AC: To Install or Not to Install

[Cold Miser]

When do you Install?

[dendrite]

1st annual installation thread?

[dendrite]

For me I look at the weather. When a lengthy stretch of heat and/or dews are progged I'll install the window units. Some years they never go in. Some years they don't go in until July or August.

[tamarack]

There's probably a 90%+ chance that Thursday's 91 will be the hottest of the year.  I hope not to use AC at all.  However, should we get into a long run of high 60s/low 70s dews I might install the window unit in the downstairs bedroom.  Last time it was in play was for that kind of stretch in 2013.

[Cold Miser]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

There's probably a 90%+ chance that Thursday's 91 will be the hottest of the year.  I hope not to use AC at all.  However, should we get into a long run of high 60s/low 70s dews I might install the window unit in the downstairs bedroom.  Last time it was in play was for that kind of stretch in 2013.

??? Special region of Maine where you live that will be in the 90's instead of the 60's

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, Cold Miser said:

??? Special region of Maine where you live that will be in the 90's instead of the 60's

Refers to last Thursday, first 90+ since 2005 at my place.

[HoarfrostHubb]

I need an "I voted" sticker

O put in the window units on Thursday.  Used them for 12 hours.  Done for a while

[Brewbeer]

Still haven't installed, doesn't look like they will be going in until June.  I'm in dendrite's camp:  I watch the weather and when the forecast calls for a stretch of high dew points, I'll install the two window units I have in two upstairs bedrooms. 

For me it's the dew point that dictates the install; plain heat can be overcome with window fans once the sun sets as long as the dew points aren't too high.

[Tom12309]

I work from home three days a week, when it gets so hot my sweat dissolves the varnish of my desk I start the window unit.  If it is so hot at night I can't sleep I might start the one in the bedroom but I'm more apt to put the lights on the bike and go for a ride.  The hours after the bars close and before sunrise are magical.

[Damage In Tolland]

I'll never understand the uninstall mentality. Waiting until June and July? I mean what's the harm with having them in the window? Just incomprehensible 

[CoastalWx]

I normally wait until Mem Day, but the heatwave did it. I love it cool...I don't care if I lived with Santa Clause I'd still install. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

8 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I'll never understand the uninstall mentality. Waiting until June and July? I mean what's the harm with having them in the window? Just incomprehensible 

Who uninstalled?  Once mine are in they stay until late Sept usuallly

[tamarack]

7 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I'll never understand the uninstall mentality. Waiting until June and July? I mean what's the harm with having them in the window? Just incomprehensible 

Blocks airflow when not in use.  Why burn kilowatts on a low-mid 60s overnight (the usual for most of summer's "warm waves" here) when the wide open window would provide all the cooling needed?

[Cold Miser]

11 hours ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Who uninstalled?  Once mine are in they stay until late Sept usuallly

Uninstalled right after installing for the season?  That is odd.

[CapturedNature]

I'm in the "wait for a decent warm stretch" to install.  I did install for last week (took less than half and hour) and used them for a couple of days.  It's nice not having them in because it gives me extra cross flow.  I don't see a rush to install them and then not use them for a long period.  I'd rather install them when they are needed and then take them out at the end of September even though I probably won't use them after mid-late August.

Given the lack of an option for waiting for a warm stretch, I put June in because that's usually when it happens.  Sometimes it's earlier.

[wxeyeNH]

We got rid of the old window units a few years ago and got 2 of the portable ones that easily vent through any window.  Takes just a few minutes to put in the vents.  So I just wait for the first heat spell,  if we have any up here.  Last week was really only one hot night and I knew the pattern looked cool again.  So just wait and watch.  Also as we have a 235 year old house with old floor vents to our below ground basement I just open up a couple of vents and blow up cold air.  Works great in times like last week when the basement is still really cold.  Doesn't work well late season.

 

[HimoorWx]

No AC in our house.  Good insulation, lots of shade, ceiling fans, and if we really need it a dehumidifier.

[ApacheTrout]

I don't install.  What a waste of electricity.  Somehow, we've convinced ourselves that we're unable to survive hot weather in the summer.  What a privileged bunch of wussies we are.

[Cold Miser]

23 hours ago, MetHerb said:

I'm in the "wait for a decent warm stretch" to install.  I did install for last week (took less than half and hour) and used them for a couple of days.  It's nice not having them in because it gives me extra cross flow.  I don't see a rush to install them and then not use them for a long period.  I'd rather install them when they are needed and then take them out at the end of September even though I probably won't use them after mid-late August.

Given the lack of an option for waiting for a warm stretch, I put June in because that's usually when it happens.  Sometimes it's earlier.

I added "other" option

[Cold Miser]

On 5/22/2017 at 8:59 PM, tamarack said:

Blocks airflow when not in use.  Why burn kilowatts on a low-mid 60s overnight (the usual for most of summer's "warm waves" here) when the wide open window would provide all the cooling needed?

Makes sense if there are no other windows.  I kind of get that, especially if the hot days are few and far.

