Air Conditioner for a condo/apartment?

[Tyler]

So it's obviously getting hot out now and I'm dying in my condo unit.

Our condo board does not allow for the window-style AC units, but will apparently allow internal units with a venting tube.

I've seen these in hotel rooms before in places like Hawaii where they're mounted on the upper side of a wall and seem to work pretty well. My unit is about 1100sqf, so I'm not sure what kind of power that would require.

Anyone have one of these or used one before? Where do you get them and do they work well? Do you need to get a Carrier or Arpi's to install or can you do this on your own?

[GoinAllTheWay]

The ones you see mounted on hotel walls are only single room units, I don't think you can find one that will do an entire home. Plus they still need to be vented to the outdoors so you would have to run some venting I believe to deal with that.

We live in a condo too and our board also does not allow the type that hangs out your window. So we bought an in room one that actually very effective. It was only around $200 if memory serves. They need to be near a window or cold air return as their is a tube that comes out the back (basically a clothes dryer vent tube) that connects to a plastic bar that you fit into your window or stuff down the cold air return. It sits on 4 caster wheels and is very portable so all we do it wheel it out when the weather no longer requires it and leave it in another room. The one we have is kind of on the larger size (we named it R2D2 as it basically the same size) but they may make them smaller now.

Our condo is a 4 level so the top floor gets SMOKING hot in the summer, even if it's only mid 20's outside and this AC unit has been very effective in cooling off our bedroom at night. Glorious to have. Doesn't really hammer the power bill to badly either.

[Travis Munroe]

A 10,000 BTU unit can cool a bedroom to a very cold temperature but it doesnt really leave the bedroom. You kind of have to decide where you want the AC at.

[HOOT]

Costco currently has a Danby 11,000 BTU portable air conditioner for $299 and it was just $430 a couple weeks ago. Slick looking and comes with remote control.

[troutman]

I would love to know how to cool down a two story condo in the summer (without window A/C).

Ceiling fans help up to a certain point, but really warm days are still brutal.

There was a thread about this last summer I think?

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ght=condo+fans

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by troutman

I would love to know how to cool down a two story condo in the summer (without window A/C).

Ceiling fans help up to a certain point, but really warm days are still brutal.

There was a thread about this last summer I think?

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ght=condo+fans

I've actually read that fans, while it feels cooler, actually heat the air up and can cause a place to get hotter throughout a day*. I've had my best success with two portable air conditioners, no fans and just put them in the rooms you spend the most time in (bedroom, living room) and let it be a bit hotter in other areas. But the other areas usually stay cooler anyways. Being a two story you may want to look at 3 or so though.

*I'm not claiming fact to this and I'm sure there are smarter people who can tell me why I'm wrong.

[Locke]

What kind of electricity costs do these things have?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Locke

What kind of electricity costs do these things have?

A standard window or portable A/C will use a max of about 1500 watts. So using it 8 hours per day will use 12 kwh. At 8¢ per kwh that's about about $1 worth of electricity per day.

[Tyler]

Are you sure you can't buy ductless air conditioners? I'd like to get around the vent issue if possible. Something like this that I can just mount to a wall in my living room:

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Are you sure you can't buy ductless air conditioners? I'd like to get around the vent issue if possible. Something like this that I can just mount to a wall in my living room

Can you drill holes in your outside wall? Because any kind of cooling system needs to be able to transfer the heat it generates outside. Remember there is no such thing as "cool" in physics. You can add heat or remove heat. If you remove heat, that heat has to go somewhere.

That is the way I would go; if it is allowed.

[Tyler]

^^

So is this thing impossible (taken from a local ad):

[ken0042]

It is ductless, not tubeless. There will still be tubes running outside.

[photon]

Those ductless ones need a radiator installed outside and pipes run from the wall unit to the radiator.

[Red John]

Get the commando 8.

It has 12,000 BTU's.

[Hemi-Cuda]

I'm thankful my condo is ground level, not facing the sun, and has good airflow. Compared to my buddies condo that faces the sun and has terrible airflow no matter how many windows he opens. It's like a sauna in there when his air conditioner isn't setup

[photon]

Originally Posted by HOOT

I've actually read that fans, while it feels cooler, actually heat the air up and can cause a place to get hotter throughout a day*.

*I'm not claiming fact to this and I'm sure there are smarter people who can tell me why I'm wrong.

A regular fan uses 10 to maybe 100W depending how fast it's going, so it converts that electricity to kinetic energy in moving air. As the air slows by hitting other air or walls etc that kinetic energy has to go somewhere, it becomes waste heat.

So the same as a 10-100W light bulb which probably is enough to be noticeable in a room over a whole day

[Bane]

Originally Posted by Locke

What kind of electricity costs do these things have?

If I use mine (12,000 btu) in the evenings and overnight during the summer, it pretty much doubles my electric bill. I normally $60-$70 per month, and it jumps up to $120 per month with A/C.

[GoinAllTheWay]

If you can't get/don't want an AC unit into your house for whatever reason, your best bet is to make sure you close your blinds and windows during the day (sucks if you have plants) and open them when the sun goes down. If you find your basement is nice and cool all summer, you can also try turning the fan on your furnace on. Close the vents in the basement and main floor and open all of the vents on the top floor. That way you are circulating the cool air around your home. Doing that along with keeping windows/blinds closed during the day may save you from the worst of the heat.

But your best bet is a single room AC. They just work so damn well. It's just b**ch slaps the heat down. Cooling off an entire home just seems like a waste of money to me. Cool off the room you sleep in and you're livin large IMO.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Bane

If I use mine (12,000 btu) in the evenings and overnight during the summer, it pretty much doubles my electric bill. I normally $60-$70 per month, and it jumps up to $120 per month with A/C.

I heard that it can be UP TO $5/day that you use it, but when you need it, you'll gladly pay that much.

I haven't noticed it doubling my summer bill, but it does tack on a few bucks.

[hurtin_albertan]

Originally Posted by Tyler

So it's obviously getting hot out now and I'm dying in my condo unit.

Our condo board does not allow for the window-style AC units, but will apparently allow internal units with a venting tube.

I've seen these in hotel rooms before in places like Hawaii where they're mounted on the upper side of a wall and seem to work pretty well. My unit is about 1100sqf, so I'm not sure what kind of power that would require.

Anyone have one of these or used one before? Where do you get them and do they work well? Do you need to get a Carrier or Arpi's to install or can you do this on your own?

I have a portable unit in an open floor plan style ~1000 sq. ft. condo that faces south on the 6th floor. Needless to say, it gets HOT by June and pretty much stays that way anytime the temperature is over 20.

I leave mine in the main/TV area and it cools the area fairly well. Obviously if you situate it like a fan where you can feel the airflow you'll be a happy camper. When it's hot for an extended period of time I just leave it running day and night and it keeps things bearable for sure. I wouldn't say that it effectively cools the entire living space but it's better than nothing.

Definitely worth the couple hundred they cost, though I can't speak about power bills since my condo fee includes electricity.