Air Conditioning – Five Things You Should Know
We all love air conditioning, but most of us don’t know all that much about it.
1) Consider the type of air conditioner that you need. There are window units, through the wall units, portable units and whole house/central air units. Window units being the easiest for a homeowner to bring home, install, and use, not to mention the least expensive. Whole house units require professional installation and duct work in the house and is well beyond the scope of almost every DIYer.
2)Look at the EER. EER stands for Energy Efficiency Ratio. It is a measure of a particular air conditioning units efficiency. The higher the number the less energy the unit requires to run and therefore the less money it costs to operate.
3) Pick the right sized air conditioner for your room. The cooling capacity is measured in BTU/hour. BTU/hour stands for British Thermal Units per hour. The higher the number, the greater the cooling capacity. It is important to pick the right sized air conditioner for your room.
There is more to determining this than square footage alone. Consumer Reports has a worksheet available online to help you determine the right size unit for your needs.
4) Cost to run the unit. Most stores have an estimate on the sales tag of how much the unit will cost to run. They base this number on a woefully inadequate kilowatt hour charge. A much better way to determine the probable cost of running the unit is to look at your last electric bill and find the kilowatt hour charge for your area.
5) Determine the features that you want before you go shopping. Cooling speeds, adjustable vents, and easily accessible filter for cleaning, and the manufacturers warranty are all important to consider.
