When buying an air conditioner, how many square feet can one ton cool?

One refrigeration ton, which is approximately 12,000 BTU or 3.517 kW, can cool about 500 square feet of space. However, other factors, such as the number of occupants, should be taken into consideration when calculating the cooling capacity of air conditioners.

When deciding what size of air conditioner to get for a given space, one factor to consider other than the area is the location of the room, whether it receives significant sunlight or is in a shaded area. Other important considerations are the weather characteristics of the geographic location and if there are other cooling or heating sources in the room or building.