Air Conditioners

[yogitunes]

with the heat wave in full force....this would be a good time to ask about air conditioners, mainly window unit styles.....

always prefer a vintage unit....but it may come time to buy a new one....

opinions, thoughts, ideas.....good, bad, ugly.....what is available today?

I do know a high EER gives more energy savings, but for a colder output, select a lower EER value...

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

 

[eronie]

You are right on the money Yogi!
And dont even think about those hose window things...

 

[DADoES]

 
We got a new Friedrich window unit (installed through-the-wall) recently at work.  It's clearly sourced from LG.  :-(   It went to throwing a CH34 fault code (compressor high pressure or overload, off 10 times in an hour) within a few weeks.  The dealer/service advised to run it in continuous-fan mode instead of MoneySaver® but that doesn't help.  No other service attempt has been made thus far but hopefully something will happen before the warranty expires.

 

[iowabear]

I'm also interested in hearing what others know.  Although my house has central air, I always install a window unit in my bedroom so I can sleep at a nice cool 60 degrees without spending a fortune.

 

Right now I'm using a 5000 BTU Frigidaire unit going on its fifth summer.  (Link below.) It works well, but it's loud when the compressor turns on.  It wouldn't be great for light sleepers who couldn't get used to it.

 

I do wonder if there is any meaningful difference between brands these days.

 

It's amazing the ones I see on CL that have never been cleaned, inside or out!

http://https//www.frigidaire.com/Owner-Center/Product-Support--Manuals/?productCode=FFRE0533Q1

 

[rp2813]

The portable units on wheels can be super loud.  I bought one off CL in advance of a record-breaking heat wave that hit over last Labor Day weekend.  I will say that it made sleeping easier, but that's about all.  It took three nights to get used to the racket.  The brand was "Royal Sovereign," which I've never heard of.

 

Then a few months later I saw one for free on CL.  That one was a GE and it was a lot quieter.  I was planning to use it this summer, but then we moved to a new house with central A/C.  I gave both portables away to a friend's sister who runs a bed & breakfast near Roseburg, OR where it can reach triple digits during the summer.   I haven't yet heard how they're working out.

 

We had a Sharp 12K BTU window unit in a small west-facing upstairs bedroom at our old place.  It did a good job and even got the room across the hall cooler with a strategically placed fan.

 

 

 

[wayupnorth]

I have an 80's something woodgrain Frigidaire 8000 btu that weighs a ton to put in and out, but cools the bedroom fine and sleeping is perfect. Its already 15 degrees cooler there than any breeze coming off the lake thru the rest of the house and I only turned it on 2 hours ago. Maybe this heat wave has broke.

 

[yogitunes]

I have several smaller spares, for emergencies...something you can quickly pop in a window....GE CarryCool were some unique ideas....

you will find a lot on CL for sale, where the owner either moved to, or had central air installed, thinking they no longer need a window unit......I snatch some of those up cheap, but here is the thing, if that central goes out, you lost the whole house, and now you may have to wait for days for a repair guy, especially in the middle of Summer, at least if you had a spare or two, it would get you through.....

5000btu units will function with most portable generators...

even with the house that has central, I have a unit in the bedroom like Jim, why pay to cool the whole house for only two people.....

another thought to consider, location of your dryer, many are in a first floor bathroom or similar....for the locations like this, I have been fortunate to have a window, and a door that closed that room off...a dryer can suck out a lot of 'conditioned' air

I do miss the Kenmore A/C's of the 70/80's with the woodgrain front, those were extremely quiet.....my preference is always a unit the 'Energy Saver' that turns the whole unit off...

and you are right when it comes to what you find on CL.....filthy and disgusting, yet they have a nerve to ask the price they want...

 

[abcomatic]

We have central air, but it doesn't seem to work well upstairs. I have a unit in the tv room upstairs and it cools well. It is a Frigidaire and is 3 years old. i have it set at 71 and am very comfortable. It helps to cool the upstairs off here too.

 

[washman]

Back in the day

in our mobile home in Indiana we had a 220v Amana up front and a 8500 BTU Fedders in parents room. I got by with a Lakewood box fan!

 

Both units ran admirably and both were bought new and neither needed repair in the years we had them.

 

Can't comment on window units today other than they are all China sourced and probably built to the lowest possible levels of quality.

 

[yogitunes]

a typical CL ad.....

http://https//southjersey.craigslist.org/app/d/8000-btu-air-conditioner/6632612410.html

 

[superocd]

I almost considered getting a window AC for the bedroom to avoid having to run our central AC overnight, but my wife wouldn't like the noise or aesthetics and the quality (or lack thereof) of window ACs available today is just sad. It would probably be more cost effective to just run the central AC if it is newer and efficient and installed in a modern home, because I don't think you'd be able to get more than three summers out of any window unit today. If you spend ~$200 every three years to replace the broken unit plus the cost to run it, I think the cost to run a decently efficient central AC for a modestly sized newer home would be about the same, so I opted just to go down this route.

I was just talking about Styrofoam evap chambers in another thread. The condenser fan blades all look like they were manufactured for $15 desk fans, the only difference is that there is a slinger ring plastiwelded on the outer edge. The squirrel cage evap fans are just as cheap. These components used to be made out of relatively heavy-gauge aluminum or steel. I remember because I took a few window units apart as a kid. None of the condensers are protected behind louvers like the older units so the fins bend easily. Sometimes the manufacturer will make a pathetic attempt at "protecting" the condenser with a wire grate.

