No more home AC virginity |
The flash ruined my picture above but the remote control signals the end of being an air conditioning virgin. Sure, we’ve had AC in cars for years and for a short time in high school in blazing hot and frigid cold Wisconsin I lived in a house with my dad and stepmother that had central air cooked in. Never before today — a day where I blew off the Hmmcast and heat — had we gone out and bought an air conditioner.
I took video and pictures and of my sons and I meticulously measuring the window inserts and the room square footage. I learned how many BTUs are required to properly cool a room and followed the basic guidelines in the chart below:
Room size
100-150 square feet 5,000 BTU
151-250 -> 6,000
251-300 -> 7,000
301-350 -> 8,000
351-400 -> 9,000
401-450 -> 10,000
451-500 -> 12,000
501-700 -> 14,000
Our oldest son and me did some recon at the Local Home Depot, which had a dozen different models to choose from including a couple of portable units.
I liked the idea of a portable unit because I’m not good with putting things together. 
Strike that, I suck at putting things together or doing any sort of maintenance man type stuff unless it involves a computer. Home improvement guy I’m not. I like to cook and can mow the lawn and weed eat the yard. I don’t mind doing the dishes. I draw the line somewhere between there and putting stuff together.
With the portable air conditioners it seemed they came with all the parts and very little assembly was required. With the ones that go in your window you need to wedge something in the window and/or add insulation of some kind around them. I wasn’t up to that tonight.
The lowest BTU portable unit they had was 8,000 which was good for a room “approximately” 250 square feet according to the manufacturer’s box but 301-350 according to the web knowledge I gleaned before shopping.
Our family room is 250 square feet, but this opens into the kitchen which is 182 square feet which brings the total room size to 425 square feet. That means if we planned to use the portable AC in the family room / kitchen it wouldn’t have enough BTUs.
My office in an extended room off the house — and where I record most of the hmmcasts (and where I’m typing this right now at almost 10pm — is 265 square feet. A nice fit in this room. The bedrooms are all too small for the 8,000 BTU unit.
Home Depot had a 10,000 unit for another $100 and we might go back and buy that one, but we decided to go with the 8,000 portable unit first at $299 USD + tax. It has a built in timer and the remote control you already saw. Setting it up was a snap even for a non-Macguyver.
There are multiple settings on the AC: cool (for hardcore AC action), dehumidifier (get that water out of the air) and fan (with low, medium and high settings). With the fan or dehumidifier modes working, it shows the room temperature and when the cool setting is on the green digital reads the temperature the AC is working toward. It also has a timer function to auto turn on and off based on time. We may have to play with this setting a bit to figure out what’s good.
I’m thinking in the morning when it is cooler it will be easier to keep the temperature down with the AC running and heavy shades on the window.
The AC also came with some sticky insulation tape. Need to buy some more and also some duct tape because I saw numerous nooks and crannies that are definitely leaking degrees. All in all the adventure was well worth playing hookey from today’s Hmmcast to chill out, pun intended.
I’m curious what is your home AC situation like? Do you have central air (I’m jealous, that’s the really good stuff), one or more wall or portable air conditioners? Or have you been sweating it out in the hot spring and summer months like we have for many years? I can proudly say I’m not a 40 year old home AC virgin. You?
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Who doesn’t have central air around here…. course, we’re talking about the South.
Back in Sea-town, we have central also, parents finally gave in and put it in years back, but they use portables cuz they’re the only ones at home these days.
Regardless…. what’s this wussin’ out on us and not doing a hmmcast?!?!!! Geez.
Comment by darkmoon — May 8, 2007 @ 10:05 pm PST
Hehe, I did shoot some raw video today for a Hmmcast, just didn’t actually spend any time editing it down. Hmmcast will be back tomorrow, good health willing of course
Comment by TDavid — May 8, 2007 @ 10:33 pm PST
Hey buddy - what are these portable AC units of which you speak? I had not heard of this revolution!!
I lived without AC for the first time, for the past 10 years in my apartment…and finally broke down and got two window units during the last summer that I was in the apartment…..after 10 years of living on the third floor, I finally had enough of the overwhelming heat.
Moved to a house briefly this past year, and now I am back in the apartment, facing another hot summer ahead…..and rather then put those window units back in…I very well might hunt down one of those portable ones….sounds like the real deal to me……and with your endorsement, I’m in!
Comment by Matt Wardlaw — May 9, 2007 @ 6:41 am PST
We live in a 55 year old house that was retrofitted with central air. It’s terribly expensive, though, because the house is poorly insulated and all the windows are…well…55 years old. My home office is in a carport-turned-add-on. It’s on the opposite side of the house from the a/c unit and someone ran a tube from the a/c unit all the way to this room to send air through one tiny vent. Basically by the time the cold air gets here it’s not very cold and it doesn’t really cool this 250 square foot room. We’ve been “sweating it out” for the past two years and really need to do something. Maybe the portable a/c is the way to go. Let us know how it works out, please.
