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HVAC CFM vs. Tons for Air Conditioning Units

Modified: 6 May 2025 Estimation Desktop
Not version-specific
Estimation Desktop

Definitions:

CFM - Cubic Feet per Minute - airflow volume for an air conditioning (A/C) unit.

Tons - cooling capacity for an air conditioning unit.

 

In the HVAC industry, the conversion would be 1 TON = 400 CFM.

 

How to convert Tons to CFM:

  • Tons: 4
  • 4 Tons * 400 CFM/Ton = 1600 CFMs

How to convert CFMs to Tons:

  • CFMs: 800
  • 800 CFMs / 400 CFM/Ton = 2 Tons

There are places in Estimation Desktop that use a Unit of Measure (UOM) of CFMs and some that use Tons.  These formulas can be used to do either conversion when selecting the size of an A/C unit when doing a takeoff.

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