How to Find the Size of a Mobile AL Air

Conditioning Unit
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 (obile )* 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 /n d that.
0. Deter#ine th no#inal size fr# th #odel nu#ber
.h good news i$ tht #$t 12)* #anufacturers #ake it eas! t deter#ine th no#inal ca3acit! f
ur air conditioner. It'$ in th #odel nu#ber. 4 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 $ decre3it. .hn find th label tht giv$ th data but ur )*. It'll
lk lik th fir$t i#age below.
5' nr th to3 f th label, u $ th #odel nu#ber 6(789 nd serial nu#ber 6:789. .h #odel
nu#ber i$ whr u /n find th nu#ber u'r lking for. 8t ll #anufacturers d this, but #$t
will giv u a ;% r <%digit section tht tells u hw #n thousands f ".57hour ur air
conditioner /n #ove ut f ur ho#e.
.h fir$t section in th #odel nu#ber giv$ u info but th t!3e 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 to3 f thi$ article9, th 0<1?@ tells u it'$ a heat 3u#3 with n efficienc! rating f 0< :AAB.
6.hat,s a no#inal rating, too, whi/h i$ a subCect fr a diffrnt article.9 .h @ hr indi/t$ th
refrigerant, B%D0E) in thi$ case.
.h digits u nd
Fu$t 3ast tht string f G characters, though, i$ th 'rt tht tells u th no#inal sizeH EDI. .ht #eans
th air conditionerJor heat 3u#3 in cooling #ode in thi$ caseJhas a no#inal ca3acit! f DI,EEE
".57hour. I $ no#inal b/u$ th /tul ca3acit! i$ l#$t /rtinl ging t b different.
.h nu#bers u'll $ n residential air conditioners nd heat 3u#3s areH
(78 .ons
E0I 0.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 ca3acit! in thousands f ".57hr. :in/ /h
0;,EEE ".57hr i$ e&uivalent t 0 ton f air conditioner ca3acit!, it'$ eas! t figure ut hw #n tons
f no#inal ca3acit! ur )* has.
?rett! si#3le, eh?
;. 5$ing th #anufacturer,s data
.h $/nd nd third #ethods r basicall! th sa#e, but th source f th info i$ different. In th fir$t
#ethod, u find th no#inal size b lking t th #odel nu#ber f th outdoor unit. " gathering a
littl #r infor#ation, u #ight b bl t find th /tul ca3acit! f ur air conditioner. ht u
nd i$ th #odel nu#ber f th indoor coil, whi/h i$ th eva3orator coil fr n air conditioner r heat
3u#3 in cooling #ode.
If !ou,ve gt a t!3ical central air conditioner, it,s a s3lit s!ste#. .ht #eans it,s gt tw #aCor
co#3onentsH th outdoor unit, whr th co#3ressor is, nd th indoor unit, whi/h h$ a blower nd th
eva3orator 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 co33er 3i3es 6the refrigerant lines r lineset9
entering nd a 3lastic 3i3e 6the condensate line9 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$ull t lt
4oogle d th work fr !ou.
+r e>a#3le, u$ing th outdoor #odel nu#ber in I#age L; below, I t!3ed M=enno> 0<1?@%EDI dataN
int th 4oogle search bar nd found wht I needed. It w$ th ninth link n th fir$t 3age, nd I hd t
navigate in a fw 3ages fr# whr it dro33ed #e, but I found wht I needed in thir ?roduct
:3ecifications docu#ent fr th 0<1?@.
.ht docu#ent h$ a lot f good data in it, but th 'rt I w$ lking fr w$ in th table tht began n
3age 0EH )1BI :!ste# (atches. 6)1BI i$ th )ir *onditioning, 1eating, nd Befrigeration Institute.9
It started with th low%ca3acit! units 60.G ton9 nd n 3age ;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<9 $ u /n $ th
data.
8otice tht th /tul cooling ca3acit! de3ends greatl! n whi/h indoor unit gt$ 3aired with th
outdoor unit. It varies fr# a lw f DK,GEE ".57h ll th w u' t GO,GEE ".57h. .h lttr nu#ber
i$ th ca3acit! f a G%ton unit, $ lt thi$ b a lesson t u in nt 3utting absolute faith in no#inal
ca3acities.
