Any ideas for air conditioners? (apartment, condos, how much)

[skilldeadly]

It's coming up on that time to buy one. We have never had one, we just toughed it out but with my daughter and the NYC heat, I want to make sure we have the option to cool down. We have a large one bedroom. I could put one in the living room and the bedroom. My man focus is the living room, maybe a small one for the bedroom. How much power should I look for? I don't know the Sq foot for the apartment but it's big enough to fit a 47" tv and stand, loveseat, recliner, childrens toys, kitchen table with chairs, computer desk and other small stuff. I see 5k BTU but I don't know how well that would cool down the place.

[barkomatic]

I'd say a 5,000 BTU for the bedroom and an 8,000 BTU for the living room.

[bmwguydc]

A couple of other factors come into play, other than room size. Is the apartment on the top floor, especially with a flat roof? And, what is the exposure? A flat roof and west facing windows would tend to require a more powerful unit to adequately cool the space, for example.

On the energy star website, there is a calculator that can help to properly size the air conditioner for your apartment and use: Properly Sized Room AC : ENERGY STAR

[Henna]

If it's a very old apartment, you should check whether your electrical can handle an a/c with a high number of BTU's.

Also, it's not hard to measure the square footage of your rooms. You will need to know the square footage to get an accurate idea of what size ac you should get.

[bill83]

Don't forget to check the noise level.

[mathjak107]

there are rules of thumb of around 500-600 btu per sq ft but each room can vary from that and be different. you need to see what voltges you have avail too.

a refrigerator alone can throw off 3000 btu's if its in the area.

glass area, insulation , floor, and what exposure you have all factor in. even the types of bulbs you have matter. a regular bulb can throw off 3.4 btu's for every watt.

to size it right really requires filling out a heat survey form.

if its sized to big the room cools down to fast but never removes the humidity from the air.

for central ac we figure about 12,000 btu's per 1000 sq ft as a starting point.

[bill83]

Split-unit air conditioners don't take up any indoor space and they are EXTREMELY quiet. Very popular in Asia but rare in NYC. Some new condos in Brooklyn and Queens have those built in because the developer is targeting Asian buyers.

[Kefir King]

skilldeadly,

A "large one bedroom" will likely need about 12- 15,000 BTU's in total. If facing South, a bit more if someone is home during the heat of the afternoon.
But do NOT get more than you need, especially in the bedroom because overspecified air conditioners do not humdifiy well, if at all. The ideal is an air conditoner that runs full time on the hottter hdays and nights, not one that runs for 5 minutes and turns off for 10.

Most bedrooms are fine with about 6,000 that are started up 2 hours before you turn in.


Make sure to determine if you have 220V outlets (sideways prong holes) and match the air conditioner accordingly.

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[manchesterUnited]

Your living room sounds similar in size to mine. I use an 8,000 BTU Frigidaire I got off of Amazon that seems to keep things under control.