http://www.answers.com/topic/air-conditioning
Equipment Capacity
Air conditioner equipment power in the U.S. is often described in
terms of "tons of refrigeration". A "ton of refrigeration" is defined
as the cooling power of one short ton (2000 pounds or 907 kilograms)
of ice melting in a 24-hour period. This is equal to 12,000 BTU per
hour, or 3517 watts [3]. Residential "central air" systems are usually
from 1 to 5 tons (3 to 20 kW) in capacity.

You, on the other hand, post a highly technical writing on the subject
which turns out to be incorrect. Which all suggests that you are an
engineer, not a HVAC man such as myself.


--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message
. ..
Stormin Mormon writes:

Incidentally, a "ton" of cooling is the ammount of energy needed to
convert a ton of ice to water at 32F. Which works out to 12,000 BTU
per hour.

Please post corrections.

Your errors include the heat of fusion of water and its units, what a
"ton" of cooling is, trying to equate the two, saying that some amount
of
cooling would "convert a ton of ice to water", and that cooling
equates to
energy.

The heat of fusion of water is specified in units of heat/mass, such
as
79.7 cal/gm, or 287 KBTU/ton. A ton of cooling is a rate of heat
transfer,
not an amount of heat. You cannot equate the first to the second,
such as
your saying it "works out" to some equivalence. Cooling is a rate of
heat
transfer, not an "amount of energy" as you said.

Which all suggests you are a poseur when it comes to HVAC.