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Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - trisho. - 04-22-2006
I'm finally going to break down and possibly buy an air conditioner for the first time ever since living here. Of course, I'm going to get it off Craig's List so that's guiding my research because who knows what will come up. Sooo, where could I find some reviews or ratings of air conditioners? I tried Consumer Reports' site, but you have to be a member to access the reviews. And doing a Google search seem to bring up some sites that I don't necessarily trust.
Also, what window or portable AC unit do some of you New Yorkers (or non-NYers w/experience) use? My bedroom is about 160 sq. ft (I know, huge!) in a converted railroad apartment. I don't need to cool the rest of the apartment because my roomate just bought a new portable unit for himself/the living room. I might pick up 9000 BTU (free) unit tomorrow or a 6000 BTU unit ($40), depending on who responds first. Both are window units. A 5000 BTU unit would be just fine for me but the prices are right...
Thanks...
trisho.
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - PeterB - 04-22-2006
Consumer Reports is really not bad for this; see if you know someone who has a subscription, or get a monthly subscription ($4-5) to get access, then immediately cancel.
My experience has been that you're almost always better off paying more to get more BTU's, so that you actually have to run it less. However another consideration, if you're in an apartment, is that too high a BTU will also have too high a wattage, which will blow fuses. Also, newer units tend to be quieter and much more energy-efficient.
Edit: Oh, and also check epinions/Amazon/etc. for specific models-- these have the advantage of being free, but of course aren't rigorously tested.
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - Ombligo - 04-22-2006
I've found http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/hvac/ to be very reliable about home matters.
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - Grateful11 - 04-22-2006
I'm on my second house with this brand: Goodman. It's good
stuff at about half the cost of Trane. My Dad is putting in a
13 SEER Goodman Heat Pump this week. He's retired now and
did this for over 35 years with his own business. I'm
thinking about going with a 13 or 14 SEER Heat Pump this fall
and using my oil furnace as backup/emergency heat with a
fossil fuel kit.
http://www.goodmanmfg.com/consumer/
Fossil Fuel Kit info
http://toad.net/~jsmeenen/oilpump.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hvac/msg0807295916051.html?6
BTW: I hear the next gen. stuff is going to have CO2 in them instead of Freon.
http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2006/060310.Groll.CO2meeting.htmlv
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - Grateful11 - 04-22-2006
My bad. I was half asleep and was thinking Central Air.
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - trisho. - 04-22-2006
I was wondering about that Grateful11. Thank you nonetheless.
PeterB, thanks for the early response. The 6,000 BTU unit for $40 seems to be the winner right now because it's still available. I checked Amazon.com & Epinons.com before posting and couldn't find it anywhere on Amazon and no reviews on Epinions but found tons of others.
The make/model is Panasonic CW C60RU. I figure this should be enough to cool the room and part of the hallway...does anyone else have a window unit? For a while I was thinking of getting a portable one but most of them need to have an exhaust fan go out the window, so that's not very portable is it?
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - PeterB - 04-22-2006
Trisho, 6000 BTU isn't all that much. It will cool a small bedroom, maybe a little more... it will work, but you may have to run it a lot, and keep in mind the electricity bill... it depends on how much you run it, and how energy-efficient it is, as to whether this will be a good choice.
Use this to help figure it out: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/air-conditioners/reports/sizing-worksheet.htm
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - trisho. - 04-22-2006
Wow, thanks so much for that link PeterB...that was so useful. According to the calculations I would need a 7500 BTU unit to cool my room. On the flip side, since I'm kind of opposed to A. C. now and I have good standing fan, I think I will use it rather infrequently and will do okay with 6000 BTUs. I'm mostly buying it for the really hot days so my Powerbook doesn't suffer damage. All the computers I've had in New York City would become so hot and I needed to focus the fan directly on them to cool down the systems.
And, I'm going to have visitors this summer who are used to air conditioning and will whine about the lack of it. I'm going to see the $40 window unit later today and hopefully the lady has it plugged in so I can see it in action.
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - PeterB - 04-22-2006
Trisho, as I said, 6000 BTU *might* do the job for you-- it really depends on your exact situation. Myself, I started off with a 5,600 BTU (thinking I could get away with that, and also with my apt's poor electrical setup, I was worried about blowing fuses), and quickly realized that that just wasn't going to cut it. I then went to an 8,200 BTU, and have been VERY happy. It's a Sears/Kenmore (don't recall the exact model #), cools wonderfully, energy efficient, super-quiet, has a built-in air purifier, and even comes with a remote-- which is pretty handy. (It was pretty expensive; but you have to consider that a higher BTU means that you will have to run it a lot less, comparatively speaking, so whatever extra you spend on it, you will more than earn back by saving on the electricity bill.)
Re: Where can I find ratings/reviews for air conditioners online? - Sam3 - 04-23-2006
Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know if a fairly inexpensive vertical unit? Our house has sliding casement windows. I just need it for the bedroom, so a 5000-6000 BTU unit would be fine. Most of the ones that I've seen are about 11k BTU and cost upwards of $400-$500
I had read, I'm not sure where, Consumers Reports, maybe, that too large of a unit for a certain size room also is not beneficial. Unfortunatly, I can't remember the reason.