What Size Aircon for a Bedroom, Living Room or Kitchen?

The aircon HP calculator does this arithmetic for any room, and the aircon HP and room size page lists what each size cools. This page is for the question people actually ask in the shop: which size for this room? When you have the answer, an aircon installation visit puts the unit up, and the technician checks the room before anything is fitted.

Start with the floor area

Measure the floor and multiply length by width. In a shaded room with a normal ceiling and two people, our rule is about one horsepower for every 15 square metres. Meralco's own tip works in kilojoules per hour: 500 kJ per hour of cooling for every square metre of floor, which is about 0.14 kW, and if no unit matches exactly, take the next size up. DOE's label list today gives cooling capacity in kW.

Then add for what else heats the room. Our calculator stretches the floor area before it picks a size: 15 percent for afternoon sun from the west, 10 percent each for the roof above, a ceiling above 2.7 metres and kitchen or appliance heat, 8 percent for normal sun, and 5 percent for each person above two.

1. 1 Sun and roof are the big two. Together they turn a 14 sqm bedroom into about 18, which is the step from 1.0 HP to 1.5 HP.
2. 2 People add up in a living room. Five percent each sounds small, but four people in the room all afternoon is ten percent.

ENERGY STAR's sizing rule for room units pushes the same way: 10 percent more for a very sunny room, 10 percent less for a heavily shaded one, and 600 BTU per hour for every person above two. Midea Philippines says to go a full step up for a top-floor room in direct sun and half a step for a west-facing wall.

Bedrooms

A bedroom is used at night by one or two people, so its load is mostly the heat the walls and roof soaked up during the day. That is why the floor it is on matters as much as its size. Carrier Philippines notes that rooms under galvanized iron roofs, and rooms with poorly fitted doors, struggle to hold cold air. In the sample house below, a shaded 12 sqm bedroom downstairs needs 0.75 HP, and the 14 sqm main bedroom upstairs, under the roof with the afternoon sun on its west wall, needs 1.5 HP. Same kind of room, two sizes apart.

Size a bedroom carefully rather than generously. Midea Philippines warns that an oversized unit cools the air without drying it, so the room feels cold and clammy.

Living rooms

A living room has the people. Carrier Philippines groups living rooms with offices as rooms usually occupied by more than two people, and adds that large windows let much more heat in. Midea Philippines puts a 25 to 30 sqm living room at 1.5 to 2.0 HP. Our sample 24 sqm living room, with four people there most afternoons, comes to 2.0 HP.

Watch for openings. A living room open to the stairs or the kitchen is cooling those spaces too, so measure everything the cold air can reach without a door in the way. Past about 50 square metres once the sun and people are counted, the calculator says one household unit stops being the right answer and the space usually wants two.

Kitchens and dining areas

Cooking is the biggest heat source in most houses. ENERGY STAR's rule for room units adds 4,000 BTU per hour for a kitchen, which is nearly half of what a 1.0 HP unit gives. Our calculator adds a tenth, which suits a dining area beside the kitchen: the sample 14 sqm kitchen and dining room comes to 1.5 HP. If the aircon will sit in the kitchen itself, go a size up from the calculator's answer. Meralco warns that heat from a lamp or a TV near the unit makes it run longer than it needs to, and a stove is a bigger version of the same problem, so mount the unit away from it.

Home offices

A home office is small and usually has one person in it, so it often needs the smallest unit in the house. The sample 9 sqm office, upstairs under the roof, comes to 0.75 HP. A computer and a screen add some heat; a room full of equipment counts as appliance heat on the calculator. Because an office runs all day, it is also the room where an inverter makes the most difference.

A sample house, room by room

Here is a made-up two-storey house of the kind common across Tarlac and Bataan, with the bedrooms upstairs under the roof. Every room is sized with the same rules as the calculator.