In fact, th cooling ca3acities shown in th table aren,t th nl thing tht affect th /tul ca3acit!. I
wrote l$t !ear but $# f th thr factors tht /hng n air conditioner,s cooling ca3acit!.
"asicall!, th difference arises b/u$ )1BI test conditions aren,t th $# $ design conditions. -u
/n rd th article t gt th details n that.
<. 5$ing th )1BI Director!
.hi$ #ethod u$ull gt$ u th $# data u /n gt fr# th #anufacturer b/u$ #anufacturers
test thir e&ui3#ent t )1BI standards. )1BI Cu$t #akes u work a littl harder t gt th info
so#eti#es. If !ou,ve vr u$d th )1BI Director!, u knw hw finick! it is.
)$ with gtting th data fr# th #anufacturer, with )1BI 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 )1BI director!,
however. :#ti#$ it,s in thr nd hrd t find. Pthr ti#$ it,s Cu$t nt there. .h lttr /uld b
b/u$ th #odel i$ t ld r h$ bn discontinued. It /uld l$ b tht th tw coils don,t #atch
nd haven,t gn thrugh )1BI testing.
1ere,s a ti3 fr u t #ake working with th )1BI Director! easierH Anter #ini#al infor#ation t
start nd graduall! add #ore. +r e>a#3le, whn I wnt thr nd entered 0<1?@ fr th outdoor
#odel nu#ber nd =enno> $ th #anufacturer f th outdoor unit, I gt n results. 8othing. : I
re#oved th #anufacturer nd Cu$t searched n 0<1?@.
.ht gave # 0KEI results. . narrow tht down, I wnt back nd added th size. :earching n
0<1?@%EDI gave # ;KE results. .hn I added #$t f th indoor #odel nu#ber, *"@;G51, 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 )1BI Director!, it freaks out.
D. 5$ing ?reston,s 4uide
If u hv a rll ld air conditioner 60E !ears r #ore9, !ou,re nt ging t find it in th )1BI
Director!. -u 'rbbl won,t find it n th #anufacturer,s website either. If u /n $till rd th
#odel nu#ber n th outdoor unit, u /n lk it u' in nthr director! called ?reston,s 4uide. I,ve
gt a ''r co3! tht covers th !ears 0OKE t ;EEE. .h /urrnt edition g$ u' t ;EEG. In addition t
th ld st!le book, u /n l$ gt it in *D%BP( fr# r bu! n annual subscri3tion t thir online
database.
-u nd t knw thr things t lk u' n air conditioner in ?reston,s 4uideH th #anufacturer, th
outdoor unit #odel nu#ber, nd th t!3e f s!ste#. .h l$t 3iece f info i$ needed b/u$ th cover
$vrl t!3es nd configurations f s!ste#s, fr# s3lit%s!ste# heat 3u#3s t single%3ackage air
conditioners. Pn/ u hv tht info, u /n lk it u' in th guide nd find ut th ca3acit! in
".57h nd efficienc! in AAB r :AAB. .h book l$ 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 4uide, !ou,re nt ging t gt /tul ca3acities b/u$
it doesn,t show data fr diffrnt co#binations f outdoor nd indoor units. )nd k' in #ind tht
whil it d$ giv th a33earance f bing #r accurate thn u$ing th no#inal size fr# th #odel
nu#ber, it,s 'rbbl nt $in/ u haven,t looked u' a 'rti/ulr coil co#bination.
If ll l$ fails, Cu$t re3lace it
8w tht u hv ll th$ tools t ur dis3osal, u $huld b bl t find th size f Cu$t but n
air conditioner !ou have in (obile )=. I $ MCust aboutN b/u$ occasionall! !ou,ll find n with a
dirt! na#e3late nd whn u wi3e it ff t rd it, thr g$ ll th re#aining 3rint, too. If it,s tht
old, though, Cu$t g ahead nd re3lace it.