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Tips on choosing an Air
Conditioner
Determining What size Air Conditioner you need
for Your Home?
By
Mark J. Donovan
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If you live in a warmer climate and lack central air
conditioning then a window air conditioner may be just the ticket for you.
Choosing an air conditioner for a window can be a challenge, as there are a
number of factors that need to be considered, including the cost of it. My
personal experience is do not choose a portable air conditioner that is so
big that you can’t lift it without breaking your back. I did that with the
first window air conditioner I purchased and have been regretting it ever
since. It is a 12,000 BTU window air conditioner that must weigh nearly 100
lbs.
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It’s a bear to not only drag up from the basement, but it’s also
a two man job to get it into the window.
Also, although it can cool off the entire upstairs of our home, it still takes
awhile, and in the process it has to cool off the hallway and even the stair
well. In retrospect we would have been much better off if I had installed
smaller window air conditioners in each upstairs bedroom. Not only would each
bedroom be cooled off quicker, I wouldn’t necessarily need to cool off the
hallway, bathrooms and stair well. In addition, with the large air conditioning
unit, it actually provides less cooling than if I had used a number of smaller
ones. The reason for this is that the oversized air conditioner has too short of
a run time and is constantly cycling on and off. Thus it never adequately
removes sufficient enough moisture from all of the upstairs rooms to leave them
feeling cool, except for the room that it is located in.
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Consequently it is wise to size the air conditioner to the specific room area.
Air conditioner performance is rated on BTUs or British Thermal Units. The
higher the number of BTUs the more heat that is transferred from a room to the
outdoors. The smallest window air conditioner puts out about 4,000 BTUs, however
for most standard room sizes (approximately 100 to 200 square feet) a 5,000 to
6,000 BTU portable air conditioner is most appropriate. For larger rooms, e.g.
up to 600 to 800 square feet, choosing an air conditioner that supports around
12,000 BTUs is most appropriate.
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Regardless of what size air conditioner you choose, keep in mind that it is
really meant to cool off one room. Trying to cool off an entire upstairs is
simply not possible with one air conditioner, at least not from an energy or
time efficiency standpoint.
Also, when installing portable window air conditioners make sure they are
properly supported in the window per the air conditioner manufacturer’s
recommendation and that proper insulation is placed around the air conditioner.
This way you can safely and efficiently operate it to keep your home cool this
summer.
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Related Air Conditioning
Information
Portable Air Conditioners
from Amazon.com
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