How big should a central air conditioner be for a 1450 sq ft house?

Question

I live in warner robins GA and it gets very hot. I cant get my house cooler than 75 Degrees in the afternoon even if the thermostat is set a 65 degrees. What could the problem be? Is my air conditioner too small? Do I need freeon (the house is only 3 years old and it still blows cold air). Do i need a better thermostat? Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Air conditioners, for the most part, are sized to keep the indoor air 20 degrees colder than the outdoor air. Is the outdoor air above 95 degrees?

Answer 2

Call an HVAC company and have them do a heat load calculation. They will take into account all kinds of factors to determine what the correct size is for you. If you already have the correct size, they can easily check the freon level in your unit (these usually have a sight glass to indicate freon level). And, if it needs more, they can fill it up for you. Although, they might have to look for leaks in the system. A three-year-old AC unit should not be losing freon already.

If the thermostat is kicking on the AC at the same temperature shown on a thermometer, it's fine. That is, if it's really 75 degrees in the room and you turn the thermostat up to, say 80, and then slowly back down, does the unit kick on at 75? If so, it's working fine. There's just too much of a heat load for your system right now.

Answer 3

HVAC Tech.:  You don't say how much tonnage you have. Based on new home construction requirements it should have been SIZED to the needs of the house. Have you added a room? done anything to up-grade the heat load in the house? Do you change the return air filter every 30 days? Has the unit been serviced yearly? I think you might have a 3 1/2 ton unit. it may just need a good servicing because it isn't that far off the mark.Lack of internal air flow in house could be your problem.  Cheap to cure! good luck!