When is BTU (British Thermal Unit) or CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute) rating important?
BTU rating is important if you are going to install a properly sized A/C unit to cool a certain well insulated area. CFM is important if you are going to install a properly sized large 110-volt Evaporative Cooler on the roof or in the side wall of a well insulated building so you can build up a negative pressure within a certain area so you can cool the entire area. Negative pressure cannot typically be built up in an area by using the limited resources of a 12-volt Portable Cooling Device. Therefore CFM is not important as long as there is sufficient air to blow your hair around or blow the papers off your desk. The BTU of the 12-Volt “Ice Model” Air Conditioners varies because of the cooling medium used. Block Ice, cubed ice, crushed ice, reusable ice packs, large packs or small packs. These different cooling methods all effect the resultant temperature so it is impossible and unnecessary to state an accurate BTU. Some say using ice results in over 8,000 BTU because of it’s efficienc