I feel sorry for anyone still installing wall units, because in most cases, the sleeves are manufacturer specific and vary widely in dimension. If and when the unit dies, it may dictate having to reframe the cutout for the replacement unit. In any case, I think a good PTAC would be better option (Carrier, Friedrich, LG, Amana).

 

[norgeway]

As with everything else

If you can find one from the 50s or 60s , they are worlds better than the new stuff, MUCH colder, normally quieter and well built of METAL!

 

[jmm63]

I would love to have central a/c, its on "the list",and when I have an extra $10,000 i will do it, meanwhile i live with window units.

They aren't vintage,at least 10+ tears old, but happy with 3 of the 4 I have.

Sharp 8k is about 14 and one of the first energy star units. Not "library quiet ", but does a good job. Haeir 6k in bedroom is super quiet and I bought it used for $50 ten years ago. Hampton bay 6k unit in guest room is ok, I don't put that one in until the last minute because it's the front of the house and I don't like to see one hanging out the front. It's small enough though.

The Frigidaire 8k I can't stand. Bought it a couple years ago, it so loud, ridiculously loud. Dont put it on high unless you have earplugs. It's relegated to the front of the house where it doesn't cause problems. Hoping an electrical storm takes it out.

Have a GE CARRY COOL in the garage for emergencies, or a give away.

 

[iowabear]

Styrofoam evaporator chambers

These do make them appear ridiculously cheesy, especially when the light shines through them as in picture #4 above. My little Frigidaire 5K BTU has this as well and I cringe every time I see it.

 

However...I only paid $110 for it at a end of summer 2013 clearance sale.

 

I was looking through some ads from the late 1970s and I saw that similar units were going for $99 at that time.  So...35 years later and same price, kind of astonishing really. 

 

It had a one-year full warranty and 5-year "sealed system" warranty...and I don't expect it will last long beyond that.  But for what I paid...cannot complain. 

 

[vacerator]

Central air

is nice, but our house has no zone controls. Once the sun heats up the attic and walls, I have to bump it up from 76 f. to at least 77 or 78 so it isn't running constantly until the sun sets. Thermostat is in the center of the house.
It's always worked this way, since the 90's when newer also.
No doubt, more shade on the west side would help. We had a huge silver maple in the back yard until 1997. It had to go. It ruined our patio, as the roots go horizontlally. These are prohibited trees now.
I know it's best to set it ten degrees cooler than the outside temp., but when it's 90 or higher, how many units can keep a home 76 degrees? It's a 2.5 ton Bryant. Square footage is 1,500.

 

[thomasortega]

Darryl and I bought one yesterday.

It's funny how i HATED the Kenmore brand and now I love it. My Kenmore Elite stove is AWESOME and the dishwasher (a Kenmore portable) actually does an amazing work cleaning the dishes in just 1 hour.

That beast is REALLY powerful and I'm impressed with its energy efficiency. The blower is really strong and it's not noisy.

Yesterday I was kinda pissed off with the smart app that wouldn't connect. This morning I decided to restart everything from scratch, unplugged the A/C for 5 minutes, uninstalled the app and then started everything again. It worked perfectly right on the first try. No mess, no fuss, even a child can setup the Wi-Fi features.

Now I'm looking forward to get a second A/C unit so my apartment will look like it has central A/C, as 12k BTU isn't enough for everything, but at least it's more comfortable.

 

[estesguy]

Central air requirements...

A very crude rule of thumb is 1 ton of AC for every 500 sf. Of course this can change based on construction of the home, but its still is a good place to start. So at 1500 sf, you definitely could have used a 3 ton. I had a new home built in 1983, 1600 sf and the builder put in 2.5, probably to save money. It ran all the time when temps were in the mid to upper 90's. When a hail storm damaged it, I replaced it with a 3 ton. No problems after that.

 

[ozzie908]

Have the offer of refurb built in air con

Can any of you guys with HVAC let me know how hard it is to instal ? I have my house all done and sorted but the heat has become too much to bare and air con here tends to be mobile units you hang a pipe like a dryer out the window so its apparent I cannot use these as have silly tilt or turn windows you have a gap at the top or open the whole thing like a door Anyhoo what I really need to know is how hard it is to put these ceiling things in not concerned about the outside bit just do all the ceilings have to be opened up or is it a case of cutting a hole and pop the thing in???

Thank you

Austin

 

[xraytech]

I have a 1,400 sq ft Cape Cod built in 1946
I have a 1995 Comfortmaker central a/c unit that takes care of the main floor(about 1,000 sq ft.) all the rooms stay cool, except the living room is warmer, most likely due to my sectional sofa blocks 2 of the 3 registers.

Sadly there is no a/c in the second story bedroom, it gets incredibly hot so I have to relocate to downstairs for the warm months.

I had tried a window a/c, but it was about useles, as the room is 10’ x 36’ with a window at each end. I won’t put a unit in the front window as it looks bad from the road, and the other window is at top of steps so all it does is cool the stairwell.

I decided to keep the 6,500 btu GE unit around as a backup due to the age of my central a/c.
Came in handy about 3-4 weeks ago when my unit was low on R-22 and froze up. That 6500 btu window unit kept the living room cool, and a properly positioned fan cooled the front bedroom and bathroom.