Do you want to cool your whole house???
Jun 04 '00 (Updated May 30 '01)
The Bottom Line If you have the means, a central unit is the best, but a good window unit will work in cooler climates.
If someone asked me what tips I could give them about buying an air conditioner, the first thing I would tell them is to buy a central unit and have a professional put it in.
I know that this isn't really what this category is talking about, but I lived in three different houses that only had window air conditioners before my father and I built the house we are in. We hired a professional to come and put in central heat and air and wouldn't change a thing.
If you insist on buying a window unit, here are a few things to consider:
1. How big of an area are you wanting to cool? If the area is more than just one room and you live in the south, good luck. Most window air conditioners will only cool one room and they are typically fairly expensive to run, so you don't want to leave it running. If you live in a cooler climate and will not have to run the a/c very often, you can get by with a standard unit. In a cooler climate, you can cool more than one room with a window unit. The only problem with this is that the room the unit is in will be very cool!
2. How much are you wanting to spend? If you are on a tight budget, try and get a smaller unit in order to save some money. We have had a couple of small units that actually put out colder air, so they were almost as good as a larger unit. If price is not an issue, go for the best and biggest you can find...typically the bigger and more expensive ones are more energy efficient too.
3. How long do you plan on staying in this house? In this day and age, 20% of Americans mover each year. If you are planning on moving in the next year or so, I would recommend buying a less expensive unit. A cheaper unit will work until you are able to move to another house. Then again, a cheap unit will not help the resale value of your house.
One of the things you might need to know before you buy an air conditioner is: how big of a unit do I need to buy? Well, that depends on how big of an area you are wanting to keep cool and what kind of system you are planning on buying.
If you are going to buy a central air conditioning system, you typically need 1 ton per 500 square feet of space to be cooled. If you are going to buy a window unit, you need to have around 6000 BTU for a room that is 100 square feet. If your room is 200 square feet, you need to go up to an 8000 BTU unit. If you have a room bigger than 200 square feet, you need to go and check with the dealer to see what the best route would be for you to take to get the most cooling for your dollar.
Again, if you are in the market for an air conditioner, I would recommend getting a central unit. A central unit typically uses less energy than a small window unit and they last much longer. A central unit may cost a lot more at the first, but the saving on your monthly energy bill will be worth it. A central unit also cool much better through out the whole house. With a central unit, you have a thermostat that will allow you to keep it on all the time without paying for energy use all of the time.
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Member: Grant Jackson
Location: Central Arkansas, USA
Reviews written: 403
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