HVAC Cooling or Heating Load Calculator
Estimate roughly the cooling or heating load of a typical building
HVAC Load Calculator
Cooling & Heating Load (W, kW, BTU/hr, Ton)
How the Calculator Works
This Cooling/Heating Load calculator works by first determining the room’s volume from its area and height, then calculating the temperature difference between outdoor and indoor conditions. Using this difference, it estimates how much heat enters or leaves the room through the air based on airflow (air changes), air properties, and insulation quality. It then adds internal heat gains from people, equipment, and lighting. The total of these gives the cooling load (how much heat must be removed), while reversing the temperature difference gives the heating load (how much heat must be added) to maintain the desired indoor temperature.
While these simplified calculations are useful for early estimation, they assume uniform conditions and cannot capture real-world complexities such as heat gains through windows, equipment loads, airflow distribution, and transient thermal behavior. For more accurate and reliable design, especially in complex buildings, tensorHVAC-Pro enables detailed simulations using actual geometries and boundary conditions. By modeling heat transfer, airflow, and radiation effects in 3D, it provides precise cooling and heating load predictions, helping engineers optimize system sizing, improve energy efficiency, and ensure consistent indoor comfort.