What size AC for Sikeston, MO? 3.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

3.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 37,800 BTU/hr of load

Here the 20 BTU per square foot chart lands close: 3.5 tons against a load of 3.1 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 635 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 18.9 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Sikeston Pwr Station (2 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 91.4°F and a low of 70.7°F, with about 56 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 2,784 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $398 at Missouri's average residential rate of 14.28¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 6 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Sikeston

Of the 37,800 BTU/hr, 15,840 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 97°F afternoon (42%), 13,000 is sun on the house (34%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 6,800 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Sikeston'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 30,960 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Sikeston

Single rooms with a window or mini-split unit: a 150 sq ft bedroom needs about 2,800 BTU/hr; a 350 sq ft living room needs about 6,600 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 11,300 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Sikeston

Jul alone uses 26% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,054 hours a year at full output.

Sikeston against nearby cities

Of 80 Missouri cities here, Sikeston has the highest cooling load. The range runs from Hannibal at 30,600 BTU/hr to Sikeston at 37,800.

Where Sikeston's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Sikeston Pwr Station, 2 miles from the center of Sikeston at 310 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Sikeston's summers.

No other city in this set uses Sikeston Pwr Station, so this sizing is Sikeston's alone.

The sun over Sikeston in late July

At 36.88°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 73.5° above the horizon over Sikeston and the day runs 14 h 10 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.

16,062 people live in Sikeston, the 48th largest of the 80 Missouri cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 36.8837, -89.5872.

Sikeston AC sizing questions