1. 1 Living room, 24 sqm: 2.0 HP. Added: normal sun, 8 percent; 2 people over two, 10 percent. About 28.5 sqm once counted.
2. 2 Kitchen and dining, 14 sqm: 1.5 HP. Added: normal sun, 8 percent; cooking heat, 10 percent. About 16.6 sqm once counted.
3. 3 Ground floor bedroom, 12 sqm: 0.75 HP. Nothing added: shaded, a normal ceiling, two people.
4. 4 Main bedroom, 14 sqm: 1.5 HP. Added: afternoon sun from the west, 15 percent; the roof above, 10 percent. About 17.7 sqm once counted.
5. 5 Second bedroom, 10 sqm: 0.75 HP. Added: normal sun, 8 percent; the roof above, 10 percent. About 11.9 sqm once counted.
6. 6 Home office, 9 sqm: 0.75 HP. Added: normal sun, 8 percent; the roof above, 10 percent. About 10.7 sqm once counted.

Check it for your own rooms

Put each room into the aircon HP calculator with its floor area, its sun, its ceiling, whether it is under the roof, and how many people use it. It shows the size and the reason it landed there. For what a size draws once it is running, the aircon watts guide has the figures, and the split type vs window type guide covers which kind fits which room.

Questions people ask

What HP aircon do I need for a bedroom?

For a typical 10 to 14 sqm bedroom, 0.75 HP to 1.5 HP, and the sun and the roof decide which. On this site's calculator a shaded 12 sqm bedroom downstairs needs 0.75 HP, while a 14 sqm bedroom under the roof with the afternoon sun needs 1.5 HP.

What size aircon is right for a living room?

Usually 1.5 HP to 2.5 HP. Midea Philippines puts a 25 to 30 sqm living room at 1.5 to 2.0 HP. A 24 sqm living room with four people in it most afternoons comes to 2.0 HP on our calculator, and an open plan that runs into the kitchen needs more.

How many square metres can a 1.0 HP aircon cool?

Up to about 16 sqm in a shaded room with two people, on this site's calculator. Published tables run higher: Carrier Philippines gives 15 to 19 sqm and Midea Philippines 18 to 22. Ours is the cautious end. Carrier says its table holds at standard test conditions, 27 degrees inside and 35 outside, and a room under a tin roof in April is often past both.

Is it better to buy a bigger aircon than I need?

No. Midea Philippines warns that an oversized unit runs less efficiently and does not dry the air properly, leaving the room cold but clammy. Pick the size the room needs, and go one step up only for strong afternoon sun or a room right under the roof.

Does a kitchen need a bigger aircon?

Yes. ENERGY STAR’s rule for room units adds 4,000 BTU per hour for a kitchen, nearly half of what a 1.0 HP unit gives. Our calculator adds a tenth, which suits a dining area beside the kitchen. If the unit is in the kitchen itself, go a size up from what the calculator says.

When to call us

When you have bought the unit, book an aircon installation. If you are not sure of the size, tell us the room, its floor area and which floor it is on before you buy, and we will say what we would fit.

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• AVR for aircon: when you need one and how to size it

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• Aircon HP and room size: what each size cools, 0.5 to 2.5 HP

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• Aircon cleaning schedule: what to clean, and how often

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• Common aircon problems, symptom by symptom

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• Aircon lifespan: how long it lasts, and repair or replace

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• Inverter vs non-inverter aircon: which costs less to run

  Kilowatt hours side by side at 2, 4, 8 and 12 hours a day, and the kind of use where a non-inverter is still fine.

• Aircon energy saving tips that lower the bill

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Sources: ENERGY STAR, “Room Air Conditioners”; Meralco, “Tips for the Bedroom”; Midea Philippines, “Air Conditioner Size Guide for Filipino Homes: Find the Right HP for Every Room” (14 May 2026); Carrier Philippines, “Choosing the Right Aircon Horsepower for Your Space” (22 April 2026). Sizing rules: this site’s aircon HP calculator. Read 23 October 2026.