How many watts does a 5000-BTU air conditioner use?

The number of watts a 5,000-BTU air conditioner uses depends on the number of amps it has and how many volts an outlet has. Most 5,000-BTU air conditioners use 5 amps, and when plugged into a 110-volt outlet, the unit uses 550 watts.

Window-unit air conditioners typically have a range between 5,000 and 18,000 BTUs, as of 2014. BTU stands for "British Thermal Unit." The more BTUs an air conditioner has, the more powerful it is. Taking the square footage of a room and multiplying it by 35 gives an approximate amount of needed BTUs. Window-unit air conditioners were first made available for sale in 1935 and were designed by engineers from Chrysler Motors.