Page 1 2
Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
Member |
Are window bangers better at cooling off a room than a portable unit? Have an electrician coming to install a receptacle and interlock kit for my generator so I can selectively run most everything in the house. Unfortunately my 10K generator can not fire up the big 5ton house system so I need to get a couple small ac units to cool a couple of isolated rooms. I'm not all that familiar with the portable units and their capabilities. I'm seeing that window units are more efficient and better at cooling. What say the forum? | ||
|
| Green grass and high tides  |
We have one of the sharp Costco room units. Now that I have it set up right works well for a few hours late in the evening during the hot part of the summer. It is a blessing. Otherwise we have no AC. It is more of a room unit in our house situation. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
|
| Member |
From what I've read, the window units work better than the portable ones with the vents outside the window. But I'm not an expert. I did the same thing you did with a receptacle/interlock kit and plan on getting a window unit so we can at least retreat to an oasis of coolness in central florida when the next hurricane hits. | |||
|
| Member |
Those portable units have terrible efficiency ratings. The 2 hose version is better than the single hose version but an old fashioned window unit is more efficient and significantly less expensive to buy. The only advantages of the portable is you can easily move it to another room and your window is still useable. | |||
|
| Move Up or Move Over |
if you have the budget a ductless split or 2 would be more efficient and longer lasting. | |||
|
| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
You mean the portable units that are the size of a dorm fridge and have a hose that goes out the window? We lived in an older home with no AC until this year and we used a 12,000 BTU portable unit to cool the entire first floor of the house and it sucked ass. Switched to a 12,000 BTU window unit that worked much better. A bitch to lift and wrestle into the window vs the portable that rolled on casters but overall did a noticeably better job I thought. | |||
|
| Member |
Window unit | |||
|
| That rug really tied the room together.  |
A hard start system with a capacitor will probably give you enough juice on startup to run your house AC. About $100 or so. https://georgebrazilhvac.com/b...ioner-hard-start-kit What I did, I bought a small window unit. My 2000 watt inverter generator will run it all night no problem, so at least I can cool a bedroom and sleep/live comfortable, for cheap (running a 10K watt generator will use $50 worth of fuel every day vs my 2000 watt gen will run all day for about $8.) ______________________________________________________ Often times a very small man can cast a very large shadow | |||
|
Striker in waiting |
This. Mini-splits FTW! Mitsubishi makes some very nice ones. -Rob I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888 A=A | |||
|
Member |
If you have standard windows, I think I would go with the window unit.... the newer 10-12K units really don't weigh that much.... forget the stupid accordion slide things and make one panel that fits one side.... You can install (temporary) one of these in about 10 minutes.... Whole house heating and cooling is always a loss... zones are the way to go and mini-splits are the future. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
|
Member |
Highseer.com I just bought a 18,000BTU ductless Split from them (their in Doral, Florida) about $1K shipped freight to TX. I installed it in my 430 SF shop which has two un-insulated exterior walls. It cools it to 73* in the 105* TX heat. Install was pretty easy. I'd imagine you could get the installation finalized and start-up for about $500 from a licensed HVAC tech. Its max current draw is 15 amps. | |||
|
Ammoholic |
10kw is awfully large for a plug in generator. At that size I'd go with standby unit instead of go to a smaller generator. 10kw = 41a which means you need all 50a rated equipment, bigger inlet and larger gen cord. This also increases costs, but as Bubba said it will also be a gas hog. Using a lot of gas is bad, not only due to cost, but more so, how do you store 50-75 gallons of Gas or more? Look at the gallons per hour burned on that thing and multiply for three days, or however long you anticipate being the longest possible outage you will face. Your unit will burn +/- one gallon per hour. How did you determine 10k was the right size for you? A hard start kit should be less than $100 and can be installed in 10 minutes. It may allow for starting A/C, but same problem, you'll burn through some gas. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
|
| Member |
My 11yr old Trane unit has a hard start kit already installed. It pulls 60amp on startup. When this unit dies, I will look into splits or zones. I didn't decide that 10K was what I needed. I bought one of these last Thanksgiving when a stupid deal of $499 delivered to my house came up - https://www.duromaxpower.com/d...uel-hybrid-generator I was just hoping it would be enough and I was willing to take a chance for $500 on a dual fuel generator. A whole home back up Generac or Kohler was not in the financial cards for me. I have a pool heater that uses propane so I have a few 100lb tanks along with 5 - 20lb bbq tanks that I take to be filled instead of swapping so they actually are full. I plan on just running this on propane and will resort to gasoline if need be. I do keep 40 gallons of non ethanol fuel on hand that does get rotated for my riding mower and such. I also have a boat holding 80 gallons if need be. I will selectively cycle fridges, water heater, and the two bedrooms I plan on cooling as needed. | |||
|
member |
Our local (best) professional HVAC team has installed one ducted unit as a replacement (2 ton), and several mini-splits, a 3 ton one room, a 2 ton one room, and a 3 ton/3 head unit for the main part of the house. He only sells and installs Trane, and we've been quite pleased with the units (going on 5 years now on the oldest one). They cool well, variable speed so good savings on electricity, and all of our units also have heat pumps to provide heat (not that we need that much here in AZ). You can leave some off if you're not using that room (or set the thermostat up high). When you need it, it is instant cooling. | |||
|
| Big Stack |
Steel, Will the window/portable units be used in any situation OTHER than as backups in a blackout? | |||
|
Unflappable Enginerd |
Quite a few people I know have had good luck installing a Sure-Start on their AC unit, it drops the inrush current quite a bit, and is specifically designed for generator applications. Drops inrush well below what a hard start unit will. If you have a smart(er) thermostat, delaying the blower motor start a few seconds after the compressor starts will also help. http://www.hypereng.com/  __________________________________ NRA Benefactor I lost all my weapons in a boating, umm, accident. http://www.aufamily.com/forums/ | |||
|
| Ammoholic |
Nice deal! Sounds like you got fuel covered better than most. I've had better experience with removing humidity with window units and humidity can make a huge difference in perceived tempature. For that reason alone I won't have one of the roll around ones. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
|
| Member |
Most likely not. Storms and if/when the current household system goes. Or if a friend needs to borrow one. | |||
|
| If you see me running try to keep up  |
The portable a/c’s are nowhere near as good as a window unit. I’ve got an 8x8 room in my garage with insulated walls and radiant barrier. In the summer I can only get the temp down to 79 with a 13000 BTU model. I’ve had four portables over the last 8 years and none of them have worked well. | |||
|
| Green grass and high tides |
Got my freestanding costco sharp unit out this am and working great. I keep a damp towel over the exhaust tube as it gets pretty warm. It is not an ideal set up but is the best we have and it does help. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024