What size AC for Wichita, KS? 3.5 tons for 2,000 sq ft

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

3.5 tons central AC or heat pump, about 39,500 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 607 square feet in this climate. For a single room, size by the room: 19.8 BTU/hr per square foot.

The climate it is sized for

Climate from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at Wichita (5.9 mi away). Jul is the hottest month, averaging a high of 92.6°F and a low of 70.4°F, with about 65 days a year at 90°F or more. That gives a design temperature of 99°F against 75°F inside.

What it costs to run

About 2,615 kWh a year at SEER2 14.3, or roughly $399 at Kansas's average residential rate of 15.26¢ per kWh. Cooling runs 5 months of the year here.

What drives the load in Wichita

Of the 39,500 BTU/hr, 17,280 comes through walls, roof and windows on a 99°F afternoon (44%), 13,000 is sun on the house (33%), 2,120 is four people and their appliances, and 7,100 is moisture the coil has to wring out of Wichita'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 32,400 BTU/hr before the moisture allowance.

Other house sizes in Wichita

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 6,900 BTU/hr; a 600 sq ft open plan kitchen and family room needs about 11,900 BTU/hr.

Month by month in Wichita

Jul alone uses 29% of the year's cooling energy. The unit runs the equivalent of 946 hours a year at full output.

Wichita against nearby cities

Of 38 Kansas cities here, Wichita has the highest cooling load. The range runs from Pittsburg at 33,100 BTU/hr to Wichita at 39,500.

Where Wichita's weather numbers come from

The nearest NOAA station with full 1991 to 2020 normals is Wichita, 5.9 miles from the center of Wichita at 1,400 ft above sea level. That is close enough that the station's summers are Wichita's summers.

2 other cities use the same station and get the same climate inputs. The closest to Wichita: Haysville (9 mi away, 7.8 mi from the station), Derby (10 mi away, 12.2 mi from the station). Wichita sits closer to the station than any of them, so its numbers are the best measured of the group.

The sun over Wichita in late July

At 37.69°N, the noon sun on 21 July stands 72.7° above the horizon over Wichita and the day runs 14 h 14 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.

400,991 people live in Wichita, the largest of the 38 Kansas cities sized on this site. Coordinates used: 37.6906, -97.3458.

Wichita AC sizing questions