Math in Bungalow Heaven

Bungalow Heaven is a community of homes in Pasadena, California that is known for their unique architecture of homes that were original to years of 1900 to 1930. The most notable bungalow Architecture in Pasadena is the Gamble House, a creation of Greene and Greene (The picture above is not the Gamble House). To me, what is most notable about the bungalow house, is the the low pitch roof, which brings up the concept of mathematics and slope. The slope of the roof is no more than 20 degrees from the horizontal axis of these houses. I think this is one of the many unique characteristics that distinguish this architecture style.    (This is the rear view of the Gamble House)

If you live in Southern California, you know it gets HOT!!! Unfortunately, to be comfortable in your home during the summer, having and air conditioner is necessary. In this blog I would like to suggest a simple formula that will more or less give you an idea of what size AC unit you need for the size of your house. The formula is as follows:  ((House sq.ft. x 25) / 12,000) – 0.5) = required tons. For example, if your house is 2,350 sq ft,  then your formula would look like the following: ((2,350 * 25)/12,00)-0.5) = 5.39 tons. Interesting fact:  1 Ton = 12,000 BTUs per hour, or the amount of energy it takes to melt 1 ton of ice in a day. 1 BTU = the amount of energy needed to raise 1 pound of water by 1 degree F. Here is a list of AC unit sizes: 18,000 – 1.5 tons 24,000 – 2 tons 30,000 – 2.5 tons 36,000 – 3 tons 48,000 – 4 tons 60,000 – 5 tons