Ac/window units

[Marsheliz]

Our central HVAC system has given us nothing but problems since we bought it 4 years ago.. The compressor has went out in it and thankfully it is still covered but I was going to use one of my friends who's done HVAC work for years for repair.. The warranty company is giving me a hard time about letting someone do it and making an actual company do it.. Obviously going thorough a company is going to be more expensive on the labor but for now- we have two window units going.. One in our kitchen and it cools the living room and one in our bedroom... I'm just wondering of anyone knows the effect on the power bill with having window units for now... A friend of mine has had window units since her unit broke and she said if anything, hers has went down... Other than an eye sore, does anyone know anything about the power usage?

 

[tvguy]

Normally window a/c units are only used to cool a small portion of a house, so they would be cheaper than cooling the whole house.

 

[Marsheliz]

Normally window a/c units are only used to cool a small portion of a house, so they would be cheaper than cooling the whole house.

Thanks! That's what I was assuming too- just worried the units will jack up our bill..

 

[SEA333]

We are in a rental house (due to a forced work move to an area we are not planning on staying in once the kids are in college), and there is a leak in the lines of the AC, to replace it would be $4K, and the homeowners are unable to do this (we are renting privately). They did refill the coolant once, the year before last, but it didn't last. We spent all last year with a window unit in the kitchen, which cooled the kitchen and living room. We plan to buy another unit (they will reimburse us) this month for the upstairs bedroom. Our house is leveled, so we have a middle floor as well, but we think that with fans, ceiling fans, and the two window units, the middle floor won't be horrible. If it is, we will just close off the doors to those rooms when not in use and have the kids sleep in our room or the living room.

Anyway...sorry I digressed! Last year, we ran the window unit pretty much 24/7, and our bill never got higher than it did when we ran the central air.

 

[Marsheliz]

Ok... Well, that does make me feel a little better! Thanks!! I am worried it is going to be too hot in there today but I did close off some rooms today so maybe it won't be too bad... Just worried about having a huge bill at the end of the month but maybe it won't be so bad....

 

[deezeealum]

We live in a Cape Cod built in the 40's and we use window AC units. We have a larger unit in the living room that with the ceiling fans going keeps the entire first floor comfortable. My husband likes to be cooler at night so we do have units in our bedroom as well as our girls. Although I feel the living room unit would keep us comfortable enough. Can you add ceiling fans? I know you said you rent but if you can keep the units off when no one is home and only run the fans it would be a HUGE cost saver. Also during the summer months we keep all the blinds/shades closed to keep some of the heat out.

 

[SEA333]

We live in a Cape Cod built in the 40's and we use window AC units. We have a larger unit in the living room that with the ceiling fans going keeps the entire first floor comfortable. My husband likes to be cooler at night so we do have units in our bedroom as well as our girls. Although I feel the living room unit would keep us comfortable enough. Can you add ceiling fans? I know you said you rent but if you can keep the units off when no one is home and only run the fans it would be a HUGE cost saver. Also during the summer months we keep all the blinds/shades closed to keep some of the heat out.

Yes, that is key. Our house is brick and insulated well, so as long as we run the window unit all night, and keep all of the curtains/blinds closed during the day, we can put the ac unit on energy saver during the day and it stays cool enough on the main floor that we don't come home to a 90 degree house at 5pm. I read somewhere that it takes a long time for the ac to suck out all of the heat that the furniture, carpets, and curtains soak in, so trying to keep a steady temp in the house is more cost efficient than letting it get hot during the day while you are at work, then cranking the ac all night. We use the ceiling fans, make sure the kids close the backdoor behind them, installed thermal/room darkening curtains to block the west sun in the pm from the big front bay window in the living room, and on really hot days, we either make sandwiches and salad for dinner, grill outside, order Jimmy Johns, or wait to use the stove after 8pm or so when it starts cooling down a little outside. We rarely boil water or use the oven in the summer. Anything I can throw in the crockpot works well, or we use the microwave to bake potatoes or the toaster oven to warm smaller things up.

 

[3happydancers]

Yes, that is key. Our house is brick and insulated well, so as long as we run the window unit all night, and keep all of the curtains/blinds closed during the day, we can put the ac unit on energy saver during the day and it stays cool enough on the main floor that we don't come home to a 90 degree house at 5pm. I read somewhere that it takes a long time for the ac to suck out all of the heat that the furniture, carpets, and curtains soak in, so trying to keep a steady temp in the house is more cost efficient than letting it get hot during the day while you are at work, then cranking the ac all night. We use the ceiling fans, make sure the kids close the backdoor behind them, installed thermal/room darkening curtains to block the west sun in the pm from the big front bay window in the living room, and on really hot days, we either make sandwiches and salad for dinner, grill outside, order Jimmy Johns, or wait to use the stove after 8pm or so when it starts cooling down a little outside. We rarely boil water or use the oven in the summer. Anything I can throw in the crockpot works well, or we use the microwave to bake potatoes or the toaster oven to warm smaller things up.

This exactly

 

[Anthony1971]

It is something like this.
Is a Central unit more efficient than window units.. Yes but the catch is you are cooling the whole house... with window units you need one in almost every room to achieve what a central unit will do. A central unit is UP TO 12,000 BTU per ton so if you have a three ton unit it will produce up to 36,000 BTU but only on the hottest days will it run at full cooling... very easy to have enough window units that add up to 36,000 BTU without doing nearly what a central unit will do.
As others have said with window units you only cool the areas you need to not the whole house and you electric bills will be fine.