Window Air Conditioners

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coconut

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Might not seem the right time of year for this but if buying used it is a good time of year. I always have a spare or two in case the central unit craps out. They are real cheap where I live. A small new looking one maybe 5-10 years old can be bought for $20. Even the largest are less than $50. If looks don't matter I've even seen them at the curb for free. The other good news is apparently they are still made well according to Consumer Reports- https://www.consumerreports.org/win...ost-and-least-reliable-room-air-conditioners/

"When temperatures rise, a broken air conditioner can make tempers flare. So it’s good news that a recent Consumer Reports survey of its members shows that room air conditioners—both window and portable—are among the most reliable products we test.
In fact, all nine brands of window air conditioners and 3 of 7 brands of portable ACs in the survey earn our highest mark—a rating of Excellent—for predicted reliability. (The other four portable brands also receive a favorable mark—a Very Good rating.) That means you’re likely to get an air conditioner that lasts when you buy one from Amana, Danby, DeLonghi, Friedrich, Frigidaire, GE, Haier, Hisense, Honeywell, Kenmore, LG, Whirlpool, or Whynter."

I don't have any experience with the portable units but it looks as though they are not too bad either.

For those of you out west especially in the hot and dry areas you are lucky that swamp coolers will work much better than in the rest of the US and use much less power. From http://www.lumacomfort.com/blog/does-evaporative-cooler-work/

"When trying to decide if an evaporative cooler will be effective your area, first look at the humidity level. Generally speaking, the lower your relative humidity, the more effective your evaporative cooler will be. The map below shows general areas in the US where evaporative coolers are most effective. Areas labeled “A” are optimum for evaporative swamp coolers, while those labeled “B” are less than ideal, but can still be good.
Map of ideal climates for evaporative coolers
-source: USGS Water Science School
Areas like the East Coast are unfortunately less than ideal conditions for an evaporative cooler. Evaporative coolers can still be useful here, however! Units like our EC45S Tower Cooler can act as a simple tower fan or even a humidifier, making it very useful – even on the East Coast.
The below chart shows the estimated temperature change you can expect from an evaporative cooler, depending on the relative humidity and current temperature. Just note that this assumes you have the proper size evaporative cooler for your room.
Estimated temperature change for an evaporative cooler
 

Selassie I

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I bought a portable AC unit this year right before the hurricane. I think it's an LG... it's still in the box (I'm only gonna bust it out when it's actually needed). Good to know that it's made well according to these peeps.

I now have 2 generators, so I may have my electrician wire things up were I can run my main ac off of one of the generators. The wife wants to do that... and it makes sense. I'm still gonna keep this portable unit though because I have lived through weeks here without AC after a hurricane. People haven't experienced humility until you've been forced to live 10 days immediately following a hurricane in Florida without AC or power. I don't ever want to do that again (I've done it multiple times btw).

As for the window units... my HOA doesn't allow them... but I have experience with them being well built. I have purchased a crap load of them. When we still had our place in the Bahamas, I never crossed over without bringing 2 or 3 with me on the boat. I would give them to various friends who lived there as gifts. The taxes the Bahamian people are forced to pay when they bring something back into their country are so bad... it makes things almost impossible to afford. So when I would give them the window units as gifts... you'd think that I just bought them a brand new BMW when you saw their appreciation level hit max overload. Many residents over there have no air at all on the island we called home. I was better than Santa Claus lol.

Anyway... the salt air over there literally eats things with a quickness. I used to be amazed when I'd see those window units I had given to people still humming along fine years later even though they looked like rust buckets. I guess they really are built better than people realize.
 

coconut

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I bought a portable AC unit this year right before the hurricane. I think it's an LG... it's still in the box (I'm only gonna bust it out when it's actually needed). Good to know that it's made well according to these peeps.

I now have 2 generators, so I may have my electrician wire things up were I can run my main ac off of one of the generators. The wife wants to do that... and it makes sense. I'm still gonna keep this portable unit though because I have lived through weeks here without AC after a hurricane. People haven't experienced humility until you've been forced to live 10 days immediately following a hurricane in Florida without AC or power. I don't ever want to do that again (I've done it multiple times btw).

As for the window units... my HOA doesn't allow them... but I have experience with them being well built. I have purchased a crap load of them. When we still had our place in the Bahamas, I never crossed over without bringing 2 or 3 with me on the boat. I would give them to various friends who lived there as gifts. The taxes the Bahamian people are forced to pay when they bring something back into their country are so bad... it makes things almost impossible to afford. So when I would give them the window units as gifts... you'd think that I just bought them a brand new BMW when you saw their appreciation level hit max overload. Many residents over there have no air at all on the island we called home. I was better than Santa Claus lol.

