3D air conditioning planner

Follow the moving air

Drag the white indoor unit along a wall or around a corner. Drag the background to rotate. Follow the bright end of a blue trail to see where the supply air goes. A longer trail means the air travelled farther in the same time. Try turning up the fan or changing its angle.

Place one thermometer near the outlet and another across the room or upstairs. Their readings stay together as you switch floors. Try the same positions with fixed blades and with swing enabled.

For stairs, add a unit upstairs and choose All floors. Cooler, denser upstairs air can sink through the stairwell while warmer air rises. Seal the connection to compare. Each stair needs overlapping rooms on adjacent levels.

How the estimate works

The planner balances pressure between rooms using wind, air density and opening area. In rooms with a unit, a coarse 3D fluid simulation carries momentum and cooler air from the outlet. Denser air sinks, and a pressure calculation redirects flow around walls, sofas, beds and kitchen cabinets. Each unit can hold a fixed direction or sweep sideways, vertically or both. The simulated blades redirect newly discharged air; earlier streams continue through the room. Swing ranges and speeds illustrate a typical movement rather than a specific model. Each streak follows a small parcel of air. Door undercuts use their actual gap area even though the animation enlarges the tracers so you can see them.

Layouts, openings and wind exposure are examples. The thermometer estimates air temperature at the selected height. Each room exchanges heat with the outdoors, with an assumed 2°C allowance for internal gains. Running units supply air at 17°C when the room is warmer. The reading includes local cooling in the supply stream and mixing near incoming openings. Sunlight, insulation and the performance of a specific unit can change the temperature in a real home. Background on airflow networks.