An air conditioner is said to be the biggest electricity consumer and the one of the most essential home appliance. This appliance provides you with the required comfort by controlling the temperature of your surroundings.
Understanding the criteria of how many watts does your air conditioner consumes might be tricky. Let us help you know how many watts does a 2, 3, 4 & 5 ton air conditioner uses and break down everything you need to know.
How many watts does a 2, 3, 4 & 5 ton air conditioner use?
A 2, 3, 4 & 5 ton air conditioner use 2000, 3000, 4000 & 5000 watts on average. This calculation varies over usage and type of air conditioner. It also depends on which mode the air conditioner is running during the time of operation. Depending on these conditions, the number of watts will vary.
On your AC label, you will find the BTU, which stands for British Thermal Unit, of your air conditioner. BTU is a rating that tells us how much heat is necessary to increase the temperature of a particular amount of water to a particular temperature.
SEER is called the seasonal energy efficiency ratio. This defines the efficiency of an air conditioner in a cooling season. A good higher SEER rated air conditioner consumes less watts compared to a lower SEER rated one.
The general rule is dividing BTU by SEER will give you the watt consumed by your air conditioner. This is an average watt consumption by an air conditioner.
Let us go through the chart to understand the watt usage of different air conditioner sizes:
| Air Conditioner Size (ton) | Watt Usage |
|---|---|
| 1 ton | 1200 watts |
| 2 ton | 2000 watts |
| 2.5 ton | 2500 watts |
| 3 ton | 3000 watts |
| 3.5 ton | 3500 watts |
| 4 ton | 4000 watts |
| 5 ton | 5000 watts |
How much watts does a 5000, 12000, 15000, 20000, and 25000 BTU AC consume?
| Air Conditioner Size | Watt Usage |
|---|---|
| 5000 BTU | 500 watts |
| 12000 BTU | 1200 watts |
| 15000 BTU | 1500 watts |
| 20000 BTU | 2000 watts |
| 25000 BTU | 2500 watts |
How many watts does an air conditioner use per hour?
The number of watts per hour used by an air conditioner varies on the size and working mode. For example, a central air conditioner may consume an average of 3000 watts per hour to only 750 watts per hour on fan mode.
On the other hand, a window air conditioner may consume 1200 watts per hour but a portable air conditioner may consume more. This mainly depends on the BTU of the air conditioner and working load at the current time.
How many watts do these air conditioners use?
Window air conditioner:
A 1 ton window unit usually consume 1250 watts. Accordingly, a 1.5 ton and a 2 ton window unit might consume 1740 watts and 2500 watts on average.
Split system air conditioner:
A 1 ton split system air conditioner consume up to 980 – 1150 watts. Likewise, a 1.5 ton and a 2 ton split system air conditioner consumes 1490 – 1700 watts and 1730 – 2210 watts accordingly.
Mini-split air conditioner:
A 1 ton mini split air conditioner consumes between 550 – 800 watts. Moreover, a 1.5 ton and 2 ton variant may consume 1300 – 1650 watts and 1850 – 2200 watts.
You can also find mini-split air conditioners up to 5 ton which may consume up to 4850 – 5200 watts.
Central air conditioner:
Most American household uses central air conditioner systems in their houses. This is a much more efficient way of cooling. An average of 3000 watts to 5000 watts is consumed by a central air conditioner.
Portable air conditioner:
The cooling range of a portable air conditioner can be between 8000 – 14000 BTU.
The lowest consumption may be 940 watts and the highest consumption is up to the range of 1650 watts based on your BTU and workload.
Keep in mind that, portable air conditioners consume more power compared to window air conditioners to reach the ideal temperature.
RV air conditioner:
The average watts consumed by an RV air conditioner is between 450-720 watts. Based on that, your required BTU may stand between 5500 – 12000 which may result in more consumption of watts.
What size generator do I need to run an ac unit?
Purchasing a generator is a must if you want to use your ac unit during power shortages or if you want to use it at a place where getting direct power is not an option. You must select a generator for your AC unit based on your AC’s requirement.
Generators come in different sizes ranging from 5 – 50 kilowatts. Now, proper selection of a generator according to your need is a must.
Otherwise, the unutilized portion of the power from the generator will be left unused. As a result, you will need to spend more money without any need to run the generator.
To understand the size of the generator you need, kindly collect the information of how many watts are consumed per hour by your AC unit at home. Thus, you will get an estimated roundup of what size of a generator will you need.
Let us look into a chart to understand the generator power in watt we need for a particular air conditioner size:
| Air Conditioner Size (ton) | Generator Power (Watt) |
|---|---|
| 1 ton | 3600 watt |
| 2 ton | 5400 watt |
| 2.5 ton | 6300 watt |
| 3 ton | 7200 watt |
| 3.5 ton | 8100 watt |
| 4 ton | 9000 watt |
| 5 ton | 10800 watt |
How much does it cost to run an air conditioner?
Depending on your air conditioner size and efficiency, it may cost you $0.06 – $0.88 per hour and $14.40 – $211.20 per month on an 8-hour use daily.
All of these calculations depend on current electricity rates per kilowatt in your area and how long are you using your air conditioner daily.
To properly calculate how much will it cost you to run your air conditioner, just find out how many watts does it consume per hour and how many hours you use per day on average. Multiply it with the current rate of electricity per hour and you will find your answer.
How do I use the AC to lower my electric bill?
Using your AC methodically, you can lower your electric bills quite significantly. Let’s go through the ways of lowering your electric bills while using your AC:
Get the correct AC size:
Purchase the correct size of AC according to your room size. Consult with your AC shop before purchasing your AC to select the ideal one as per your requirement.
Use your AC during summer:
Using your AC during summer can help you reduce your electric bills and also keep your house cool.
Use dark curtains in your room:
Using dark curtains in summer can help you prevent the scorching sun outside to get inside your room. As a result, you can keep your room cool without stressing your AC that much.
Purchase a higher SEER rated AC:
While purchasing your AC, select the AC which has a better SEER rating. You can get the most highest efficiency out of AC that has SEER of 16 or above.
How many hours should ac run per day?
Depending on your temperature outside, you should run your ac 12 – 14 hours a day.
To be more precise, you should run your ac 30-40 minutes after every hour to keep your house in a moderate temperature. This run time depends on how hot is the weather around your area.
Every ac unit needs to cycle 2 – 3 times per hour, which takes 10-15 minutes each cycle, to keep your home cool. The number of cycles can be reduced according to the current weather around and the number of people currently in your house or office.
Is it cheaper to keep AC running all day?
During the summer months, yes, it is cheaper to keep AC running all day long. Mostly because if you stop using your AC after sometime during summer, your AC has to again adjust your room temperature from the beginning which consumes more electricity. But if you continuously keep using your AC, it doesn’t have to do these big adjustments rather than perform small temperature adjustments.
But rather than summertime, it is not wise to use the ac all day long as you are using electricity for no proper cause and just making a big electricity bill at the end of the month.
Final Thoughts
The number of watts used by a 2, 3, 4 & 5 ton air conditioner depends on its current working condition and efficiency. An average of 2250, 3300, 4350 & 5600 watts are used accordingly. Though these number may vary depending on your usage and operating conditions, which can be lower or higher number.