Presenting! My New Air Conditioner!!

natalie_ca

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https://www.plasmacool.ca/flare/next

I've been living where I am since October 1996. My apartment does not have a balcony or air conditioning. It gets really, really hot in my apartment in the summer and even when it's cool outside at night, it's still sometimes 95 degrees in my apartment!

For years I've put off getting a window air conditioner because I would have to take out a window and put some plywood in the window which would block my view of the river and downtown. I moved into this apartment largely because of the view and where I sit at my computer gives me a great view of downtown. I didn't want to be looking at plywood.

Over the last few years while I was off work I started to find that I couldn't tolerate the heat and the fan just wasn't cutting it.

In May I saw a new type of air conditioner. It's like a mini fridge and only needs a very small area of the window to vent it out of and comes with some plastic strips to fill in the gap. So I don't have to block my view!


My brother took me to pick it up today. It has to sit upright for 4 hours so that the plasma settles to the bottom or something. And my brother is coming to vent it for me on Sunday evening. I'll probably have it already vented by that time, at least in some make shift fashion until he gets it done properly.

I can't wait to be able to use it!
 

GoldyCat

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That looks great. So glad you were able to get it now.
 

skyecat0117

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I bet that'll make a huge difference. Congrats on the new appliance.
 

tierre0

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Congrats on the new conditioner. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and you will get a chance to use it a least a bit this summer. If your weather in Manitoba is anything like it has been here in Ontario we are certainly due for a few hot days soon.
 
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natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by tierre0

Congrats on the new conditioner. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and you will get a chance to use it a least a bit this summer. If your weather in Manitoba is anything like it has been here in Ontario we are certainly due for a few hot days soon.
Yeah, we're having pretty crummy weather here this summer too. We get one nice sunny day followed by a week of cloud, cool and/or rain! So far there has only been 2 days that I had to take the fan with me into the bedroom because it was hot. All the rest of the time I've been waking up freezing in the night and have to cover up!
 

larussa

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Glad you'll finally get to cool off. I couldn't live without my a/c cuz I hate the summer heat and humidity. You'll sleep better also, good luck with it.
 

maherwoman

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Huge YAY for air conditioning. We just moved here to Canada from Southern California, where we were both DYING in the heat. This week's been hot here, too, but hey, at least it's not nine months out of the year, and is merely a few weeks!

I've been a fan of cold all my life...so I think moving to Edmonton was the right move!


Congrats on the cool air!! When do you get to experience the nirvana of cool?
 

dusty's mom

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Originally Posted by maherwoman

Huge YAY for air conditioning. We just moved here to Canada from Southern California, where we were both DYING in the heat. This week's been hot here, too, but hey, at least it's not nine months out of the year, and is merely a few weeks!

I've been a fan of cold all my life...so I think moving to Edmonton was the right move!


Congrats on the cool air!! When do you get to experience the nirvana of cool?
Interesting! What brought you to Canada? Are you American by birth? Is this a permanent move?

I'm dying of the heat too - 100 to 110 the past week, but it's a dry heat, lol! Doesn't matter. Anything in triple digits is unbearable. I prefer cold.
 
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natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by maherwoman

When do you get to experience the nirvana of cool?
Not until Sunday when my brother comes over to set it up for me. I managed to unpack it, but there are all kinds of gizmos to attach and I have no clue. Though if I read the set up instructions I could probably get it set up. Venting it in the window is another story.

It came with a window kit. Basically a vent and 3 plastic extensions about 4 inches wide, that fit together and then fit between the window and the sliding window frame. The plastic is white and the same type as the plastic window frames are constructed of. I think one of the extensions need to be cut and unfortunately I don't have any type of saw that could do that.

Once I do get it set up I'll take a picture of it and the window kit.

The video in that link above is somewhat misleading. The video shows it in places that don't have a window and the machine doesn't look vented at all. It makes it look and sound like you can easily take this from room to room and simply plug it into any wall outlet. That is not entirely true.

Based on the video and whatever else I read about it I assumed that venting out a window was an option. I figured that if you vented it out a window you wouldn't have to empty a canister of water. If you just plugged it in without venting it, that a canister would have to be emptied periodically. There is no canister. The water evaporates as it's being vented through the hose, so by the time it reaches the window there isn't going to be a waterfall of water falling on the people below. Which is ok I guess. I just wish they didn't make it sound like venting wasn't needed.
 
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natalie_ca

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I took an LOA from work today and decided to set up my air conditioner. I even vented it!
It wasn't very difficult and no cutting of the window kit extensions were needed.

It's not perfectly vented. To do that I would have had to use the enclosed weather stripping to fill in the little gaps around the edge of the window insert. I'm not going to worry about the little gaps because there will be times when it's not super hot and I'll just open the window instead of having the AC on.

Anyway, I have it running and set the temperature to 70 degrees and have the fan on low. It's been running for 45 minutes or so and I'm already noticing a difference, not necessarily with the temperature right now, but with the humidity.

