ZoneBtuBTU per head, per room, per orientation — not one number for the house.

What size mini split does a 200 sq ft bedroom in Laramie, WY need?

200 ft² bedroom in Laramie, WY
6,000BTU/hr
3,240 BTU/hr of load at 16.2 BTU/ft² — the figure for 470 cooling degree days
200 ft² bedroom in Laramie, WY6,000 BTU/hrHead size to buy3,240 BTU/hrCalculated load4,000 BTU/hrWhat the 20 BTU/f…
Head size to buy6,000BTU/hr
Calculated load200 ft² × 16.2 BTU/ft²3,240BTU/hr
BTU per square foot hereinterpolated from Laramie's 470 cooling degree days16.2BTU/ft²
What the 20 BTU/ft² rule givesthe rule overshoots by 19% here4,000BTU/hr
Summer design temperature91°F
Winter design temperaturea mini split heats too — this is the number that decides whether it can carry the room alone-5°F
Summer day–night swinga dry climate29°F
Days at or above 90°F16days/yr
Oversize from the size stepa big step — read the note85%

Notes

  • The "20 BTU per square foot" rule is a Midwest number. Laramie runs 470 cooling degree days, which works out to 16.2 BTU/ft² — so for this bedroom the rule overshoots by 19%. A single national figure has to be wrong somewhere, and this is where.
  • Bedroom: the room where oversizing hurts most — quiet, low load, long runtimes wanted.
  • 6,000 BTU/hr is 85% above the load, and the gap between head sizes is wide — this is already the smallest head. In a single room that matters more than it would on a central system: there are no other rooms to absorb the excess capacity. If the room is well insulated and shaded, the smaller head is usually the better buy, and modern inverter compressors modulate down far better than they modulate up.
  • Laramie is dry — nights fall 29°F below the afternoon high, which only happens when there is little water in the air. Latent load is small, so nearly all of the head's capacity goes into temperature. A slightly undersized head is forgiving here: it simply runs longer.
  • Do not forget the winter side. Laramie designs to -5°F. That is cold enough that a standard head will have lost a large part of its rated capacity by the time it is needed most — check the manufacturer's capacity table at -5°F, not the nameplate, and look at hyper-heat rated equipment.
  • Where these numbers come from. Cheyenne Airport, 69 km from downtown Laramie, daily records 2015–2024. Design temperatures are calibrated against published ASHRAE values at eight airports and land within about 2°F of them.

The short answer

A 200 square foot bedroom in Laramie, WY needs a head of about 6,000 BTU per hour. The calculated load is 3,240 BTU/hr.

Where that number comes from

Laramie, WY runs 470 cooling degree days a year, which puts the room at 16.2 BTU per square foot rather than the 20 BTU/ft² the generic charts use. Applied to this room the rule gives 4,000 BTU/hr.

The winter half of the question

Laramie, WY designs to -5°F. A mini split is a heat pump, and its heating capacity falls as the outdoor temperature drops — the nameplate is measured at 47°F, not at the temperature you actually need it.

Sizing a single room is not sizing a house

There is no other room to absorb a mistake. An oversized head short-cycles, never runs long enough to dehumidify, and leaves the room cold and damp.

Nearby sizes

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