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Old 09-06-11, 05:49 PM   #11
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Yeah, I'd rather install a mini-split heat pump for that reason, not much more than a tall window A/C and much more efficient, plus the horizontal slider is too tall for all of the casement style A/C units I've seen and anything this tall would be a serious eyesore anyway. I wouldn't mind installing a window A/C in a wall but many can't accommodate that and I'd rather not need to replace a big hole in the wall(high cost) when it comes time to eventually move.

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Old 01-09-12, 08:25 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by jastin View Post
we can use exhaust fans for making home cool.
I tried using fans at night to cool our house but last summer it was still warmer outside at night then it was inside the house, or if it was close to the same temp it was much more humid so it felt damp and hot, that is why using the window air conditioner to dehumidify the inside of the house seemed to work so well.
I've been thinking about making a dedicated hole in the wall for a window A/C unit but is that the best route? would a mini split be better? it would be on a north wall of the 2nd floor.
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Old 01-13-12, 07:44 PM   #13
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Quote:
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...would a mini split be better?
There's a lot of difference in specs of mini-splits from one model to the next if you compared across the same cooling capacity.

If cooling is your main concern look for the best SEER rating.

If heating is your main concern look for the best HSPF rating.

Mini-splits will cost more than a window or thru-the-wall unit, but they will be more efficient.

For me, at this point, the only reason I would get a window air conditioner would be to make something else out of it.

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Old 05-08-13, 07:06 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryland View Post
I tried using fans at night to cool our house but last summer it was still warmer outside at night then it was inside the house, or if it was close to the same temp it was much more humid so it felt damp and hot, that is why using the window air conditioner to dehumidify the inside of the house seemed to work so well.
I've been thinking about making a dedicated hole in the wall for a window A/C unit but is that the best route? would a mini split be better? it would be on a north wall of the 2nd floor.
Ryland,

Any updates on your window a/c in the basement system?

Are you still using it?
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Old 05-08-13, 03:57 PM   #15
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What I ended up doing was getting a window A/C unit and putting it upstairs in a window and it works really well to cool the whole house, the main thing is keeping the house dry, It's at the top of the stairs so because cold air sinks it also cools the downstairs and drys the air out down there.
I ended up going with a new air conditioner that has a remote, at first it seemed kind of hokey but the remote has a temp sensor in it and as long as it can "see" the air conditioner it can control it, so I set the remote's temp and it clicks on as needed, it also had some programming options, like run for an hour or two then turn off or wait a few hours then turn on.

The window A/C also drys out the house really quickly, I have a in door out door thermometer that reads humidity as well and it does a much better job of keeping the house dry and comfertable then the basement dehumidifier does.
Having that info of temp and humidity both in doors and out doors is priceless! sure it might feel cool because of the breeze but opening that window might just make the house hot and muggy.

I also took my infrared thermometer and checked the surface temp of my basement walls and they are around 60F in the winter and 70F in the peek heat of the summer, so pretty good for a 107 year old house with sand stone foundation.

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Old 05-08-13, 04:43 PM   #16
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Thanks for the update.

I liked the idea of cooling the basement further with the window unit, and then circulating that through the house with the hvac fan. As I would think it would use less energy then operating the big a/c unit.

But maybe it's not worth the effort.
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Old 05-10-13, 08:02 AM   #17
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I liked the idea of cooling the basement further with the window unit, and then circulating that through the house with the hvac fan. As I would think it would use less energy then operating the big a/c unit.

But maybe it's not worth the effort.
If you need to cool your basement then cool your basement and if it's hot out and your basement is damp then dry it out with an air conditioner dumping that heat outside.
Having the A/C up stairs then non of that cooled air is making it's way to the basement unless I open the basement door way and at that point I might still have to put a fan at the top of the stairs.

What I learned tho is that the energy that it takes to move air from the basement up in to the rest of the house is not worth it and that it takes the least amount of energy of course to cool the part of the house that you want cool or in my case to make it dryer/less muggy.

I keep a single 40 watt box fan handy in the summer to move the air conditioned air around the house, I suppose I could switch on the furnace fan for a few minutes but at 600 watts for the furnace fan I'm not sure it's worth even running it for 5 minutes, but I might try it, I think it would take about 15-20 minutes do to a full air exchange and even out the air temp in the whole house, but also having the Air Conditioner up stairs at the top of the stairs lets the natural convection move the air for me.
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Old 05-11-13, 12:05 AM   #18
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Ryland,

The approach you have settled on is very close to what I do in my home. I have a 12000 btu window a/c in the second story that I set to run at about 5 degF above the central air thermostat on the ground level of my home. When it's hot outside, the small unit runs much longer than the central unit, but every once in a while the central 3 ton unit unit kicks on for a short time.

From first glance, this approach seems like it is ineffective, since the larger unit is certainly more energy efficient than the smaller one. In practice, it works very well and saves me energy and money. The window unit does an excellent job of dehumidifying the air, and the central unit basically just mixes and cools the already dried air quickly when it runs.
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Old 05-11-13, 12:54 AM   #19
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As they say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity, get that humidity down and your house feels cooler and that is really where a small window a/c unit that cycles on and off helps a great deal by drying the air and dumping the heat outside.
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Old 05-13-13, 08:41 AM   #20
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Where would you put that AC unit on the second floor? I wouldn't want to put it in a bedroom just because I'm not a fan of freezing my rooms. Could I stick that in the main bathroom upstairs? I guess it wouldn't matter where you placed it?

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