I don't mind hot temperatures, but it's the high humidity that usually comes with them that bother me. The real test will be when I do some laundry later. My dryer isn't vented outside so when I run it it's like a sauna in here for hours afterward.

I'll put some batteries in my camera later and take a picture and post it in action!
 

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ME want one!!!!


We have central A/C, but of course, the 1 room where it does not good is the master bedroom, and that's upstairs, so it's as hot as Hades in the summer. With my insomnia, I also find that the sound helps me sleep. We have a small window unit, but recently, it's making loud, funny noises, so I think we may need a new one soon. (We also remove ours for the winter, and have to haul it either up or down some stairs to store it.)

I love the remote control feature! That is awesome. We recently installed a ceiling fan in the bedroom with a remote, and it's well worth it, as we use it every day in the summer. I can turn the lights on/off, and adjust the fan speed!

Congratulations, Linda! I know you'll love it!
 

lorie d.

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Based on the video and whatever else I read about it I assumed that venting out a window was an option. I figured that if you vented it out a window you wouldn't have to empty a canister of water. If you just plugged it in without venting it, that a canister would have to be emptied periodically. There is no canister. The water evaporates as it's being vented through the hose, so by the time it reaches the window there isn't going to be a waterfall of water falling on the people below. Which is ok I guess. I just wish they didn't make it sound like venting wasn't needed.
Congratulations on the new air conditioner. We have a couple of similiar units at work and we do have to empty canisters of water, just the same as when a dehumidifier is used. So are you sure about that?
 
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natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by Lorie D.

Congratulations on the new air conditioner. We have a couple of similiar units at work and we do have to empty canisters of water, just the same as when a dehumidifier is used. So are you sure about that?
Yeah, there is no canister. I told my brother about the online video and the "no canister", and he insisted that the thing had to either be vented outside to get rid of the water or the water would be evaporated back into the air. So he asked the guy. And the guy said that it had to be vented because there was no canister inside to accumulate the water.

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Aaaah, thats a better idea than the conventional window shaker!
Yes, it sure is! Because my windows are tall and wide and slide side to side, in order for me to put a window AC in I would have had to either spend hundreds of dollars on a new window that had a large pane of glass on the top and smaller sliders below where I could put the AC, or put a piece of plywood in the window. I rent so I wasn't going to invest in a new window. And from where I sit at my computer I have a gorgeous view of downtown, so I didn't want that blocked by wood.

It's no louder than my fan was when it was running on high.
 

zoeysmom

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I noticed the video making it look like no venting was required.

I've searched, and as far as I can tell, there's no kind of air conditioner that doesn't need to be vented in some way. The hot air needs to go somewhere. I've found some that are windowless, but that requires basically venting through a hole in the wall...which I can only imagine costs a ton of money for installation.

We have just a standard "portable" air conditioner as well, and don't have it vented properly either. It is supposed to be screwed in, etc and weather stripped as well, but so far we haven't had any problems with it just sitting in the window. But I do remember thinking that, for something that is advertised as "portable"....it's really not all that portable (I guess it has wheels on it).

As for the water canister....ours has one, but can be vented out the window. I haven't tried that option yet....I don't keep the unit on when we're not home anyway, so it's really not that big of a deal to empty it when the unit shuts off because it's full.

Congrats on your new A/C. We haven't needed it much here, but I know that it's getting hotter out west!
 

maherwoman

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Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

Interesting! What brought you to Canada? Are you American by birth? Is this a permanent move?

I'm dying of the heat too - 100 to 110 the past week, but it's a dry heat, lol! Doesn't matter. Anything in triple digits is unbearable. I prefer cold.
The job market is what brought us here...lol. My husband's an electrician, and work just plain dried up for him there, so we decided that before things got worse, we would leave.

My husband was born here, and maintained his citizenship, and his family lives here, so we were really fortunate to be able to do this.


Yes, I am American by birth. And yes, this is a permanent move.
 
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natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by zoeysmom

I noticed the video making it look like no venting was required.
Yeah. It's not as easily portable as they make it look in the video. Granted it does wheel easily, but you can't just wheel it into any room/spot and plug it in. You have to place it in an area a certain distance from a window and take the window kit from one window to another. Not difficult, but certainly not just wheel and plug in.
 

dusty's mom

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Originally Posted by maherwoman

The job market is what brought us here...lol. My husband's an electrician, and work just plain dried up for him there, so we decided that before things got worse, we would leave.

My husband was born here, and maintained his citizenship, and his family lives here, so we were really fortunate to be able to do this.


Yes, I am American by birth. And yes, this is a permanent move.
I think I'm jealous! But I would like to hear about the Canadian health system and how it is working for you and your extended famiy. This is not the place, but perhaps you could start a thread in the IMO section or anywhere else that is appropriate. Thanks for your reply!

Sorry mods, for the O/T.
 
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