Air Conditioner Unit For Home (merged threads)

chiefs

wel since the met office is saying 2007 is going to be the hottest year since 1994 - im looking to buy air con, mostly my mum will be using it as she suffers from asthma, and during hot weather she really suffers, can somoen recommend which os better to buy for home use

Nile

Hello chiefs

I'll move your thread to the 'In my home' board, where it should get more responses.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]!!!!!![/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

trets77

We just got the Argos own brand model for £220 . it is fairly big ( high as washing machine wide as a telly approx) . the exhaust pipe goes out of a window or you have a wall vent fitted.

True test will of course come when the hot weather comes but my testing of it make me think we are in for a good nights ( or days in my case) sleep this year in the heatwave. can temp lower to 16 c.

moonrakerz

I've had a stand alone air conditioner for years. Found them very effective, providing you get the right size for your room.

It is well worth getting a hole put through the wall for the vent, hanging the pipe out of a window is a bit self defeating. They can also be a bit noisy, depending on the make/model.

Some also generate a lot of condensate, which you have to empty, or put a permanent drain through the wall. The condensate is great for steam irons !

B & Q usually have a good range at reasonable prices.

If you are serious about this, also consider getting a split unit; much quieter and less bulky - again, B & Q. But obviously need a bit more installation.

wtc76

Forget about getting any sleep with a portable air conditioner in the same room, they are very noisy. I bought one of the quietest one available on the UK market last year(cost around £500) and eventually sent it back, far too noisy.

Theres also no way a portable will lower temperature to 16 in a heatwave, especially using the "pipe out the window" way of doing things. Having a cooling setting for 16 doesn't mean the unit will actually acheive it, it just means thats the lowest number you can type into the display which is pretty much meaningless.

In the middle of summer last year, with the middle of the range unit I had, maximum cooling was from 30 down to about 21 or 22 and that with the unit on constantly which generates noise equivalent to sitting next to a busy road(mine was 40-45db)

There are some quieter models available in the US and Europe but they are unavailable in this country at the current time. For this reason split units are a much better solution but are also more expensive..

Alan50

I would agree with the last post, I have had a stand alone unit in my sons bedroom for 3 years, they are very 'noisy' so forget sleeping also the temperature drop at best was 10 degees (32C-22C)

We did look into a unit that would fit in the loft with a external condesser (the noisy bit) after that a simple 4 inch pipe to the ceiling of each bedroom.
The cost was a problem (£900.00) and also a dedicated power supply 30amp.

Alan

Phil_L_2

If your mother suffers from asthma it is unlikely that air conditioning will do anything to help. If you are basing your decision on last years summer I seem to remember that there was a lot of pollen about during the hot spell. The best an A/C unit will do is stir the air up and make things worse. The other point I would make is that when we have these warm spells they last for a very short period of time, usually one to two weeks. You may be better off investing in an air cleaner which will scrub out the allergens.

These units also use a frightening amount of electricity.

Jem8472

i got one about 5 years ago from machine mart.
It is brilliant!!!!! ok it can only do a certian sized room but you can notice the differance when its been on.
I have done the out the window trick, but we cut a bit of wood so it sealed the window up again.
As for sleeping with it on, depends if you can sleep with noise, I can so not a problem for me but it says in the instructions not to sleep with it on.

If you get one that doubles as a dehumidfirer then you can dry a room full of washing in winter in no time. You might just need a bucket to let the water drain into.

It should take the pollen out of the air because that is part of what it does. Has filters built in to fliter things out. I would maybe try renting one first and see what you think then buying one. But def go for air conditioning not air cooling.

chiefs

very helpful

cheers

moonrakerz

Phil_L wrote:

These units also use a frightening amount of electricity.

Have to disagree there ! I cannot say I notice any increase in my electricity bills.

My conditioner is 12,000 BTU and its power consumption is 1400 Watts. Once the room has cooled down to the required temperature the compressor is not working all the time anyway.
Even if it was, at 1400W the running costs would be about 13p an hour. 4/5 hours a day for, say 3 weeks(when the weather is really hot), about £14 - hardly frightening.

richardc1983

Phil_L wrote: »

If your mother suffers from asthma it is unlikely that air conditioning will do anything to help. If you are basing your decision on last years summer I seem to remember that there was a lot of pollen about during the hot spell. The best an A/C unit will do is stir the air up and make things worse. The other point I would make is that when we have these warm spells they last for a very short period of time, usually one to two weeks. You may be better off investing in an air cleaner which will scrub out the allergens.

These units also use a frightening amount of electricity.

Actually your wrong

Air conditioning units have filters in which pre treat the air prior to it passing through the cooling coil. Because the cooling coil is cold (think ice cold glass of water) air and dust inc pollen passing through this coil sticks to the wet coil and then drains out of the bottom as condensate to the outside.

A/c units clean the air and take the moisture out but at the same time taking allergens and pollen out.

An air cleaner will clean the air but wont lower the temp, u can also buy high efficieny filters for a/c units that will take even more allergens out of the air.