Like anything else, air conditioners come in various sizes to serve different sized buildings. If you live in a relatively modest Houston home, you may only need a 3-ton unit. On the other hand, if you have a big house to cool, your AC replacement in Houston may require a 5-ton unit – and there will be a larger price tag attached to that project. To learn more about what you may need and how much it will cost, reach out to TAM A/C and Heat today for assistance.
A Quick Explanation
If you are new to the air conditioning world, or just have never thought much about these things before, you might be confused by the use of the word “ton” in this application. Most people know that a ton, as a unit of weight, is equal to 2,000 pounds. So, does that mean a 3-ton air conditioning unit weighs 6,000 pounds? Fortunately, no.
In this industry, a “ton” is simply the amount of heat a unit can take out of a home (or other building) in a single hour. To be rated as a 1-ton unit, it would need to take 12,000 BTUs out of the building in an hour. That’s not typically enough power, so you will likely be looking at something between 3-tons and 5-tons for your project.
Isn’t a Bigger AC Unit Always Better?
It would be tempting to simply toss in the biggest possible AC unit and know that you will always have enough power to bring down the temperature properly. Unfortunately, there are a couple of notable drawbacks to that plan. First, the unit will be more expensive up front, so that’s a downside. Also, it will draw more energy and cost more to run, so it will continue to be more expensive as time goes by. For these reasons, you don’t want to simply put in the biggest AC you can find – instead, you want to get the right one for the job.
Estimated Costs
It’s important to remember that the cost of your AC replacement is going to depend on a number of factors that we can’t take into account here. With that said, a rough estimate would leave you in the neighborhood of $3,500 for a smaller unit and a simple installation process. On the high end, your bill can easily exceed $10,000 if you need a larger unit installed to serve your building. Regarding cost, the best thing you can do is get a quote from a qualified installer to pin down exactly how much this project will cost on your property.
It’s our goal to equip your home with the right AC unit for its needs. We don’t want you to deal with an underpowered air conditioner that struggles to keep up with the hottest of days – but we also don’t want you to pay for a larger unit than you need. To get your AC replacement in Houston just right, simply contact us at your convenience for assistance. We look forward to getting started!