What size AC for Riverside, CA? 3.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

3.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 39,700 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.3 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 604 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 19.9 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Riverside Municipal Airport (2.6 mi away). Aug is the hottest month, averaging a high of 94.9°F and a low of 64.7°F, with about 101 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 2,577 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $840 at California's average residential rate of 32.58¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 6 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Riverside

Of the 39,700 BTU/hr, 19,440 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 102°F afternoon (49%), 13,000 is sun on the house (33%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 5,200 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Riverside's summer air (13%).

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 Riverside

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 11,900 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Riverside

Aug alone uses 25% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 927 hours a year at full output.

Riverside against nearby cities

Of 376 California cities here, Riverside has the 52nd highest cooling load. The range runs from Corte Madera at 15,700 BTU/hr to Palm Desert at 59,000.

Where Riverside's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Riverside Municipal Airport, 2.6 miles from the center of Riverside at 845 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Riverside's summers.

4 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Riverside: Jurupa Valley (6 mi away, 3.9 mi from the station), Grand Terrace (8 mi away, 8.8 mi from the station), Colton (9 mi away, 9.4 mi from the station), San Bernardino (15 mi away, 15.3 mi from the station). Riverside sits closer to the station than any of them, so its numbers are the best measured of the group.

The sun over Riverside in late July

At 33.94°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 76.5° above the horizon over Riverside and the day runs 13 h 56 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.

323,757 people live in Riverside, the 12th largest of the 376 California cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 33.9381, -117.3932.

Riverside AC sizing questions