In refrigeration and air conditioning, a unit of power required to cool one ton of water by 1 °F every 10 minutes, equal to 12,000 Btu/h (3.517 kilowatts)
The amount of energy it takes to convert 2000 lbs of water at 32º F to ice at 32º F during a 24 hour period Calculation: 2000 lbs H2O x 144 Btu/lb = 288,000 Btu's in 24 Hrs Divide by 24 hrs = 12,000 Btu/hr Therefore a "ton" of cooling is a measure of heat energy which is roughly equivalent to 12,000 BTU's
The unit of measure for an air conditioning system's capacity One ton of air conditioning removes 12,000 BTUs of heat energy per hour from a home Residential air conditioners usually range from one to five tons Typically used as a measure for central air conditioners
A certain weight or quantity of merchandise, with reference to transportation as freight; as, six hundred weight of ship bread in casks, seven hundred weight in bags, eight hundred weight in bulk; ten bushels of potatoes; eight sacks, or ten barrels, of flour; forty cubic feet of rough, or fifty cubic feet of hewn, timber, etc