Reply To: Save Money on your Air Conditioner

hereorthere-

1) A 5,000 BTU unit for a 450 square foot area is grossly inadequate. I’d use a unit like that for a 60-70 sq. ft. room. A 28,000 BTU unit is probably way more than necessary. I don’t think 28,000 BTU units for 110 volts are sold, so if the outlet is 110 it’s probably smaller. Even 18,000 may be more than needed, unless the room(s) are directly under a flat black roof or there are other warming factors.

2) Most folks aren’t comfortable at 40 degrees (your fridge is only a few degrees cooler than that). Most people don’t have a 30 degree variance in their comfort range – usually it’s about 10 – 15 degrees. If you’re OK between 40 and 70 degrees, you probably should set the thermostat close to 70. (If someone really likes their room at 40 degrees, they might want to consider living in a walk-in fridge. Brrrrr!)

3) I may not have made my point clearly, but you’re not disagreeing.

4) I try to keep politics out of air conditioning. What an old AC unit may have done – either by design or due to a malfunctioning thermostat – is irrelevant to today’s units.

5) If you want to know where your electric bill is coming from, I suggest you buy a kill-a-watt device. It costs about $20-$25 and will tell you exactly how much each appliance is costing you.

7) I may be misunderstanding something – if you’re getting a $200 electric bill, how is your landlord including electric usage in the rent? Do you only have one breaker for the entire apartment?

8) You taught me something new – I didn’t know that some window/wall AC units came with remote thermostats.