Spot Coolers For Outdoor Events: What Size Do You Need?

To make your outdoor event a success, it’s important to make sure that you have the right size spot cooler for the job. Most event planners don’t have a tremendous amount of experience with making that determination, and this can drive up the cost of your event by ordering a unit bigger than they need.

Worse still, some planners do not rent a spot cooler that can effectively keep a tent or other area cool, and end up with little or no return on their investment. Preferred Climate Solutions can help. Here’s a quick guide to choosing the right spot cooler for your next outdoor event.

What Are Spot Coolers?

A portable air conditioner that can easily be moved to different locations, a spot cooler is an excellent way to keep a room, tent or building with no air conditioning cool even at the height of summer. Many have built-in generators or can run off their own power to keep areas cool even if there is no electricity available or your venue loses power.

Spot Cooler Sizes

Rated cooling power for spot coolers is anywhere from 1 to 5 tons, or 12,000 BTU (body temperature units) to 60,000 BTU to put it in home air conditioner terms. One or two people are generally fine with a 10,000-14,000 BTU for average summer temperatures. If the area where you need cooling tends to get up above 100 degrees Fahrenheit outdoors and it’s a large volume room, you will need significantly more cooling power, potentially as much as 34,0000 BTUs. Spot coolers come in all different sizes, but knowing which one is right for you depends on the space and how many people or the type of equipment that will be used.

Choosing The Right Size Spot Cooler

The first thing you need to do is determine the volume of the area you need to keep cool. If you don’t have access to that number, you can estimate the square footage of space by counting ceiling tiles (squares are usually 2ft. X 2 ft., rectangles are 2 ft. x 4 ft.), and then finding the height of the ceiling. For tents, just measure the height, width, and depth of your tent. Dimensions are usually marked on the package or storage container, and it may even have a measurement in cubic feet in the manual.

Once you have the cubic feet calculated, you can estimate how many cooling BTU you need to keep the temperature comfortable in a given space. For example, a 400 square foot office space with a 10 ft. ceiling with just a few people in it needs about 12,000 BTU or 1 ton of cooling. Changing the square footage while using the same ceiling height and adding equipment and people, you will need an estimate of 1 additional ton of cooling per 250 additional square feet.

Scratching your head at the math? Worried you might order the wrong spot cooler? Contact our team at Preferred Climate Solutions to get an estimate from our experienced professionals. We’ll make sure you’ve got the right spot cooler for your space and event.