Anyway... the salt air over there literally eats things with a quickness. I used to be amazed when I'd see those window units I had given to people still humming along fine years later even though they looked like rust buckets. I guess they really are built better than people realize.
Your wife has the right idea. I assume you have gasoline powered generators? To run a medium to large central A/C you will go through a lot of fuel if just letting it run. But running it enough in the late morning to keep it cool for a time through the hot part of the day is more fuel efficient. And your house is insulated enough. Covering windows is easy. Having some good fans to extend the room comfort is cheap and uses very little power. Fans can be run off a decent size PV panel. LED landscape lights with integrated PV panel and on/off switch are small, cheap, portable, very bright and will give incredible light for hours after dark.

Too bad the window unit manufacturers don't take into account the salt air. Steel is cheap. Maybe some day the outer case and frame will be plastic that will last. What a cool gift to give people in the tropics!
 

Selassie I

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Your wife has the right idea. I assume you have gasoline powered generators? To run a medium to large central A/C you will go through a lot of fuel if just letting it run. But running it enough in the late morning to keep it cool for a time through the hot part of the day is more fuel efficient. And your house is insulated enough. Covering windows is easy. Having some good fans to extend the room comfort is cheap and uses very little power. Fans can be run off a decent size PV panel. LED landscape lights with integrated PV panel and on/off switch are small, cheap, portable, very bright and will give incredible light for hours after dark.

Too bad the window unit manufacturers don't take into account the salt air. Steel is cheap. Maybe some day the outer case and frame will be plastic that will last. What a cool gift to give people in the tropics!


The AC has to run day and night here period... especially immediately following a hurricane. Most people down here also have central units that have dehumidifiers built into them. I will gladly pay for the gas... GLADLY. It's worth it completely.


I also would bring ceiling fans as gifts sometimes and we always loaded up at Costco like you wouldn't believe on candy before heading over. We'd get a kick out of making sure all the local kids had more candy than they knew what to do with. There's nowhere on their island to even buy something like candy.
 

coconut

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The AC has to run day and night here period... especially immediately following a hurricane. Most people down here also have central units that have dehumidifiers built into them. I will gladly pay for the gas... GLADLY. It's worth it completely.


I also would bring ceiling fans as gifts sometimes and we always loaded up at Costco like you wouldn't believe on candy before heading over. We'd get a kick out of making sure all the local kids had more candy than they knew what to do with. There's nowhere on their island to even buy something like candy.
I'm wondering about the access to gas. Running 24/7 how much gasoline would you have to store? Especially if gas stations are closed or if rationing is implemented.

Wow if that is how it was before Dorian that isn't good.
 

Selassie I

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I'm wondering about the access to gas. Running 24/7 how much gasoline would you have to store? Especially if gas stations are closed or if rationing is implemented.

Wow if that is how it was before Dorian that isn't good.


My generators run for about 7-8 hours (maybe a little more, my memory is sometimes off lol) without needing to be filled back up. They have 5 or 6 gallon tanks. I usually have about 60 gallons of fuel in the garage right before a storm. The thing about the gas... the stations may run out (this usually happens pre storm because of media induced panic)... but the tanker trucks do roll in really fast to refuel immediately after the storm. As long as you have enough for a couple of days... you'll be able to get more very easily. They've actually made this a big priority now and I noticed how "on it" they were doing that with our last storm.

I also have access to my boat's tanks if things got silly and the trucks didn't refuel the stations for extended periods. I have a pump device that can pump the fuel out of the tanks.... and I usually have 200 gallons in there or more all the times.

My AC will be running NONSTOP. Hahahahahahaaaaa
 

RhodyRams

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I just took mine out of the windows for the year. We only had to use them about 2 weeks this year.
 

EastRam

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My generators run for about 7-8 hours (maybe a little more, my memory is sometimes off lol) without needing to be filled back up. They have 5 or 6 gallon tanks. I usually have about 60 gallons of fuel in the garage right before a storm. The thing about the gas... the stations may run out (this usually happens pre storm because of media induced panic)... but the tanker trucks do roll in really fast to refuel immediately after the storm. As long as you have enough for a couple of days... you'll be able to get more very easily. They've actually made this a big priority now and I noticed how "on it" they were doing that with our last storm.

I also have access to my boat's tanks if things got silly and the trucks didn't refuel the stations for extended periods. I have a pump device that can pump the fuel out of the tanks.... and I usually have 200 gallons in there or more all the times.

My AC will be running NONSTOP. Hahahahahahaaaaa

Propane baby propane. Trade your generators for ones that run on propane!