Air Conditioners

[launderess]

"always a good idea to buy a BTU rating for your space with a little bit of overkill.... "

That is interesting since have always been told and or researched the opposite; that something slightly smaller is better than larger when it comes to air conditioning.

Rationale being that an oversized unit will cycle off sooner than it should thus not remove moisture from air to make things comfortable.

Not exactly same, but during past heat wave noticed that if set the WallMaster to 72F or 73F it cooled things nicely and didn't cycle on and off much. OTOH if thermostat was set to 75F the thing cycled constantly to point of being annoying.

Since everyone is going on about split AC:





http://https//www.hgtv.com/remodel/mechanical-systems/is-ductless-heating-and-cooling-right-for-you

 

[askolover]

That's what I've always heard too Launderess.

 

[wayupnorth]

I know of several people around here that have installed them and all have said how well they work and save energy dollars. One other nice thing is that in the winter they reverse and can draw heat out of the outside air up to -10 degrees before the electric resistance kicks on.

 

[yogitunes]

removal of moisture from the air is one thing, sucking the water out of the plants, aquarium, and causing dry skin is going a bit too far....

going a thousand or two larger for window units is not a bad idea, I can always dial down the thermostat versus a unit running constantly to keep up....

this is just my personal preference, you know me, size matters.....I used to run 4 units, kitchen and living room 2-10,000 and 2 bedrooms 2-5,000....and a 200.00+ electric bill to go with it....

I switched to one 30,000 unit in the dining room, which covers the whole area now, speed on Med, and temp set at 4......very comfortable, cycles on when needed, and a super low electric bill.....

this unit is climbing on 22 years old, I cringe at the day it gives up on me, as I wont find another one like it.....everyone who sees it wants one....I also guess what works with a unit of this size is an open floor plan.....you can appreciate its power with a house full of people, or when you fire up the stove, adjust the dial, and it will chill down quickly...

 

[thomasortega]

Yogitunes

Those Whirlpools are fantastic.

But the new Kenmore Elite smart A/C, miraculously, are even better.

I'm not 100% sure, but I strongly believe they're made by LG. The design is too "LGesque".

The fan is almost as powerful as one of those floor dryers.

 

[foraloysius]

The biggest Kenmore air conditioner is 12,000 as far as I can see on the Sears website. You surely don't want to compare that with that 30,000 BTU one Martin has?

 

[yogitunes]

that's the sad part there with Sears.....they slap their name on just about anything now....

back in the 80's when I got the Kenmore's, they were built by Whirlpool, but like all Kenmores, to Sears own specifications, somewhat a better look, seriously quieter fans, and extra features you wouldn't find on the Whirlpool counterpart...

just thinking of the plug I have to run this...250V-30amp...comparable to a dryers plug...

 

[launderess]

That is just Kenmore

Other brands offer room air conditioners (through wall or window) up to 30,000 btu of cooling power.

https://www.friedrich.com/products/commercial/window

As mentioned previously, Friedrich offers a "unifit" model of through wall AC designed to work with any existing sleeve.

https://www.friedrich.com/products/commercial/thru-the-wall/uni-fit

Found this interesting; Friedrich no longer has a WallMaster units at 10,000 btu on 115v. One can have 9800 btu or 1200 btu on that voltage, but the 10,000 to 9,900 unit now is 220v only.

https://www.friedrich.com/products/commercial/thru-the-wall/wallmaster/details?Tab=2

@Louis:

Kenmore does seem to offer larger window AC in 25,000 and 18,000 btu; but those are 220v units. https://www.kenmore.com/products/ai...ing/air-conditioners/window-air-conditioners/

 

[foraloysius]

Yes, I have seen those, but Martin’s is a through the wall airconditioner so we have to take that into account, otherwise we are comparing apples and pears.

 

[launderess]

@Louis

True, but since Kenmore is nothing more than a brand name Sears slaps on things made by others, a true "apples to apples" comparison would have to be made by looking at full product line of whoever produces these ACs.

It might very well be that company in question does offer through wall units with btu power greater than 12000, but Sears for reasons of their own doesn't bother.

 

[thomasortega]

Today I confirmed..

Kenmore A/Cs are made by LG.

They have up to 15.000 BTU 110V and up to 25.000 BTU 220V

All of them "window type"

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd want one big unit. I'd prefer to split the capacity in two smaller units to add use flexibility and if one fails, at least I still have 50% of the cooling power.

 

[yogitunes]

mine is a window/wall unit.....I had to leave off the side curtains to fit the window opening....

the unit has two screws at the bottom that lock it in place, plus its screwed in from the sides to keep it secure in the window.....

there have been cases of gaining entrance into a home from thieves by sliding a screwdriver underneath, and pushing the unit into the home...

 

[petek]

I've had our current Mitubishi mini split since I think 2010 or was it 2011. .. anyways,, the filtering system on it is crap.. most of the air goes around and behind those flexible thin filter things and then sticks on the blades of the squirell cage fan, which in turn gets bogged down and has required disassembly every 2 years, at a cost. It's currently not working and the repairman is coming in the morning.. I won't be buying another Mitsubishi mini split again unless they redesign the whole filter system.

 

[petek]

Austin... what kind of central ac system is it you're talking about? Over here central air generally refers to a fan forced ducted furnace/air conditioner where the evaporator is in the furnace and the condenser unit sits outside. There are ductless mini split systems available with ceiling cassettes but they're much less common right now. More common is just the straight forward mini split unit set up on the wall high up,, perhaps two or 3 of those depending on the size of the house etc They all need to be wired and and the coolant tubes plumbed to the outside condenser as well as having a drain tube

 

[petek]

AC guys showed up this a.m. and as suspected my Freon was low... so he's put in some dye and charged it up and we'll see what happens over the course of the next week or so,, if not sooner. Days I wished we just had a regular forced air furnace and air conditioner... this thing is hundreds of dollaring me to death every couple of years..

 

[circlew]

The church I belong to has 4 of the Mitsubishi mini-split units; they were installed 3 or 4 years ago, and they've had problems with a couple of them. I think they are all functional now.

 

[ozzie908]

@petek

I believe its the split system with the fans in the ceiling I am just so looking forward to being cooler I cannot handle the slightest increase in temperature these days.

Austin

 

[countryguy]

Pete,

I've had a Climataire split system in the bedroom for 10 years and touch wood....never had a problem with it. I do clean the filters every season and I did have the service guy out to check it over a couple of years ago. Last summer I had a Carriere split system installed in the living area. I've only used it a handful of times so not sure what its reliability is going to be. It did come with a 5 year warranty.

Gary

 

[norgeway]

Some good friends of my Parents

Had a huge Coldspot window unit, 28000 btu, I never saw it turned over halfway on the thermostat and the fan was always on low and their house was always cold!it lasted almost 40 years and the compressor died, I think lightning got it.

 

[retro-man]

I remember back in high school going to a friends house and her parents had a huge Sears window A/C. It had a separate dial for humidity setting along with the cooling dial. I believe it was a 220v. Had never seen this before or since. Anyone ever come across one of these?

Jon