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We have three units of various ages, all Kenmore. They're working quite well. We built kind of a booster for them with wood so that they wouldn't fall out and/or squish the bottom of the window frame.
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea
The sash needs to be rigidly secured once the unit is in place, unless it is a second story window.
Ours are anchored outside to a brace, and inside with blocks of wood painted to match the trim of the window. We couldn't drill into our brand new replacement windows the way we could drill into the old wood windows and secure the units with screws.
Quote:
Originally Posted by studedude
Addison Illinois just outlawed them because they were unsightly.
Goodness. I guess if you can't afford central air, you're doomed to roast in Addison, Ill. There's one way to get rid of the riffraff.
Thanks again to all of you who have taken the time to help us out.
I'd never heard of those split type units two of you mentioned. We have two rooms at the back of the house that we plan totally redoing in the next year or so and those units might work very well since there will already be a lot of construction on the walls in those rooms. In fact, two walls will most likely be totally ripped out.
In the meantime we'll probably go with standard window units on two of the rooms towards the front of the house (the units would be on side windows) and all those tips and suggestions will really help us decide on features and brand. For now, I want to keep the a/c additions relatively inexpensive so we'd have the spare bucks to put in a wood burning stove in the front of the house SOMETIME in the near future.
Still the split units seem like a great idea for our next construction project with the two back rooms. In the past year and a half we've had major construction going on for FIVE months and I want to take a breather (and perhaps give myself time to win the lottery) before we takle the next big job.
My HVAC contractor highly recommended mr slim for the upstairs of my older house.
He considered it the better option because the plaster wall duct work required from basement to 2nd floor for regular hvac would get $$$. These models come not just with ac alone, but combined heat and ac, so it's a potential option for a new addition when existing hvac is already at capacity or a cabin size efficiency hvac is needed.
I haven't heard anyone own these yet, I think these are fairly new to the states from overseas.
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
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I havent used one but some of the houses I clean have the portable air conditioners in their sunrooms. They have a drip pan like a dehumidfier and a vent hose goes out the window.
When I redid my back porch I used a PTAC unit. That way it has its own separate heating and cooling.
I am really intrigued by those split units. I'll talk with my a/c guy. He said he didn't know anything about window units, but I didn't bring up this option (which again, I would use for later when we're redoing the two rooms at the back).
I think I'll check out the portable air conditioners also. I saw one quite a few years back when they were brand new, but I think I'll also check out what's available NOW.
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
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Usually you see them in motel rooms on an outside wall. Heres a link.
Amana PTAC information and PTAC installation manuals (http://www.ptacunits.com/amanaptacunits.aspx - broken link)
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I installed mine mostly for the AC. It cools a good bit of my downsairs,. I live in an old house with hot water heat. No central air. It came in handy this last winter when one of the pumps on the boiler gave up the ghost late one Friday.
Also since the rooms not that big I can close the door and toast or freeze myself as needed.
The split units are used a lot in Europe and Asia, as usual they are into smaller units and innovative designs. Just make sure you find someone who can service it in your area.
FORGET the portables. I tried one once and ended up sending it back. If you have a desk in a hot warehouse, and want cold air blowing on your face, they are fine. Otherwise, they are worse than useless.
The cold air part works like any other AC, but the hot air from the other side has to be exhausted outside of the cooled space. In theory, that is fine, but the suction caused by removing that air causes replacement air to have to enter the room from the outside. Since the air outside is hot and often humid, and the air being forced outside has been partly dehumidified, the process can actually ADD sensible heat to a room, especially if the humidity is high, such as in Florida.
Harry I read what you're saying, but if you look at the schematic designs, that 'hot' is being shuttled out. Perhaps you needed to insulate that piping to prevent residual heat gain while it transports out? I've seen home depot portable AC and it sounds like what you're talking about. You didn't mention the model/make you made that observation about. Was this old tech?
The links that celia posted for ptac also has other models beyond amana. I'm reading the LG split PDF designs include a relay of pipe feeding an exhaust fan to be located outdoors similar to trane settups. You sure we're all talking about the same thing?
My contractor did say american companies just haven't been able to rival mr. slim for some odd reason. I don't know how many customers he's had to base that opinion, or if he stands alone in the industry with that statement. I guess this would be a good time to get a membership for consumer reports and look for reviews.
Celia for the older architecture smaller scale rooms I can definately see the advantage to these systems. I can limit my tear down to ceiling only for beefing up insular values in closed off attic space and confirm the previous owner didn't roof over rotten rafters. The bathroom I think floor heat (electric or hydronic) is enough to bridge the last gap for the entire upstairs.
I'm trying to stay energy conscious in my remodel and the EER #'s are pretty decent. I'm also trying to be mindful of historic character and rid the house of out of code retrofit icky-ness. 90 yrs of old tech patches on patches. LG even has a unit that's indistinguishable- it's an arty monet painting lol. Thanks for the link, nice to have options!
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