What size AC for Tulare, CA? 4 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

4 tons central AC or heat pump, about 43,100 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 557 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 Hanford Municipal Airport (17.6 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 98.2°F and a low of 64°F, with about 112 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 106°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 2,595 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $846 at California's average residential rate of 32.58¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 6 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Tulare

Of the 43,100 BTU/hr, 22,320 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 106°F afternoon (52%), 13,000 is sun on the house (30%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 5,600 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Tulare'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 37,440 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Tulare

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 Tulare

Jul alone uses 27% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 862 hours a year at full output.

Tulare against nearby cities

Of 376 California cities here, Tulare has the 33rd highest cooling load. The range runs from Corte Madera at 15,700 BTU/hr to Palm Desert at 59,000.

Where Tulare's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Hanford Municipal Airport, 17.6 miles from the center of Tulare at 249 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Tulare's summers.

4 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Tulare: Corcoran (15 mi away, 16.1 mi from the station), Hanford (20 mi away, 2.1 mi from the station), Dinuba (24 mi away, 20.4 mi from the station), Kingsburg (26 mi away, 15.1 mi from the station). Tulare is farther from the station than 3 of them.

The sun over Tulare in late July

At 36.20°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 74.2° above the horizon over Tulare and the day runs 14 h 06 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.

72,601 people live in Tulare, the 123rd largest of the 376 California cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 36.2002, -119.3398.

Tulare AC sizing questions