Window A/C units? (I'm in the mid-atlantic.)

Long narrow-ish apt.  App. 900 sq ft.  Decent living room up front then small bedroom turned office in the middle opppo the interior apt. door. Then foyer with galley kitchen to back door and alongside that a decent sized bedroom and tiny bathroom along the exterior wall away from the door.

Do I buy once cry once and go big balls with 18,000 BTUs or buy three small 5,000 BTU units?

The outside box to the inside fuse box got upgraded some time in the past but it's still all cloth wiring internally most likely.

Other than laptops and soon a modem/router setup I don't have any power draws other than light bulbs and the fridge. (maybe one tv show a week)

Rear corner faces east and the entire side of the apt. faces north with the other living room windows facing west plus I'm on the top floor so the sun has me in a bullseye.  In the District of Corruption/Confusion/Communism for latitude reference.

I'm gonna not go higher than $500. I only have small tear ducts. 

Any advice? 

Big fan of the multiple smaller units rather than one big one. First, they'll distribute air better so you're not stuck with an icebox in one room, moderate in another, and hot in the third. Second, if one breaks, you still have cold air in the house. Third, cheaper. Fourth, they're easier to lug around because they're lighter. Also, I believe the energy useage to be less because you can set the bedroom to be off until 30 minutes before you go to work, or set different temps around the house.

Go get a bunch of good styrofoam (think the pink stuff) to fill in the gaps in the windows. That will save a ton of heat loss.

strong contender at over $400 before the taxes. 

If you do not have AC in the bedroom you will not sleep well.  If you do not sleep well then all-day, every-day will be hardship.  So, if you can only have one then I would choose the bedroom.  At worst, on the hottest and most miserable days you will have to lounge in the bedroom rather than lounge in the living room.  

Maybe go with just 2 units and try not to run them together.  That is, run the bedroom at night and run the living room during "awake" hours.  

Edit:  How about one of these portable units and then moved as needed?

My house is 1200 sq ft, i have a 5000 in the bedroom and 10,000 in the living room and it does well to cool most of the house. Helpful hint, the wife ordered them off Amazon and got free shipping and UPS guy carried them both to the living room. It was much easier then dragging them home from a store.

mtn said:

Big fan of the multiple smaller units rather than one big one. First, they'll distribute air better so you're not stuck with an icebox in one room, moderate in another, and hot in the third. Second, if one breaks, you still have cold air in the house. Third, cheaper. Fourth, they're easier to lug around because they're lighter. Also, I believe the energy useage to be less because you can set the bedroom to be off until 30 minutes before you go to work, or set different temps around the house.

As one who's been there, this!  All of it!

For cost, we got ours at KMart for $125 each. They're 4100 or 4900 BTU--I know less than 5000. We sold the one for $90 after the central AC was fixed, but kept the second just in case. Came in handy when wifey was pregnant and needed the bedroom to be an icebox.

In reply to Wally :

yeah many moons ago i bought one at MoCo mall out in the 'burbs and rode back on at least two different buses and then walked several blocks to the apt.  That was not fun but I was at least a lot younger then. 

John Welsh said:

If you do not have AC in the bedroom you will not sleep well.  If you do not sleep well then all-day, every-day will be hardship.  So, if you can only have one then I would choose the bedroom.  At worst, on the hottest and most miserable days you will have to lounge in the bedroom rather than lounge in the living room.  

Maybe go with just 2 units and try not to run them together.  That is, run the bedroom at night and run the living room during "awake" hours.  

Edit:  How about one of these portable units and then moved as needed?

 

I have one of those portable units for my parents vacation home--I had initially bought it for my inlaws vacation home, because my MIL has MS and needs AC. When they sold that, I took it to my folks place because my wife was pregnant. Quite simply, they're not as good as the window units. The only reason we use that instead of a window unit at my parents place is that they have the crank out casement windows that we can't use a window unit in. Also more expensive. I'd pass.

Another benefit of the little 5k BTU units is that you can run them with a not-huge generator in the event of hot-weather power outages.  I would never risk damage to my heat pump by trying to run it off my 6800-watt Coleman, but if I blow up a $99. window unit, I'm only out, ....  um....  $99!

