Some of us pay our electric bills and have watthour meters o
RE "I DONT!! Buy into the notion that the old AC s are energy hogs, you get what you pay for, ice cold air is worth more than something running all the time and doing a marginal job, the old ones, like old refrigerators are quieter colder and last much longer, to my mind there is no comparison. "
There is low law that says one cannot still drive a car that gets 8u miles per gallon; or use a 1970 AC that has an EER of 5 to 6.
If the device is not used much; the loss in cash is not much.
Here in the deep south, an 18,000 BTUH window unit with an EER of 10 can burn 100 bucks worth of juice in August. If you want to use a 1970 unit with an ERR of 5, you just pay 100 bucks extra here. Since money matters here, the lossy old AC or lossy corroded AC is often thrown in the trash, or sold as scrap. One buys a modern AC and it pays for itself in one hot season.
If the same 1970 AC is in a cabin in Minnesota, maybe it only runs a few weekends a year. Thus the unit's lossy ways do not matter since one really hardly uses them at all.
Yet another late 1960's 2x4' AC unit in the ceiling tiles here is a total HOG for electrical usage. I have TWO of these dinos that have not been used in years. The 2nd one has two AC 230 volt fans, one for the condenser, one for the evaporator. The 15,000 BTU beast weights about 280 Lbs. The wiring used is #8 wire. Unit #2 had an EER of 4 in 1968, thus that 15,000 BTUH drew 3750 watts, ie with all the inductive motors the amp draw is about 25 to 30 amps at 230 volts. At start the amps locked rotor are about 100 to 120 thus it has #8 wire. Thus #2 unit has a watthour meter connected to it too. To run this in the summer is about 50 cents an hour, ie 12 bucks a day. To run it all the time for one month burns up over 300 dollars, BUT it is such a corroded mess that its actual heat transfer is only about 1/2. Thus to run this obsolete beast 1 month today costs over 300 bucks and one really just gets about 7500 BTUH. In its place is a split AC that runs on just 120 volts and puts out 14,000 BTUH with just about 1000 watts. The new unit just is about 6 to 8 times more efficient than the old worn out beast. The new unit cycles and thus its 14,000 BTUH keeps the one room cold and it shuts off. The old unit with its 1968 ERR of 4 and half its coils now mush cannot keep up on a HOT DAY.
The savings for a business like mine are actually way better since I have demand meters. On a mild day both the old Unit#2 and new split can "keep up"; ie the old units 7500 BTUH is enough.
BUT on a mild day running the old beast makes the demand increase by 4 Kw; the new one by just 1 Kw. The added 3Kw of using the obsolete AC not only burns more kilowatts, it throws my bill into a higher rate structure. It adds to all my other items. Thus running that beast is not just an kilowatt increase; it is a rate column increase.
If I run both old 2x4 ceiling AC's from the 1960s; the extra demand is 8Kw versus just 2 of running the modern mini spits.
Yet another reason is that during Hurricane season; the modern 14,000 BTUH mini splits will run off a moderate generator. The ceiling units require a generator about 5 times larger to start just one.
If both 1960's 2x4' ceiling units are run "for old times sake"; the amp draw is 50 to 60 amps at 230 volts, to get just about 15,000 BTUH, thus somewhat nuts.
Here I have actual watthour meters on my AC units. During the summer the majority of the cost is due to AC units. If I ran all the old AC units "for old times sake"; I would have a 1400 buck bill versus a 600 buck ac bill at my business. Thus turning off the 1960's ac and using a modern mini split is not a hard decision if it saves one 400 per month per room.
Here I have tools and devices that are energy efficient to total hogs too. I tend to use the hogs less if there is to be many hours of usage.
