Air Conditioner advice

Hi all. I was wondering if I could get any thoughts, or ideas on the topic of air conditioners. I have a feeling this summer will be really gross and I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really want my babies to be too hot during the day when we are not home, also I have started getting hot flashes at 30!! WTH!! Lol So an A/C unit is a must. So my boyfriend and I decided to buy a portable A/C unit, not the ones that fit in the actual window, the ones that just have a tube that goes out the window so we can move it to the bedroom at night.

So…. Anyone know any good ones? Or ones I should stay away from? Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve been reading reviews, but id like to get all the information I can if I am dropping 400-700$ on this thing.

I thank you all in advanced.

The only thing I know about portable window air conditioners is that the more BTUs it has the bigger the area that it can cool.

I do not know much about them either. We have cetral air.

If you own your house, I would recommend going the extra money and getting central air. If not, get a high BTU unit. If your home is small the unit will do a reasonable job of keeping it cool. Unless the weather has changed dramatically in recent years, my recollection is that it doesn't often get very hot and humid in NB so you probably won't need it on all that much.

I don't know anything about AC except that if the home is older, an AC unit could dangerously overload the wiring (it happened to me when I rented the upstairs of an older home) -- so if you're not sure of your wiring, please let an electrician check it out first.

And hon, if you're having hot flashes at 30, that could indicate something amiss. Please get that checked out, okay?

My boyfriend owns his house and didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think to get vents through out the house (forgot what they are called, for the heat pump. My dads an electrician and mentioned if you get a heat pump rather then base board heaters you will actually pay off what you spent in a few years from a discount in electricity bill.)

We are moving into a new home in a few years and we will be better prepared since my dad and uncle who builds houses will absolutely not let me buy a house until they look at it first… so until then, no A/C!! /cry!!

The house is not huge, but not tiny… I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know anything about how big but my boyfriend said itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s just a tad bit smaller then one of the bigger sized units for the front room.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve checked out the hot flashed and they cant find anything! No clue what it is but its annoying. The other day I was In a very formal work meeting and I had one, I turned bright red and it was very embarrassing. I started sweating, blushing etc. Very, very bad time for that. My blood pressure is very low they said, but im in really good health… so no clue about that.

It was pretty hot here in NB last summer. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve never in my life seen a cat pant until I moved into a home with no A/C. Poor Capone was panting like a dog! I remember just sitting there in light clothing in front of the fan not moving because it was so disgustingly hot!

Thanks for all of your replies!

A couple of other options to consider.

An attic fan. You leave the windows or doors slightly open, and the air is pulled into the house and up into the attic. Moving air feels cooler. You can leave it on all day, with the winodws just slicghtly open. We used it all the time while I was growing up - and summer temps were over a 100 for 30 - 60+ days each year.
In New Mexico, we had swamp coolers. It also involves slightly open windows/doors (confusing to my kids who were used to "close that door"). We had a 4,000 sq ft house, with 4 swamp coolers that cost us less than 100 dollars a month to cool. They only work well in low humidty though.

Originally Posted by silvionc

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve checked out the hot flashes and they cant find anything! No clue what it is but its annoying. The other day I was In a very formal work meeting and I had one, I turned bright red and it was very embarrassing. I started sweating, blushing etc. Very, very bad time for that. My blood pressure is very low they said, but im in really good health… so no clue about that.

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You may want to read this:

http://www.wdxcyber.com/nmood12.htm

Also conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome can cause hot flashes too. I have that and have been getting hot flashes since I was in my early 20's.

Other conditions such as thyroid and lupus can also cause it. And not to scare you but it can also be a symptom of coronary artery disease.

We have an Artic Blast or Artic King ??? I'm thinking it's something like that. We have one very big one and one small one for the bedroom. They both work fantastically and cool the house very well. They both came with a remote you could set in the room and dial to a certain temperature. When the area where that remote was set gets to that temp the air conditioner will shut off, and turn back on when needed.

The big one cost $400 and the smaller one around $200.

I also want to add that they cost very little to run. Before we had the two ACs it cost us $50 a month in electric/gas bills for the house (in the summer) and after we got the two ACs the bill only went up to $70 a month!!!! Isn't it fantastic how energy effcient ACs are now?!!!

Originally Posted by silvionc

So my boyfriend and I decided to buy a portable A/C unit, not the ones that fit in the actual window, the ones that just have a tube that goes out the window so we can move it to the bedroom at night.

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That's the type available here (Europe), where we don't have double-hung windows, and quite frankly, I don't find them nearly as effective as the window units, which I'm familiar with (I grew up in a really old house in the U.S., so we had window units in the bedrooms). You have to leave a window and screen partially open for the portable units, and that just lets hot air in. That means using more power to run them, so it might be cheaper in the long run to get 2 window units (for the living room or kitchen and for the bedroom), and run them as needed.

In a pinch, I'd opt for just a window unit in the bedroom, and use an oscillating fan in the living room/kitchen.

We do not have A/C in our house and we have a ceiling fan that helps a little bit.
We also do not have ductwork in our house but we still can get a special type of central air installed-it just costs alot more. So we survive with fans for know.