Did it a few years back during a lengthy outage in August sweltering humid heat.  A/C ran fine off the generator.  We had one cool room in the house until the power came back.

I have a half-dozen 5000-6000 BTU sized A/C units in varying conditions, but they all work.  We just had mini-splits put in so we no longer use them.  I was gonna sell the worst 3 or so back to BGE for the energy credit.  You can have your pick of the others for free if you want them.  

PM if interested.  I'm in the Baltimore area.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Thanks for the offer.  I've got about a month or two before the heat gets me especially the sleeping part as mentioned above. However don't hold them on my account.  I'm doing a lot of rideshare right now to get caught up with life for the next month too. 

Ouch.  On the top floor of an Apt building you are basically cooling all the units below you.  Or they are all heating you, whichever way you want to look at it.

+1 to multiple units.  

+10 to something with programmable on/off times.  Run bedroom at night and living space when you need it to be cool, and nothing at all during the day.

I'm no expert, but I've read that window units are actually more efficient than central A/C units even accounting for air distribution losses, because they use a 'slinger' fan on the back that will sling the condensed water from the pan onto the hot-side of the heat exchanger.  This is probably not helping, just fun to share.

ProDarwin said:

 

I'm no expert, but I've read that window units are actually more efficient than central A/C units even account for air distribution losses, because they use a 'slinger' fan on the back that will sling the condensed water from the pan onto the hot-side of the heat exchanger.  This is probably not helping, just fun to share.

Hey, I'd believe that even without the slinger fan explanation. Our 2 units kept basically our entire downstairs cold unless we were cooking. I figure that we could use 4 units and keep the entire house at an extremely reasonable temperature. 5 would be ideal, but only 4 would be necessary. Wayyyy cheaper than a central, and if you get programmed it would be wayyyy more efficient too since you could turn the upstairs off when you're not sleeping. 

In reply to nutherjrfan :

I’m a big fan of small efficient window A/C units.  

But don’t buy by price.  

Get the ones with the most efficient ratings.  You will be happier with your electric bill.  You might save $35- 50 on the purchase and spend an extra $100 on the electric bill.  

The best time to buy them is in the fall, Not spring!   If you can squeeze by with only one unit, Maybe even moving it from room to room and hold off on the others until fall the savings will be significant.  

Definitely go three small over one big.  

We use a small window unit in each bedroom and one of the big room units for the whole downstairs of our house.  It works really well and we can cool the rooms we need individually.  The house had central air, but the compressor died and I didn't want to spend several thousand getting it replaced.  

mtn said:

ProDarwin said:

 

I'm no expert, but I've read that window units are actually more efficient than central A/C units even account for air distribution losses, because they use a 'slinger' fan on the back that will sling the condensed water from the pan onto the hot-side of the heat exchanger.  This is probably not helping, just fun to share.

Hey, I'd believe that even without the slinger fan explanation. Our 2 units kept basically our entire downstairs cold unless we were cooking. I figure that we could use 4 units and keep the entire house at an extremely reasonable temperature. 5 would be ideal, but only 4 would be necessary. Wayyyy cheaper than a central, and if you get programmed it would be wayyyy more efficient too since you could turn the upstairs off when you're not sleeping. 

For more than 14 years now I’ve used small window units to cool my 5500 sq ft house. Over 5 years ago I bought mini splits but as yet haven’t installed them.  

The little window units do such a great job of cooling the house the priority keeps slipping down the ladder. 

I have a tiny cheap little one in the wall over the bed in our master bedroom. It does such a great job I don’t bother turning the others on until late July, sometimes August. 

It takes less than an hour to put a window unit in the wall and you can keep it there year around. If anything happens it’s a really cheap replacement

mtn said:

ProDarwin said:

 

I'm no expert, but I've read that window units are actually more efficient than central A/C units even account for air distribution losses, because they use a 'slinger' fan on the back that will sling the condensed water from the pan onto the hot-side of the heat exchanger.  This is probably not helping, just fun to share.

