How to Find the Size of an Irvine 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 Irvine () )( 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.
/. Deter#ine th no#inal size fr# th #odel nu#ber
-h good news i$ tht #$t 01)( #anufacturers #ake it eas! t deter#ine th no#inal ca2acit! f
ur air conditioner. It'$ in th #odel nu#ber. 3 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 $ decre2it. -hn find th label tht giv$ th data but ur )(. It'll
lk lik th fir$t i#age below.
4' nr th to2 f th label, u $ th #odel nu#ber 56789 nd serial nu#ber 5:789. -h #odel
nu#ber i$ whr u .n find th nu#ber u'r lking for. 8t ll #anufacturers d this, but #$t
will giv u a ;% r <%digit section tht tells u hw #n thousands f "-47hour ur air
conditioner .n #ove ut f ur ho#e.
-h fir$t section in th #odel nu#ber giv$ u info but th t!2e nd efficienc! f th unit u'r
lking at. In th case f thi$ =enno> #odel 5which, b th wa!, i$ nt fr# th outdoor unit shown t
th to2 f thi$ article9, th /<0?@ tells u it'$ a heat 2u#2 with n efficienc! rating f /< :AAB.
5-hat+s a no#inal rating, too, whi.h i$ a subCect fr a diffrnt article.9 -h @ hr indi.t$ th
refrigerant, B%D/E) in thi$ case.
-h digits u nd
Fu$t 2ast tht string f G characters, though, i$ th 'rt tht tells u th no#inal sizeH EDI. -ht #eans
th air conditionerJor heat 2u#2 in cooling #ode in thi$ caseJhas a no#inal ca2acit! f DI,EEE
"-47hour. I $ no#inal b.u$ th .tul ca2acit! i$ l#$t .rtinl ging t b different.
-h nu#bers u'll $ n residential air conditioners nd heat 2u#2s areH
678 -ons
E/I /.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 ca2acit! in thousands f "-47hr. :in. .h
/;,EEE "-47hr i$ e&uivalent t / ton f air conditioner ca2acit!, it'$ eas! t figure ut hw #n tons
f no#inal ca2acit! ur )( has.
?rett! si#2le, eh?
;. 4$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$t
#ethod, u find th no#inal size b lking t th #odel nu#ber f th outdoor unit. " gathering a
littl #r infor#ation, u #ight b bl t find th .tul ca2acit! f ur air conditioner. ht u
nd i$ th #odel nu#ber f th indoor coil, whi.h i$ th eva2orator coil fr n air conditioner r heat
2u#2 in cooling #ode.
If !ou+ve gt a t!2ical central air conditioner, it+s a s2lit s!ste#. -ht #eans it+s gt tw #aCor
co#2onentsH th outdoor unit, whr th co#2ressor is, nd th indoor unit, whi.h h$ a blower nd th
eva2orator 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 co22er 2i2es 5the refrigerant lines r lineset9
entering nd a 2lastic 2i2e 5the 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$ull t lt
3oogle d th work fr !ou.
*r e>a#2le, u$ing th outdoor #odel nu#ber in I#age L; below, I t!2ed M=enno> /<0?@%EDI dataN
int th 3oogle search bar nd found wht I needed. It w$ th ninth link n th fir$t 2age, nd I hd t
navigate in a fw 2ages fr# whr it dro22ed #e, but I found wht I needed in thir ?roduct
:2ecifications docu#ent fr th /<0?@.
-ht docu#ent h$ a lot f good data in it, but th 'rt I w$ lking fr w$ in th table tht began n
2age /EH )0BI :!ste# 6atches. 5)0BI i$ th )ir (onditioning, 0eating, nd Befrigeration Institute.9
It started with th low%ca2acit! units 5/.G ton9 nd n 2age ;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 5I#age L<9 $ u .n $ th
data.
8otice tht th .tul cooling ca2acit! de2ends greatl! n whi.h indoor unit gt$ 2aired with th
outdoor unit. It varies fr# a lw f DK,GEE "-47h ll th w u' t GO,GEE "-47h. -h lttr nu#ber
i$ th ca2acit! f a G%ton unit, $ lt thi$ b a lesson t u in nt 2utting absolute faith in no#inal
ca2acities.
In fact, th cooling ca2acities shown in th table aren+t th nl thing tht affect th .tul ca2acit!. I
wrote l$t !ear but $# f th thr factors tht .hng n air conditioner+s cooling ca2acit!.
"asicall!, th difference arises b.u$ )0BI test conditions aren+t th $# $ design conditions. ,u
.n rd th article t gt th details n that.
<. 4$ing th )0BI Director!
-hi$ #ethod u$ull gt$ u th $# data u .n gt fr# th #anufacturer b.u$ #anufacturers
test thir e&ui2#ent t )0BI standards. )0BI Cu$t #akes u work a littl harder t gt th info
so#eti#es. If !ou+ve vr u$d th )0BI Director!, u knw hw finick! it is.
)$ with gtting th data fr# th #anufacturer, with )0BI 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 )0BI 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 )0BI testing.
0ere+s a ti2 fr u t #ake working with th )0BI Director! easierH Anter #ini#al infor#ation t
start nd graduall! add #ore. *r e>a#2le, whn I wnt thr nd entered /<0?@ 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$t searched n /<0?@.
-ht gave # /KEI results. - narrow tht down, I wnt back nd added th size. :earching n
/<0?@%EDI gave # ;KE results. -hn I added #$t f th indoor #odel nu#ber, ("@;G40, 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 )0BI Director!, it freaks out.
D. 4$ing ?reston+s 3uide
If u hv a rll ld air conditioner 5/E !ears r #ore9, !ou+re nt ging t find it in th )0BI
Director!. ,u 'rbbl won+t find it n th #anufacturer+s website either. If u .n $till rd th
#odel nu#ber n th outdoor unit, u .n lk it u' in nthr director! called ?reston+s 3uide. I+ve
gt a ''r co2! tht covers th !ears /OKE t ;EEE. -h .urrnt edition g$ u' t ;EEG. In addition t
th ld st!le book, u .n l$ gt it in (D%BP6 fr# r bu! n annual subscri2tion t thir online
database.
,u nd t knw thr things t lk u' n air conditioner in ?reston+s 3uideH th #anufacturer, th
outdoor unit #odel nu#ber, nd th t!2e f s!ste#. -h l$t 2iece f info i$ needed b.u$ th cover
$vrl t!2es nd configurations f s!ste#s, fr# s2lit%s!ste# heat 2u#2s t single%2ackage air
conditioners. Pn. u hv tht info, u .n lk it u' in th guide nd find ut th ca2acit! in
"-47h nd efficienc! in AAB r :AAB. -h book l$ 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 3uide, !ou+re nt ging t gt .tul ca2acities 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 a22earance 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$t re2lace it
8w tht u hv ll th$ tools t ur dis2osal, u $huld b bl t find th size f Cu$t but n
air conditioner !ou have in Irvine (). I $ MCust aboutN b.u$ occasionall! !ou+ll find n with a
dirt! na#e2late nd whn u wi2e it ff t rd it, thr g$ ll th re#aining 2rint, too. If it+s tht
old, though, Cu$t g ahead nd re2lace it.