How to Find the Size of a Palm Beach Gardens

Air Conditioner
D u knw wht size ur air conditioner is? In th world f building science, u'll hear a lot f talk
but wh oversized air conditioners r a bad idea. h!? "riefl!, th dn't dehu#idif! $ well,
short%c!cling wears th# ut &uicker, nd ur ho#e will 'rbbl b l$$ co#fortable if th air
conditioner i$ t big. "ut t knw if ur (al# "each )ardens *+ i$ oversized, fir$t u hv t
knw wht size it is.
,irst, lt # clarif!. I-# nt talking but finding th size f air conditioner u need. .u d tht with
a heating nd cooling load calculation. ht I-# talking but i$ hw t find th size f n air
conditioner whn !ou-re standing in front f it. /oda!, I-ll tll u fur w$ u 0n d that.
1. Deter#ine th no#inal size fr# th #odel nu#ber
/h good news i$ tht #$t 23*+ #anufacturers #ake it eas! t deter#ine th no#inal ca4acit! f
ur air conditioner. It'$ in th #odel nu#ber. ) ut$id nd find th outdoor unit, tht #etal
noise#aker hidden w n th $id r th back f th house. It'll lk $#thing lik th n u $
above, lthugh #b nt uit $ decre4it. /hn find th label tht giv$ th data but ur *+. It'll
lk lik th fir$t i#age below.
5' nr th to4 f th label, u $ th #odel nu#ber 6789: nd serial nu#ber 6;89:. /h #odel
nu#ber i$ whr u 0n find th nu#ber u'r lking for. 9t ll #anufacturers d this, but #$t
will giv u a <% r =%digit section tht tells u hw #n thousands f "/58hour ur air
conditioner 0n #ove ut f ur ho#e.
/h fir$t section in th #odel nu#ber giv$ u info but th t!4e nd efficienc! f th unit u'r
lking at. In th case f thi$ >enno? #odel 6which, b th wa!, i$ nt fr# th outdoor unit shown t
th to4 f thi$ article:, th 1=2(@ tells u it'$ a heat 4u#4 with n efficienc! rating f 1= ;AAB.
6/hat-s a no#inal rating, too, whi0h i$ a subCect fr a diffrnt article.: /h @ hr indi0t$ th
refrigerant, B%D1E* in thi$ case.
/h digits u nd
Fu$t 4ast tht string f G characters, though, i$ th 'rt tht tells u th no#inal sizeH EDI. /ht #eans
th air conditionerJor heat 4u#4 in cooling #ode in thi$ caseJhas a no#inal ca4acit! f DI,EEE
"/58hour. I $ no#inal b0u$ th 0tul ca4acit! i$ l#$t 0rtinl ging t b different.
/h nu#bers u'll $ n residential air conditioners nd heat 4u#4s areH
789 /ons
E1I 1.G
E<D <
E=E <.G
E=K =
ED< =.G
EDI D
EKE G
/h = digits in th #odel nu#ber tll u th no#inal ca4acit! in thousands f "/58hr. ;in0 0h
1<,EEE "/58hr i$ e&uivalent t 1 ton f air conditioner ca4acit!, it'$ eas! t figure ut hw #n tons
f no#inal ca4acit! ur *+ has.
(rett! si#4le, eh?
<. 5$ing th #anufacturer-s data
/h $0nd nd third #ethods r basicall! th sa#e, but th source f th info i$ different. In th fir$t
#ethod, u find th no#inal size b lking t th #odel nu#ber f th outdoor unit. " gathering a
littl #r infor#ation, u #ight b bl t find th 0tul ca4acit! f ur air conditioner. ht u
nd i$ th #odel nu#ber f th indoor coil, whi0h i$ th eva4orator coil fr n air conditioner r heat
4u#4 in cooling #ode.
If !ou-ve gt a t!4ical central air conditioner, it-s a s4lit s!ste#. /ht #eans it-s gt tw #aCor
co#4onentsH th outdoor unit, whr th co#4ressor is, nd th indoor unit, whi0h h$ a blower nd th
eva4orator coil. If th indoor unit i$ connected t a furnace, u wnt th #odel nu#ber ff f th bo?
with th coil in it. Fu$t lk fr th 'rt tht h$ tw co44er 4i4es 6the refrigerant lines r lineset:
entering nd a 4lastic 4i4e 6the condensate line: leaving.
hn u hv bth th indoor nd outdoor #odel nu#bers, u #ight b bl t find th data fr ur
air conditioner n th #anufacturer-s website. /h easiest w t find it there, though, i$ u$ull t lt
)oogle d th work fr !ou.
,r e?a#4le, u$ing th outdoor #odel nu#ber in I#age L< below, I t!4ed M>enno? 1=2(@%EDI dataN
int th )oogle search bar nd found wht I needed. It w$ th ninth link n th fir$t 4age, nd I hd t
navigate in a fw 4ages fr# whr it dro44ed #e, but I found wht I needed in thir (roduct
;4ecifications docu#ent fr th 1=2(@.