Hey, I'd believe that even without the slinger fan explanation. Our 2 units kept basically our entire downstairs cold unless we were cooking. I figure that we could use 4 units and keep the entire house at an extremely reasonable temperature. 5 would be ideal, but only 4 would be necessary. Wayyyy cheaper than a central, and if you get programmed it would be wayyyy more efficient too since you could turn the upstairs off when you're not sleeping. 

I really want my next house to have a main HVAC controller with zones and just turn on and off mini splits in 2 or 3 zones in the house.  Central A/C kinda sucks by comparison.

Forgot to mention, I think I have an extra window unit and I'm only a couple hours away from you.  If you need one, let me know.  I'd be glad to loan you one for the summer.

Can confirm, mini splits are the bee's knees.  We got the upstairs done last fall, 3 mini split units, one for each bedroom, and each one has its own remote.  They're so silent you can't even hear them, and they're ceiling mounted units so we never even really notice them.  

About the only downside to them is the filters need to be cleaned fairly often, like every 2 weeks, but it's a 5 minute job to pull them out, vacuum them, and put them back.  

Well, and the upfront cost, but compared to a new conventional heat pump with ducts, it's about comparable, and our utility company gave us a nice credit for putting them in.  

mtn said:

ProDarwin said:

 

I'm no expert, but I've read that window units are actually more efficient than central A/C units even account for air distribution losses, because they use a 'slinger' fan on the back that will sling the condensed water from the pan onto the hot-side of the heat exchanger.  This is probably not helping, just fun to share.

Hey, I'd believe that even without the slinger fan explanation. Our 2 units kept basically our entire downstairs cold unless we were cooking. I figure that we could use 4 units and keep the entire house at an extremely reasonable temperature. 5 would be ideal, but only 4 would be necessary. Wayyyy cheaper than a central, and if you get programmed it would be wayyyy more efficient too since you could turn the upstairs off when you're not sleeping. 

Most window units have optional remotes. Set the remote by the entrance and you can turn them off and on, up and down without having to even walk in and across the room.  That way you can save even over programs because  Humans don’t always follow programs.  A program may cool a room that isn’t needed today, or start cooling too late or early.  

If I walk into a room that while hot has a A/C unit blasting out cool air, I’m OK knowing that soon it will reach a comfortable temperature.  Then as I leave I can shut it off until the next time I go in there.  

I feel like the odd one out. Am I the only person in the world to not like AC? I personally can't stand the stuff, but then I also wear a pull-over fleece all year round at work because I am always cold there. Unless the temps get into triple digets, I am fine.

mad_machine said:

I feel like the odd one out. Am I the only person in the world to not like AC? I personally can't stand the stuff, but then I also wear a pull-over fleece all year round at work because I am always cold there. Unless the temps get into triple digets, I am fine.

Huh?

Here in central Virginia it's the humidity.  I can't even imagine life without A/C.  Food, water? Sure, take it.  No A/C?  Just put a bullet in my head.

I will say this.  Many people I know, and most businesses as well, will heat to maybe 70 in the Winter, but come Summertime, that thermostat will be down to 65 and it'll be like a freaking icebox.  Drives me crazy.  I cool to around 75.  With the low humidity, it feels fine.  If I get hot, I take off clothing.

If you don't care about your electric bill, multiple small units are the way to go for distribution of the coolness.  A single unit will be more efficient to run.  A single 15k unit doesn't use three times the juice of three 5k units.  If a big single can be put on a shaded side of the house (so it works less and it's not in a hot window) and distributed around the space with a box fan, you'll save a little on the bills.

Curtis said:

If you don't care about your electric bill, multiple small units are the way to go for distribution of the coolness.  A single unit will be more efficient to run.  A single 15k unit doesn't use three times the juice of three 5k units.  If a big single can be put on a shaded side of the house (so it works less and it's not in a hot window) and distributed around the space with a box fan, you'll save a little on the bills.

On paper, this is true. In reality, if you keep doors closed the small units are likely less on the power bill as you don't have to run them all the time. Just my opinion--unless you have a nearly completley open floorplan, stick with multiple smaller units. I tried the whole fan thing with one large AC in college, it didn't work very well.