32¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 12 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Plant City

Of the 44,900 BTU/hr, 19,440 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 102°F afternoon (43%), 13,000 is sun on the house (29%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 10,400 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Plant City'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 34,560 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Plant City

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 7,900 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 13,500 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Plant City

Jul alone uses 15% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,924 hours a year at full output.

Plant City against nearby cities

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

Where Plant City's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Plant City, 1.3 miles from the center of Plant City at 110 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Plant City's summers.

No other city in this set uses Plant City, so this sizing is Plant City's alone.

The sun over Plant City in late July

At 28.02°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 82.4° above the horizon over Plant City and the day runs 13 h 31 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.

43,046 people live in Plant City, the 75th largest of the 173 Florida cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 28.0154, -82.1178.

Plant City AC sizing questions