Internal air conditioners

[Steve]

So I got back from a long weekend in Michigan late last night to find my 3rd floor apartment feels like a sauna. I need to keep this place cooled down, especially for the sake of my two cats. However the lease strictly specifies no objects hanging out windows, including A/C units.

Anyone have experience with the floor-standing kind to share? Anything I should know about them, any good name brands, BTU levels, etc?

 

[Horus]

Cats are retarded. In winter, they go to the place which radiates the most heat (Fireplaces, furnaces, radiators) and in the summer they go to the place which is the coolest (A/C vents, etc)

 

[Steve]

Thanks for your helpful and relevant contribution.

 

[dartworth]

Does anyone in your apartment building use one?

Ask around, someone might have a cooling solution...

 

[1prophet]

Here you go

 

[TheoPetro]

im looken for one of these too. gotta do somethen to cool down my ****** dorm room next year

 

[NetGuySC]

Seen these allot in South Korea, used in houses, restaurants. The one I slept under was mounted where the ceiling and wall met and was about five foot long. Extremely quiet

I think they are great.

One name that I seen for sale, nearby where I stayed, was a "Carrier" shop

 

[shimsham]

you dont have central already?

 

[RossMAN]

Are you asking about a swamp cooler or portable air conditioner?

Good portable air conditioners start around $399 at CostCo, Fry's, etc. and go up from there.

We bought one of these last year but it was $$$
http://www.soleusair.com/Consumer/portable-ac-new.htm

 

[Wheezer]

I have had them and they work well. Wal-Mart sells them for about $400.00 and they are in the 10,000 BTU range.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: shimsham
you dont have central already?

No.

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Are you asking about a swamp cooler or portable air conditioner?

Portable, but I am interested in knowing what a swamp cooler is and if it will do any good.

 

[krazzypanda]

Hey! I think Sams Club sells small AC's for really cheap go check it out... they range from a lot of different sizes.

 

[flot]

Don't make this harder than it is - all you want is a standard cheapo portable A/C.

You can pick them up almost anywhere that sells window A/Cs.

You'll find 8000 btu portables for about $350-450. The bad news is, an 8000 btu window mount would only be $129.

The portable units are, more or less, exactly the same as the window models - but they come with an exhaust duct to vent the hot air generated by the AC out the window. (as opposed to hanging the cooling fins out the back)

 

[Steve]

What is a swamp cooler? What is an evaporative cooler?

 

[RossMAN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_cooler

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

A dorm won't need a very big one... something under 400 wouwld be just right.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Horus
Cats are retarded. In winter, they go to the place which radiates the most heat (Fireplaces, furnaces, radiators) and in the summer they go to the place which is the coolest (A/C vents, etc)

People don't do that?

 

[mercanucaribe]

I don't think you'd need that many BTUs. Once the place cools down, there isn't going to be much need for a lot of BTUs to maintain temperature, especially up in Michigan.

 

[Steve]

I'm in Chicago, in an apartment (not a dorm).

 

[Injury]

You don't have an air conditioned apartment and they won't let you install a window unit?

OMG that's ridiculous!

Is the window unit thing their rule or the city's?

 

[pontifex]

i have one - Sunbeam brand. works pretty well. i think i need to hook it up now though, fvckin hot as hell in here. i hate that it has to vent out of a window. need to figure out a way to secure the window. other thing is that you have to drain them every so often, wgich can be a pita depending on what kind you get.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: Injury
You don't have an air conditioned apartment and they won't let you install a window unit?

OMG that's ridiculous!

Is the window unit thing their rule or the city's?

I'm guessing theirs, Chicago is a big city and I do see many buildings with window A/Cs (I helped a friend install one).

 

[NuroMancer]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i have one - Sunbeam brand. works pretty well. i think i need to hook it up now though, fvckin hot as hell in here. i hate that it has to vent out of a window. need to figure out a way to secure the window. other thing is that you have to drain them every so often, wgich can be a pita depending on what kind you get.

He has it right, it can be somewhat difficult to vent the air out a window properly depending on the house, if you have screens (which you probally do) is become a pita.

We ended up buying another screen, cutting part of the mesh out, and then securing the venting hose just outside the screen. Works like a charm now .

 

[Steve]

Looks like this may be a non-issue after all. I just went outside to move my car and noticed half a dozen window-mounted units out my building's windows. I knew about one already, but these other five must have popped out while I was away this weekend.

Lowe's has some small, cheap ones as low as $90. I think I know where I'm going shopping.

 

[imported_bum]

Originally posted by: sm8000
Looks like this may be a non-issue after all. I just went outside to move my car and noticed half a dozen window-mounted units out my building's windows. I knew about one already, but these other five must have popped out while I was away this weekend.

Lowe's has some small, cheap ones as low as $90. I think I know where I'm going shopping.

Not having central and not allowing window units sounds like some sort of violation to me. Go ahead and put one in the window like your neighbors. If they say anything, raise all hell.