OK. AC is needed

[Ahbrit]

I've folded. I'm dying out here in dundee with' this heat
Central air WILL be installed ASAP

[andy]

Ditto. Unfortunately, my house has radiant electric heat in the ceilings so no ductwork. High-velocity heat & AC will run me like 20 grand :-(

[Ahbrit]

"radiant electric heat".....never heard of it. explain?

[reefgeek84]

all I know is I need to buy an AC...but my luck will be that everyone is going to be sold out of them tomorrow.

[Ahbrit]

i tried the portable AC unit thing.
It helped 0%. i took it back this evening
it was 8000 BTU. Supposed to cool down 250sq'. my bedroom is 250 - 300

[reefgeek84]

i tried the portable AC unit thing.
It helped 0%. i took it back this evening
it was 8000 BTU. Supposed to cool down 250sq'. my bedroom is 250 - 300
It did nothing for your room? I know so people and they seem to have good luck with them.

[Ahbrit]

it got down to about 80 in the bedroom by morning (it was 80 outside)
It was on all day' and was almost pleasant when i got home from work.....Then the sun hit that window and it was game over. estimated 90 - 95 at 6pm
it's not worth $300 for 95 degrees

The windows and curtains were closed (except for the vent for the AC unit)

[reefgeek84]

it got down to about 80 in the bedroom by morning (it was 80 outside)
It was on all day' and was almost pleasant when i got home from work.....Then the sun hit that window and it was game over. estimated 90 - 95 at 6pm
it's not worth $300 for 95 degrees
Dang it!!! I was hoping it would work out.

[rmhuntley]

I"ve got one smaller one downstairs in the livingroom window, I"ll be putting another in the kitchen window tomorrow

[JManrow]

i tried the portable AC unit thing.
It helped 0%. i took it back this evening
it was 8000 BTU. Supposed to cool down 250sq'. my bedroom is 250 - 300

Go with a unit closer to 12,000 to 12,500 BTU. Our 2 Bdrm Apt. stays nice & cool even when it get over 100F outside.

[rmhuntley]

I"ll have right about 12000 to 14000 btu by the time I"m finished tomorrow:)

[Ahbrit]

i dont think a combination of btu math works the same as a single unit does it?
when i was reading the specs on the boxes, an 8000btu could handle 250sq' whereas a 10,000 could manage 450

[rmhuntley]

no idea.... all I know is I have two units and plan to see how effectively the can work togeather

[spayne]

I've folded. I'm dying out here in dundee with' this heat
We folded last year during the heat wave. When I was younger, I though of AC as a luxury. Now that I'm older and much wiser, I know for a fact that it's a necessity!

I hate the heat. Hate hate hate it! (flame)

Stacy

[JManrow]

Actually, our unit now is only 6000 BTU, but our apt. is partly below ground-level and surrounded by trees.
Our previous A/C unit which finally needed to be replaced a couple of years ago, was 12,500 BTU. We needed that size as the 2 Bdrm. House we lived in 11 years earlier was in full sun. We returned two previous units (800 and 10,000 BTU)at first, and bought the largest one we could buy at the time that was still 120V. It kept our house in the low 70's even on the hottest days. Be sure to circulate air thoughout the house with some good sized box fans to keep the other rooms cooled.

[andy]

"radiant electric heat".....never heard of it. explain?

Heating elements built into the ceilings. Run a current through them (thermostatically controlled) and they heat up. They produce a pleasant heat, but are imprecise and offer no help at all if you're considering adding A/C

[Nyles]

its 1 ton per 600 to 700 sq ft.

1 ton equals 12,000 btu

I run a 2 ton split mini ac at my place. Cools the whole house (1300 sq ft)

cost me 800 plus shipping off ebay. Locally it was $4800. Also heats and has an evaporation mode to just pull water from the air. The downfall of the slpit is it isnt central air its a single cooling location. So it should be placed in a central location, but it does have adjustable turning veins via remote control to help. I held 70 degrees all weekend.

Also note the condenser sits outside like a regular unit and the small coil goes inside pushing the cool "quiet" air through the coolant lines.

You can get a window ac for about 1/3 less but this is more efficient and much quieter.

[inkto]

I use a 8100 btu window unit in a ~350sq ft area with full afternoon exposure and maintain 75deg F or so in 100 deg weather... works for me. I just wish I had one upstairs too. :) I've been waiting until 1 or 2 am to go to bed. I start up a fan in one window to exhaust the hot air out which draws cool air in another window. Works great... but last night it was still 80 deg here at 1am :(

[impur]

Costco has a 1 ton unit for like $150 or something. Thats a good deal.

For the windows that receive direct sunlight, be sure to close the shades and for extra protection during that part of the day head over to HD or Lowes and pick up a few sheets of styrofoam. Put those in the windows that receive the direct sun and you will see a big difference.

[Barelycuda]

Keith,

Radiant ceiling heat is also referred to as ceiling cable heat. There are cables installed on the ceiling in a similar pattern to a heating element on a stove. Then a layer of either plaster or a thin layer of sheetrock is installed over the cables. The cables heat the items in the room & in turn the room warms up. It is the second most inneficient form of heat only better than baseboards. I know because I used to have ceiling heat in my house until I upgraded to a furnace & heat pump. Andy, why do you think that it would cost you $20k to upgrade. Is your house a two story?

Cuda

[andy]

1900 sq. ft. split-level. Heat pump plus high velocity system, then the man-hours to put it all together right (the high velocity stuff really needs installation by contractors who are experienced with it). It might not get all the way to $20k, but it'd go well over $15k I'm certain.

[Reefin']

i tried the portable AC unit thing.
It helped 0%. i took it back this evening
it was 8000 BTU. Supposed to cool down 250sq'. my bedroom is 250 - 300


thats to bad...
im sittin here in my bedroom typing this and its nice in cool....using a small kenmore 5400btu window unit in my room which 11' x 22' .. this unit is even seven years old......it doesnt cool like it used to but still work enough to get it down to 70-72...

[nu2reef-n]

I bought a 15000 btu window unit over the weekend. I'm good with it. I got home at 5:30 monday night it was 78* inside and 101.5* outside.

[Twitterbait]

if you have a standard furnace (forced air heating) Just go with a simple central air system. they run $2-4k on average and work fine. if you get the right person to install they will let you run the electric out yourself, that is what i did on my parents house. took 2 hours to run the line and saved about $1k off the install.

[Chief]

if you have a standard furnace (forced air heating) Just go with a simple central air system. they run $2-4k on average and work fine. if you get the right person to install they will let you run the electric out yourself, that is what i did on my parents house. took 2 hours to run the line and saved about $1k off the install.

This is the route I took. I used the same company that my employer uses for its commercial refrigeration. For $2500.00 I got a new furnace and air conditioner installed. I couldn't beat the price, but I have been doing business with these guys for years.

Jay