 

15 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

We got rid of the old window units a few years ago and got 2 of the portable ones that easily vent through any window.  Takes just a few minutes to put in the vents.  So I just wait for the first heat spell,  if we have any up here.  Last week was really only one hot night and I knew the pattern looked cool again.  So just wait and watch.  Also as we have a 235 year old house with old floor vents to our below ground basement I just open up a couple of vents and blow up cold air.  Works great in times like last week when the basement is still really cold.  Doesn't work well late season.

 

I have 2 of those units, but they are really loud (but cool and dehumidify well). One of them promised to be "whisper quiet" and it is anything but. I don't know of any of those units that are quiet. 

[dendrite]

3 hours ago, ApacheTrout said:

I don't install.  What a waste of electricity.  Somehow, we've convinced ourselves that we're unable to survive hot weather in the summer.  What a privileged bunch of wussies we are.

We can survive 95/70 days too, but it's a lot more pleasant sleeping with 75 and inside dews in the mid 50s.

[HoarfrostHubb]

9 hours ago, ApacheTrout said:

I don't install.  What a waste of electricity.  Somehow, we've convinced ourselves that we're unable to survive hot weather in the summer.  What a privileged bunch of wussies we are.

Can I survive hot and humid?  Of course.   

Am I more comfortable at 72F/52?  Yes

I also like to keep my house above 60F in the winter.  I can survive below that temp but I choose not to keep it below that.   

I suppose in the grand scheme I am "wasting" energy.   Eff it

[ApacheTrout]

5 hours ago, dendrite said:

We can survive 95/70 days too, but it's a lot more pleasant sleeping with 75 and inside dews in the mid 50s.

I'm with you on the pleasant sleeping weather.  It's rough when the dews are high, no doubt.  It's the concept that we are crazy not to install here in New England.  This ain't the Sun Belt.

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 hours ago, ApacheTrout said:

I'm with you on the pleasant sleeping weather.  It's rough when the dews are high, no doubt.  It's the concept that we are crazy not to install here in New England.  This ain't the Sun Belt.

Growing up in SNE we did not have any AC.  My house was a split entry ranch and for much of my time there my bedroom was partly below grade.  While that kept it a little cooler the dampness sucked.  It was also in Foxboro, which has little elevation.

In my current house, at 1000' ASL, the humidity is typically a bit better and the el helps a little with temps. Also heavily forested.  But I do run the AC when the dews are high and the indoor temps creep up.   But I'm not a slave to it.   My workplace is mostly non air conditioned, so I am thankful to have a few weeks off from there when the temps are typically the highest.

[OceanStWx]

I think my biggest summertime issue is midnight shifts. It doesn't have to be very warm: if the sun is out, the bedroom is getting too warm to sleep comfortably. In fact we probably run it more during the day for sleeping than we do at night.

[NECT]

When it's really humid and lows are in the 70's I'm uncomfortable. I can tolerate cold temps, but I sweat like a pig when it's hot and humid. A ceiling fan suffices a lot of the time, but sometimes the ac is going to run. 

[SJonesWX]

if i'm hot, i'm not comfortable

if i'm not comfortable, i ain't sleeping

if i ain't sleeping, i get grumpy

don't let me be grumpy. Install when getting hot.

[West Point, NY]

Keep my house between 70-72, 24/7 all year. Goes below, throw on heat or wood stove. Goes above, central A/C. I will always eat well and be comfortable in my home. Saving money is never an issue with those things for me. 

[tamarack]

My workplace, when I'm not in the woods, is a 4-story masonry building, part of the old Augusta Mental Health Institute, constructed over a century ago, with a (slightly) more recent 2-story "porch" on its east side.  We have AC since a major reno 10-12 years ago, but last summer my porch-sited office would run 80+ on warm days while some interior cubicles had breezy 70 with inhabitants getting chilled.  Prior to the millions spent on renovating, a multiple-day heat spell would warm all that brick and stone until it acted like a Russian fireplace.  Inside temps would climb to 90 or a bit above, and the only AC was in a "plastic bubble" for Maine Forest Service computers tasked with sorting data from thousands of harvest reports - early 90s computers got squirrelly when temps got much above 85.

At home we run fans in the summer heat, and set the thermostats at 60-62 for the cold seasons, though the Jotul combi-fire in the living room keeps things warmer than that.

[BrianW]

I already had the duct work in my house and last year installed a high efficiency heat pump/AC unit. Year round comfort that is extremely energy efficient.

I also just got solar panels installed. Last week when it was in the 90s my net meter and inverter showed I was pumping a ton of power back into the grid. I was sending back 3 times the power I was using and my ac was on. I was probably powering a couple of my neighbors ac's as well and making money off it.

I know if you don't have the duct work it can be expensive but mini splits are a great option for that. The heat pumps are amazing for heating when its not too cold but many work down to the single digits now.

I can control and monitor everything from my phone as well.

Below was from last Fri when it was in the mid 90's. The top right 51 degree number is my duct temperature output.