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Will putting a window unit in help if an apartment has underpowered air conditioning?

Freejack2

Freejack2

Diamond Member
The apartment we live in has an old central air unit and combined with our computers it causes the central air to run all day when it gets even remotely warm out.

The warmest room is of course the room we have our computers in (Converted the second bedroom to a computer room). On a 90 degree day if we set the a/c to 72 to 74 degrees it will get to about 75-77 in most of the apartment, but in the computer room it'll be over 80 degrees.

Would getting, say, a 6k btu window air conditioner to put in the window of the room with the computers help to save money?
I'm wondering if we did that if we could set the central air to 75-76 so it won't turn on much and then use the window air conditioner to keep the computer room.
 
Maybe you should get another apartment or talk to the landlord about air not working that great. They should get you the window unit. Remember you have the control. Apartments are a dime a dozen. How many tenants do you think there are that pay their bills on time and are law abiding? Not many. If you do get a window unit it will help cool the apartment but those things are know to use lots of electricity.
 
Modern air conditioners use less electricity than they did 20 years ago. I cool a very large room using a 10,000 btu a.c. and it costs maybe 40 bucks a month in the summer. So if you just need a bit of cooling your cost should be pretty low.
 
The central air in this apartment was installed in 1980 so it's not exactly new. Other than the ac sucking in the summer we really like this apartment and plan to move into a home from here eventually.
If the computers are off it's not nearly as bad, but with them on the ac can't even begin to keep up.

Edit: Wife corrected me, the A/C unit was installed in 1980.
 
Before I got central A/C installed, I ran two window units, and my electric bill ended up being pretty much the same with central air... of course, it's much better at keeping the house cool.
 
I would get a pretty decent sized window unit that would be capable of keeping the computer room cool by itself and close off the central air vent in that room. That would allow you to effectively divide up the house cooling workload between the two units, one of which will likely be much more efficient due to being newer. The added air pressure going to the other rooms due to the closed vent may be enough to allow the central air to cycle at a more comfortable temperature. Not having to run the central air constantly will save you some money I would think.
 
to answer your question , yes a small unit will make a dramatic difference.There are stand alone units out now that you can use(not a window unit).I had the same problem at my camp.The great room has a 20' cathedral ceiling that the central ac had trouble keeping as cool as I would like .I used a small(5 or 8btu)unit,its all good now.You can take it wuth you when you move,or sell it.I got mine at homedepot for 80$ last year.
 
Ask the landlorf when the last time the A/C system was checked out?

Could just need to have the coils cleaned and maybe a charge.
Also check/replace the filter. Is thew duct work in the attic? If so see if it is leaking and also put soem foil aroind the duct work if it has none. Cheap and easy to do and can work whoders.
 
A good friend of mine bought a house a few weeks back with a busted central heat/air unit. He went and bought a small window A/C and it does a pretty damn good job keeping most of his house cool. It's not a very big one (don't remember the BTU but Haier was the brand) but his house is around 2,000 square feet.
 
I put a 15kBTU window unit in the back of the house and it kicks arse. does a great job of kewling the back bedrooms. makes it easy to sleep at night. homeDepot or Lowes should have em.
 
They checked it over last year when the fan seized on it. It's nearly 30 years old so I'm guessing it's just not meant to cool a place with computers.
 
Originally posted by: Freejack2
They checked it over last year when the fan seized on it. It's nearly 30 years old so I'm guessing it's just not meant to cool a place with computers.
Click to expand...
Have you considered underclocking?

 
How many computers do you have?
Each one probably uses less than 300W total (monitor included).
Google calculator says you'd get 3412 BTU/hr from 1000 watts.
Granted, some of the computer's energy is converted into useful means, namely computations performed, and light and sound emitted by the monitor and speakers. But a lot of the energy going into it is converted into heat.
Underclocking would only marginally reduce a computer's overall power usage.

A window unit would help, as the main objective is simply to remove energy from the system which is your apartment. If you've got something else dumping heat outside, that's less work that the central air system would have to do. Would it be enough to allow the central air unit to cycle off occasionally though? Don't know.


 
Originally posted by: Freejack2
They checked it over last year when the fan seized on it. It's nearly 30 years old so I'm guessing it's just not meant to cool a place with computers.
Click to expand...
Did they replace the filter, clean the condensor, recharge it, stuff like that? I'd make sure the central AC is up to date on maintenance first, a little TLC might really increase performance. If it's truly just not powerful enough for the apartment, though, window AC would probably help.
 
The AC just blows air in my apartment, barely cooler than ambient temperatures (if it's cooler at all). It's not even worth turning on. We were going to ask the landlord to look at it this weekend when he came over to bring us the new lease, but he canceled.

I know that landlords must provide and maintain, say, plumbing and sewage service, but what about air conditioning? This is SoCal, BTW.
 
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