Am I being screwed by a/c company?

[Potential_Landlord]

Originally Posted by tickyul

I much prefer window-units...........a big one for the whole house and a smaller unit for the room I spend most of my time in.

I think you have a point. I have one room upstairs that stays too hot. Notoriously. I could put a return in. This would be my first choice, but the attic is super low and it's very hard to reach. Instead, I will put a split ac unit in this winter. It's also close to the breaker box so no need for endless conduit. Plus I have redundancy in case the main ac ever goes out.
One mention about window ac units - I heard they are really inefficient. Split ac units are very efficient, so may be better to go that route.

[Potential_Landlord]

Originally Posted by DougStark

I wish I had spent the extra $$ for a two stage system. BUT, on the low speed, do they dehumidify as well as conventional systems like mine? When mine blows, it comes out very cold (Goodman 13 SEER, ie a "cheapo unit")

The smaller stage, 3.5 tons in my case, dehumidifies just as well. As it runs much longer than the bigger stage the de-humidification is near permanent. I like this better than the constant start-stop of the bigger, only 5 ton unit we had before.

[DougStark]

Re: window unit efficiency. LG has a new window unit out that uses the same ultra efficient compressor as mini splits use (inverter technology). Smart choice if you like window units, and no expensive install like the mini splits.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Re: window unit efficiency. LG has a new window unit out that uses the same ultra efficient compressor as mini splits use (inverter technology). Smart choice if you like window units, and no expensive install like the mini splits.

I like mini split you can shut down rooms in your home probably more expensive my understanding most of Asia and European countries use mini split.

[DougStark]

^^^ Mini splits aren't that expensive, but a lot our local AC companies charge too much (IMO) to install them.

If you're handy and follow all the steps correctly, it's a full day DIY job, but I'm not up for that challenge.

[tickyul]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

I think you have a point. I have one room upstairs that stays too hot. Notoriously. I could put a return in. This would be my first choice, but the attic is super low and it's very hard to reach. Instead, I will put a split ac unit in this winter. It's also close to the breaker box so no need for endless conduit. Plus I have redundancy in case the main ac ever goes out.
One mention about window ac units - I heard they are really inefficient. Split ac units are very efficient, so may be better to go that route.

If you have a small room and it is decently insulated, you could probably get-by with a 5k-BTU
window-unit....they only use about 500-watts max.