Tools · Coil Sizing

Coil-Sizing Calculator HVAC

One coil, in isolation.
Capacity tab: enter the air going in and the air coming out, get total / sensible / latent capacity and the sensible heat ratio. Leaving-state tab runs it backwards — entering air plus the load the coil has to carry, solve for the leaving-air state. Same math the psychrometric chart runs on its coil stages, surfaced on its own so a quick capacity check doesn't need a whole AHU chain.

Inputs are seeded with an example — edit them to your numbers.

Input

Entering air

Leaving air

The seeded leaving state (55 °F DB / 54 °F WB) is an intentionally aggressive, near-saturation dehumidifying coil (~95 % RH off the coil), so it drives a deliberately low sensible-heat ratio. Real leaving air often runs a touch drier — edit it to your design condition.

A heating coil rides humidity ratio through unchanged — leaving air carries the entering air's moisture, so only the leaving dry-bulb is needed.

Output

Enter values to size the coil.
Total capacity (MBH) —
Sensible capacity (MBH) —
Latent capacity (MBH) —
Sensible heat ratio —

Process change (signed: − = cooling)

Δ Dry-bulb (°F) —
Δ Humidity ratio (gr/lb) —
Δ Enthalpy (Btu/lb) —

Worked example

A cooling coil — 2000 CFM of entering air at 80 °F / 67 °F WB, leaving at 55 °F / 54 °F WB.

  1. Each air state fixes its enthalpy h and humidity ratio W from the ASHRAE chart math.
  2. Convert volumetric flow to mass flow of dry air:
    ṁ = CFM × 60 ÷ ventering (lb dry air / h).
  3. Total capacity is the enthalpy swing: qtotal = ṁ × Δh. Sensible is the dry-bulb swing: qsens = ṁ × (0.240 + 0.444·W) × ΔDB. Latent is whatever's left: qtotal − qsens.
  4. The sensible heat ratio SHR = qsens ÷ qtotal says how much of the coil's work drops temperature versus wringing out water — a low SHR is a coil fighting a humid space.

The formula steps above are written in the engine's native IP units (CFM, lb, Btu — the ASHRAE IP formulation); in metric the tool converts at the display boundary, so the inputs and results you see are exact equivalents of the same IP math. Atmospheric pressure is fixed at sea level. For an altitude-adjusted answer, the psychrometric chart carries an altitude input.

Input

Entering air

Coil load

Atmospheric pressure is fixed at sea level. A heating coil's load is all sensible — humidity ratio rides through unchanged.

Output

Enter values to solve the leaving state.

Leaving air

Dry-bulb (°F) —
Wet-bulb (°F) —
Humidity ratio (gr/lb) —
Rel. humidity (%) —
Dew point (°F) —
Enthalpy (Btu/lb) —

Worked example

Run it backwards — entering air plus the load the coil has to carry, solve for what comes out.

  1. The mass flow ṁ comes from airflow and the entering specific volume, same as the Capacity tab.
  2. For a cooling coil, the sensible load sets the dry-bulb drop: ΔDB = −qsens ÷ (ṁ × (0.240 + 0.444·W)). The total load (sensible + latent) sets the enthalpy drop: Δh = −qtotal ÷ ṁ. Dry-bulb and enthalpy together fix the leaving point.
  3. If the latent load is more than the air can shed at that sensible split, the leaving point lands on the saturation curve — the coil's apparatus dew point. The status line flags it.
  4. For a heating coil it's pure sensible: the capacity sets ΔDB and humidity ratio rides through, so the leaving point is just warmer air at the same moisture.

This is the inverse of the Capacity tab — feed a leaving state from here into that tab and the capacities come back out. As on that tab, the formula steps are IP-native; metric values convert at the display boundary.

← All tools