Residential central air conditioner –
They come in various sizes. They are measured in tons. Popularly ton is a unit that is used to measure weight of objects. But in the parlance of air conditioners ton does not mean the weight of the air conditioner. It denotes its cooling capacity. One ton is the ability of your air conditioner to produce 12,000 BTUs (British thermal unit) in an hour. In a similar fashion if you need a cooling capacity of 24,000 BTUs per hour, you should buy a 2-ton unit. But what is BTU? It is the amount of heat that is required to heat or cool one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. So a 1-ton air conditioner can cool 12,000 pounds of water by one degree every hour.
The residential central air conditioners range from 1 to 5 tons. They capacity ascends by half-ton, such as 2-ton, 2.5-ton, 3-ton,3.5 ton etc.
Commercial air conditioner-
An air conditioner with a capacity above 5 ton is a commercial unit. Let’s take a look at the types of commercial HVAC systems. The single zone system as evident the name have single control panel for the entire system. These have capacities to cool multiple rooms or some floors of a commercial building. They may not provide even temperature in all rooms. Some rooms could be cooler and some could be hotter. Multiple zone units are suitable for cooling whole apartment buildings or office complexes. These have multiple control panels. As result you can vary the temperature form room to room according to the need. Constant volume HVAC systems are designed for crowded spaces. In these there will be a constant flow of air for heating and cooling spaces. In variable HVAC systems the room temperature can be changed from room to room according to needs.