March 22, 2024

4 Answers to Should You Buy 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton Ac

Well, summers are here to break the record of last year, and the best way to stay cool during such times is to simply get an AC.

Speaking of which, there is a lot of confusion when it comes to buying a new AC — should you go for 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton Ac? What does Ton here mean? Which one is better?

If you are looking for such answers, then stick along with this article where we will exactly break down which AC size you should go for.

That said, size is just many of the other imperative factors that are necessary to be considered when you are looking for ACs.

However, we have here focused on whether you should be going for 1-ton ac or 1.5 ton and share our two cents to the discussion.

So not wasting much time here, let’s get started.

Table of Contents show

1. What does Ton Mean in an AC?

Generally, the power of air conditioners is gauged in Tons, and its unit cooling capacity is measure in BTU, which is the abbreviation of British Thermal Unit.

Ton means the amount of heat the air conditioner removes within one hour. This amount of heat eliminated by the ac is gauged in BTU. Therefore, the higher BTU, the more cooling capacity, meaning the ac will be able to cool larger rooms or areas.

To represent it numerically,

1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr
1.2 ton = 14,000 BTU/hr
1.5 ton = 18,000 BTU/hr
2 ton = 24,000 BTU/ hr

The term ton was originated by relating it to the amount of heat necessary to melt one ton of ice.

2. Does 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton Matter?

As we know, the power of ac is measured in tonnes, and thus it plays a crucial role when you are looking for an air conditioner.

The size matters because it is required to cool the rooms without using much electricity. And therefore, if you go for the wrong size that is not suitable for your room, it could cost you higher electricity bills.

For instance, if you opted for a 1.5-ton ac for a room that is 150 sq ft, the ac will do its job of cooling, but the power consumption and electricity bills will be higher. Not only that, but it will also cool your room a lot more than you’d anticipate — like freezing.

Not to mention, 1.5-ton ac will cost you more upfront — and that cost would’ve halved if you’d gone for a 1-ton ac for your 150 sq ft room. So it doesn’t make any sense to pay that extra cash for no apparent reason.

You see, the significant reasons why you need to invest time contemplating on 1 ton or 1.5 ton is due to the power consumption and cooling efficiency of your ac.

Talking about the above example, if you’d gotten yourself the 1.5-ac which is a larger ac for a smaller room, it would cool the space very fast — and that certainly is a benefit. However, this larger ac will consume more power and add some nasty electricity bills.

Similarly, if you reversed the situation, and — let’s say, you have gotten yourself a smaller ac (1 ton) for a larger room (more than 200 sq ft), it will take not only more time to cool your room but consequently more power as well.

Therefore, whether you choose this one or that one, the extra power consumption can add a lot of difference to the equation, let alone the initial cost of purchasing.

And that’s the primary reason as of why choosing the appropriate size matters.

Let’s Understand More by Doing a Tad Bit of Maths

We know many of us hate maths, but it’s vital if you’d want to understand the correct size for your air conditioner, and this will be the same for window AC and Split AC.

As current knowledge serves us, we are acquainted that ton simply represents the amount of heat required to remove from the room. That means heat also plays a role in deciding the right size of your air conditioner.

We know how many BTU 1, 1.2, 1.5, and 2-ton ac is.

Calculate the room size that is typically in sq ft. So, for instance, a typical medium room is 18 ft x 12 ft. Meaning the room size is 216 sq ft.
Once you get your room size, it’s time to multiply that by 25 BTU. Therefore, 216 x 25 equals 5,400 BTUs.
Next is to increment or decrement 10% BTU depending on the location of your room. If your room is under sunlight, increase 10% of BTU, and if it’s under shade, decrease the same amount.
If you have a family of four, including you, add another 2,400 BTUs (considering that each person adds approximately 600 BTUs).
Given that kitchen and washrooms are typically hotter after use, add another approximate 2,000 BTU.

With this, we get an idea that many things affect BTU, and according to your room and place, it increases or decreases.

To make it simpler, here we have mentioned the information based on analyzing the above maths.

A room with less than 100 sq ft or between 100 to 150 sq ft will work excellent with a 1-ton ac.
A room more than 150 and less than 500 sq ft will work wonders with a 1.5-ton ac.
A room more than 500 sq ft will be advantageous significantly with either two Ac or 2-ton ac.

Note:- All these figures and metrics are for your understanding and give you an approximate range so that you can make a better decision. A lot of factors get into selecting the proper size, and most of them are based on your individual room specifications such as the size, windows, airtight, windows facing towards sunlight or not, and so forth.

3. Some Other Imperative Factors

Though a 1.5 ac will cool your room, what about the electricity bill and power consumption? You will need to look at three essential factors before purchasing your ac. Once you are ready with the appropriate size for your room, you should look at Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) and Star Rating.

The more EER, the lower you will have electricity bills.
We all know about Star Ratings; the higher the number, the better.

Note:- In the case of Star ratings, they are directly coming from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India, which rates most of the electronic appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, etc., with a rating of 1 to 5. The higher the number, the more energy it will save. In our case, a 5 star rated AC will save more bills than a 4 star rated or lower. However, it will also cost more upfront.

4. Closing Thoughts — So Which is Better? 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton AC?

Honestly, both of the options are better; it significantly depends on the room size and the room you’re choosing for. If you have a smaller room, you can go with a 1-ton ac, and similarly, for a larger room, a 1.5 ton ac will work wonders.

That said, this applies to rooms with low to moderate sunlight entering; if your room’s windows are directly faced towards the sunlight, it can take some time to cool things up.

Another deciding factor is the cost and star rating; if you want fewer electricity bills, we’d say go for a 5-star ac. However, if you’re on a tight budget, you can go for any ac as long as it fulfills the metrics we’ve mentioned.

Depending on the size of your room and sunlight entering, the power consumption of a 1-ton vs. 1.5 ton ac will differ.

Summers are around the corners, and it’s time to get an air conditioner so that you can deal with heat. With that in mind, you cannot rush this decision; make sure you consider all the factors before purchasing an air conditioner.

If you’ve any troubling qualms — shoot them in the comment section below; we’d love to get back to you.