/ht docu#ent h$ a lot f good data in it, but th 'rt I w$ lking fr w$ in th table tht began n
4age 1EH *2BI ;!ste# 7atches. 6*2BI i$ th *ir +onditioning, 2eating, nd Befrigeration Institute.:
It started with th low%ca4acit! units 61.G ton: nd n 4age <E finall! gt t th D%ton units I w$
lking for. I-ve included a screenshot f a s#all 'rt f th table blw 6I#age L=: $ u 0n $ th
data.
9otice tht th 0tul cooling ca4acit! de4ends greatl! n whi0h indoor unit gt$ 4aired with th
outdoor unit. It varies fr# a lw f DK,GEE "/58h ll th w u' t GO,GEE "/58h. /h lttr nu#ber
i$ th ca4acit! f a G%ton unit, $ lt thi$ b a lesson t u in nt 4utting absolute faith in no#inal
ca4acities.
In fact, th cooling ca4acities shown in th table aren-t th nl thing tht affect th 0tul ca4acit!. I
wrote l$t !ear but $# f th thr factors tht 0hng n air conditioner-s cooling ca4acit!.
"asicall!, th difference arises b0u$ *2BI test conditions aren-t th $# $ design conditions. .u
0n rd th article t gt th details n that.
=. 5$ing th *2BI Director!
/hi$ #ethod u$ull gt$ u th $# data u 0n gt fr# th #anufacturer b0u$ #anufacturers
test thir e&ui4#ent t *2BI standards. *2BI Cu$t #akes u work a littl harder t gt th info
so#eti#es. If !ou-ve vr u$d th *2BI Director!, u knw hw finick! it is.
*$ with gtting th data fr# th #anufacturer, with *2BI u lk u' th #atching outdoor nd
indoor #odel nu#bers. .u won-t lw$ find th s!ste# !ou-re lking fr in th *2BI director!,
however. ;#ti#$ it-s in thr nd hrd t find. Pthr ti#$ it-s Cu$t nt there. /h lttr 0uld b
b0u$ th #odel i$ t ld r h$ bn discontinued. It 0uld l$ b tht th tw coils don-t #atch
nd haven-t gn thrugh *2BI testing.
2ere-s a ti4 fr u t #ake working with th *2BI Director! easierH Anter #ini#al infor#ation t
start nd graduall! add #ore. ,r e?a#4le, whn I wnt thr nd entered 1=2(@ fr th outdoor
#odel nu#ber nd >enno? $ th #anufacturer f th outdoor unit, I gt n results. 9othing. ; I
re#oved th #anufacturer nd Cu$t searched n 1=2(@.
/ht gave # 1KEI results. / narrow tht down, I wnt back nd added th size. ;earching n
1=2(@%EDI gave # <KE results. /hn I added #$t f th indoor #odel nu#ber, +"@<G52, nd gt
it dwn t a #anageable K results. /h ke! i$ t b a #ini#alistQ If u tr t throw vrthing !ou-ve
gt t th *2BI Director!, it freaks out.
D. 5$ing (reston-s )uide
If u hv a rll ld air conditioner 61E !ears r #ore:, !ou-re nt ging t find it in th *2BI
Director!. .u 'rbbl won-t find it n th #anufacturer-s website either. If u 0n $till rd th
#odel nu#ber n th outdoor unit, u 0n lk it u' in nthr director! called (reston-s )uide. I-ve
gt a ''r co4! tht covers th !ears 1OKE t <EEE. /h 0urrnt edition g$ u' t <EEG. In addition t
th ld st!le book, u 0n l$ gt it in +D%BP7 fr# r bu! n annual subscri4tion t thir online
database.
.u nd t knw thr things t lk u' n air conditioner in (reston-s )uideH th #anufacturer, th
outdoor unit #odel nu#ber, nd th t!4e f s!ste#. /h l$t 4iece f info i$ needed b0u$ th cover
$vrl t!4es nd configurations f s!ste#s, fr# s4lit%s!ste# heat 4u#4s t single%4ackage air
conditioners. Pn0 u hv tht info, u 0n lk it u' in th guide nd find ut th ca4acit! in
"/58h nd efficienc! in AAB r ;AAB. /h book l$ shows th !ears tht #odel w$ #ade, $ u
# nd tht bit f info, too, t ho#e in n ur s!ste#.
hn !ou-re lking u' nu#bers in (reston-s )uide, !ou-re nt ging t gt 0tul ca4acities b0u$
it doesn-t show data fr diffrnt co#binations f outdoor nd indoor units. *nd k' in #ind tht
whil it d$ giv th a44earance f bing #r accurate thn u$ing th no#inal size fr# th #odel
nu#ber, it-s 'rbbl nt $in0 u haven-t looked u' a 'rti0ulr coil co#bination.
If ll l$ fails, Cu$t re4lace it
9w tht u hv ll th$ tools t ur dis4osal, u $huld b bl t find th size f Cu$t but n
air conditioner !ou have in (al# "each )ardens. I $ MCust aboutN b0u$ occasionall! !ou-ll find
n with a dirt! na#e4late nd whn u wi4e it ff t rd it, thr g$ ll th re#aining 4rint, too. If
it-s tht old, though, Cu$t g ahead nd re4lace it.