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

What size AC a 2,000 sq ft house in Venice 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 Venice (1.7 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 91.5°F and a low of 74.3°F, with about 120 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 100°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 5,688 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $871 at Florida's average residential rate of 15.32¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 12 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Venice

Of the 43,100 BTU/hr, 18,000 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 100°F afternoon (42%), 13,000 is sun on the house (30%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 9,900 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Venice'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 33,120 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Venice

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 Venice

Aug alone uses 15% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 1,889 hours a year at full output.

Venice against nearby cities

Of 173 Florida cities here, Venice has the 33rd highest cooling load. The range runs from Miami Shores at 36,500 BTU/hr to Plant City at 44,900.

Where Venice's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Venice, 1.7 miles from the center of Venice at 8 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Venice's summers.

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

The sun over Venice in late July

At 27.12°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 83.3° above the horizon over Venice and the day runs 13 h 28 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.

29,902 people live in Venice, the 98th largest of the 173 Florida cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 27.1170, -82.4152.

Venice AC sizing questions