For a standard 3-ton residential air conditioner or heat pump, you’ll need a 20 amp breaker with 12-gauge wire. Air conditioners smaller than 3 tons often use a 15 amp breaker with 14-gauge wire, while larger units can use up to 60 amp breakers and 3-gauge aluminum wire or 4-gauge copper wire.

What size wire do you need for a central air unit?

It’s going to completely depend on the unit that’s being installed, but commonly it’ll be 30-60 amp with 10-4 AWG wire. You’re probably looking at a 3.5 ton unit, so you’ll be in the 30-40A (10-8 AWG) range. It might be worth it to get a few quotes from local HVAC companies, and see what they want to install.

What size wire do you run for 220 for an air conditioner?





10/2 wire is recommended because air conditioners are considered as single-circuit appliances. For dual voltage appliances, you would need a 10/3 wire. For example, a range might have 110 powered lights, a timer, clock, etc; and a clothes dryer might have 110 powered tumbler motor but 220 powered heater.

What size wire and breaker do I need for a 3 ton AC unit?

Do you want to install a three-ton air conditioner in your house, but you’re unsure how many amps does a 3 ton air conditioner use? You may be asking yourself, “what size breaker do I need for a 3 ton AC?” The answer to that question is 60 amps for the air handler breaker size.

What size breaker do I need for a 24000 BTU air conditioner?

What size breaker for 9,000 – 36,000 btu mini split

Mini Split BTU Volt Break Size
9,000 BTU 110V 15 Amp
12,000 BTU 220V 15 Amp
18,000 BTU 220V 20 Amp
24,000 BTU 220V 25 Amp

What size breaker do I need for a window air conditioner?

So a wall/window air conditioner with a rating of over 7.5 amps would require its own circuit on a 15-amp breaker, or over 10-amps on a 20-amp breaker. If the applliance is not “fastened in place,” such as a portable dehumidifier, then it is allowed to be up to 80% of circuit rating, per NEC 210.23(A)(1).

What size breaker do I need for a 230 volt air conditioner?





The Circuit Breaker Size for a 230 Volt Air Conditioner

The circuit breaker for this air conditioner circuit should be a 2-pole 30 amp breaker.

What is the difference between 10 3 wire and 10 2 wire?

The difference between 10/2 and 10/3 wire can be subtle but important. The 10/2 wire is composed with a hot #10, a neutral #10 and a ground #10. When it comes to the 10/3, it comes with two #10 hots, one #10 neutral and one #10 ground.

What size wire do I need for a 2.5 ton AC unit?

14 AWG



The correct wire size for this 2.5-ton AC unit is the 14 AWG with 20A ampacity. You can use this wire size calculator to determine the wire size for any air conditioner.

What size breaker do I need for a 220 mini split?

Use a 20A breaker and 12 AWG (or larger) wiring.

How many amps does a 4 ton AC draw?

A 4 ton 13 SEER heat pump condensation unit draws a min. of 26.4 amps and a max. of 45 amps.

How many amps does a 3.5 ton AC use?



A 3 ton 16 SEER AC draws 11.18 amps. The more efficient the 3 ton AC is, the fewer amps it draws.
How many amps does a 1-5 Ton ac unit draw?

Air Conditioner Capacity (Ton) BTU Amps
3 Ton 36,000 BTU 11.18 amps
3.5 Ton 42,000 BTU 13.04 amps
4 Ton 48,000 BTU 14.91 amps

What size breaker do I need for a 4 ton air conditioner?

What Breaker Size For 4 Ton AC Unit? On average, 4-ton units (or 48,000 BTU) run on 4,800W. Less efficient units can run on 5,600W and more efficient ones run on as little as 4,000W. Using the calculator above, we can see that an average 4-ton AC unit requires a breaker with at least 27.27A ampacity.

How many amps does a central air conditioner pull?

Central air conditioning units require 208/240 volts. They must be hard wired and have a dedicated circuit. Units require anywhere from 15-60 amps depending on how many tons they are.

How many amps does a 5 ton AC draw?

5 ton AC wattage can be anywhere between 4,000W to 8,000W. That’s between 16 and 34 Amps (240V circuit).

How much current does a 1.5 ton AC draw?



The cooling capacity is 1.5 ton. The running current will be 1510/ 220 if the supply voltage is 220 V AC. The starting current of a 1.5 ton 5 star split AC with no gas is estimated to be around 15 to 20 A.

How much current does a 2 ton AC draw?

20 Amps

A 2-ton central air unit can draw up to 20 Amps.