Comment by Bill — May 9, 2007 @ 7:25 am PST
The AC ran all night, Bill, and it was freezing this morning! We turned it off this morning and just reactivated. Seems like it might be good to have it turned off around 10 or 11pm and have the timer come back on at 5 or 6am so it can take advantage of the early morning shade.
Then again what do I know after only one day?
Comment by TDavid — May 9, 2007 @ 8:03 am PST
Sure thing, Matt. The model we bought from the local Home Depot is Everstar Model #MPM-08CR-BB4 ($299 USD). They had 8 of them when we were there last night at our local store. You might be able to buy it online for less money, although it weight 75 lbs so after shipping costs, who knows. It comes with a 5 year warranty.
As you can tell from this picture above there is a small, relatively unobtrusive windows kit that comes with the package. If I can set this up just about anybody can though, it’s a breeze, pun intended. It’s as easy as opening the window and snapping a few pieces together. Literally took a few minutes to set this up and get it rocking.
Oh and did I mention it was on wheels … great for wooden floors or linoleum. Even slides pretty good across carpet.
Comment by TDavid — May 9, 2007 @ 8:42 am PST
We have a heat pump, which works both ways. Efficient and cool.
I couldn’t run all of my computers without some sort of cooling system. My office bakes in the summer as it is.
Comment by Sterling Camden — May 9, 2007 @ 12:26 pm PST
Here in arid West Texas, central AC is a must! We gradually replaced all of our windows over about a 3 year period and that has certainly made a difference. We have ceiling fans in some rooms to help keep the air moving. I do try to shut off the AC at night and open up windows to air out the stale air and save a few $$$.
Comment by Rob O. — May 9, 2007 @ 5:46 pm PST
Yeah, I bet it gets hot in Texas. Is it real dry heat down there like Arizona?
Comment by TDavid — May 9, 2007 @ 7:44 pm PST
Depends on where in Texas. Most of the cities off the gulf coast is like 100% humidity. You step outside and you’re soaked. Ick. I’d take 120 deg AZ heat any day.
Comment by darkmoon — May 9, 2007 @ 8:26 pm PST
Over here in West Texas, it is typically a very dry heat like Arizona but we usually cap out a little under 110 on the hottest days. Unfortunately, we don’t cool down at night like they do in, say, Phoenix.
Comment by Rob O. — May 10, 2007 @ 3:00 am PST
Thanks for the tip - I am going to check out my local Home Depot and try to snag that one, if they have it.
Comment by Matt Wardlaw — May 10, 2007 @ 8:06 am PST
I remember when my parents first got central air.. my wife and I have it now in our townhouse- it’s heaven. With a digital thermostat you can manage the price side pretty well- but in our bedroom we also have a window unit. Since it’s just the 2 of us (and the little pooch) we only need that room cool at night and let the air take a rest, considering how the top floor is harder to keep cool anyway.
Call me crazy, but there’s something nostalgic about a noisy old box in the window keeping the bedroom cool in the summer-time. I sleep like a baby to it’s garbage truck impressions.
My mother does the same thing: despite the central air, she uses a portable window unit in her bedroom since you have to crank the central for top floors. I set it up for her, and I have to be honest- I think a window unit and a portable unit setup are pretty much the same- but there’s no denying the ease of use. You have me tempted on this one!
Comment by mikull — May 10, 2007 @ 8:01 pm PST
[…] After planning, shooting, editing, publishing and sharing over 75 videos this year alone, I’ve learned two important lessons that I’ll share momentarily. Readers and viewers of the weekday Hmmcasts might remember my New Year’s resolution to go all of 2007 weekdays sharing new videoblogs, save for vacations and holidays. Five months are now gone and I’m still here creating videos every weekday (confession: this week I cheated and took a vacation day to buy an air conditioner), almost halfway to the goal of the end of the year. […]
Pingback by Two valuable lessons I’ve learned from videoblogging » Make You Go Hmm — May 11, 2007 @ 10:21 am PST
We have a very old home with jalousie (not sure of spelling) windows that leak like crazy. We are using the window insulator film we used to us up north to keep the cold out. We rent so replacing the windows is not an option & at about $20 a year to do the windows it fits our budget. It doesn’t help to much with the electric bill but it does help keep the house cooler.
Comment by mike — May 16, 2007 @ 4:59 pm PST
does anyone know where I can get the manual for the Everstar Model #MPM-08CR-BB4
Comment by Jason — December 18, 2007 @ 9:05 pm PST