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Air cooler / Air-conditioner |
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| message from peter on 14 May 2004 |
I have just came back from a visit to Homebase and saw the following
- An Air cooler (which takes in water+ice) at £49
- An 9000BTU air conditioner, which could apparently be suitable for a room
<=20 sq metre at £145
I am really confused which one to get
- 49quid looks amazingly cheap for an air cooler (the next cheapest I
believe is £89 from ARgos)
- £145 is quite cheap for an air-conditioner, although it is Homebase brand
-I like to sleep with my room doors and windows closed (so it is more quiet,
and less dusty), but
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| Ian Stirling replied to peter on 14 May 2004 |
Well, yes.
It's going to melt ice at quite a rate though.
For example, to cool at 9000BTU/hour, will require 62 pounds of ice an hour.
The air cooler is probably very reliable.
It's little more than ice and a fan.
The AC, well, you get what you pay for.
Out of three dehumidifiers (similar mechanics) on the budget end
of the range, one died at about 14 months, out of guarantee, one at 2
months, and was replaced, one has not died as of yet at 6 monts.
(not all from homebase)
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| Mike Faithfull replied to Ian Stirling on 15 May 2004 |
(snip ..)
Sorry, I have to disagree ..... 'cos in this life I've frequently paid for
and NOT got !! It is safer to say you never get what you don't pay for.
Anyway, silly word games aside, (sorry Ian) I certainly would not bother
with a "cooler" as described. In some limited circumstances a 'portable'
(stick-the-condenser-out-the-window kind of device) 'air conditioner' may be
useful, but if you're serious about aircon, there's no substitue for a
permanently installed system. It's now coming up to the second Summer since
I had a small system installed in my 'home office' and just as people say
about having a mobile telephone, or automatic transmission or aircon in the
car, I don't know how I could live without it now. It kept me cool and
comfortable during the hot and humid days, and kept me warm during the
Winter without having to have the heating on in the house. Ok, so the cost
is probably almost an order of magnitude higher than the Homebase jobbie,
but like the man says "you get what you pay for" ...
Er, no, that isn't quite right is it ... umm, .. just a mo, haven't we been
here before? :o)
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| Graham Wilson replied to Mike Faithfull on 17 May 2004 |
I was thinking of a permanantly fitted air conditioning unit. However,
I was worried about the noise of the unit running in a bedroom and
also the noise from the external vent causing a nuisance.
Graham
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| usenet replied to Graham Wilson on 17 May 2004 |
Noise is a problem in my experience, it's inevitable from the need to
move a certain amount of air through a certain sized hole. Having
experienced all sorts of AC units in the middle east over ten years
or so my memories are as follows:-
Individual (i.e. room sized) AC units installed in the wall are
just about always noisy. You can get used to it and sleep with it
but I'd prefer not to.
Individual evaporative coolers (probably little use in the UK)
which we had in many houses in Saudi Arabia were *much* quieter
than AC units, mainly I think because of the lower air speed
(bigger hole) and having no compressor. You could sleep
comfortably with these.
The best system of the lot was the central AC we had in Shell
housing in Oman, very little mechanical noise at all, just the
noise of moving air. Even so it was amazing how much quieter life
became when we turned it off around October time.
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| Simon Gardner replied to Graham Wilson on 20 May 2004 |
Not a problem. Modern units are pretty quiet.
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| G&M replied to Simon Gardner on 20 May 2004 |
"Simon Gardner" <666_@hack.powernet[dot]co[dot]uk> wrote in message
Then why don't American hotels b****y use them ?!!!!?
(always have to take a toolkit to deal with units that don't understand the
concept of "off". Same with bathroom fans that stay 'ticking over'.
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| Andy Hall replied to G&M on 20 May 2004 |
They do as long as you go to the ones where you don't pay by the
hour..... :-)
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
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| Pete C replied to peter on 16 May 2004 |
Hi,
The small portable units are said to be quite noisy. Why do the doors
and windows need to be closed, do you live on a main road/and or have
kids?
cheers,
Pete.
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| Graham Wilson replied to peter on 23 May 2004 |
I have just purchased an air conditioner unit from B&Q. It is a 12,000
BTU unit. It was £297.00
It seems to be very effective and rapidly cools the room. However, the
unit is noisy. It would be difficult to watch the television with the
air conditioner running, unless the television was on very loud. There
is no way you could sleep with it on.
Graham
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| Simon Gardner replied to Graham Wilson on 24 May 2004 |
Very possibly. But I was referring to modern installed split systems. They
just whisper - and the external condenser unit is also pretty quiet. In
most of Juine, all July and August plus lots of September mine is on 24/7
and I am a very light sleeper. They aren't a problem. Desk fans and such
like are a lot noisier.
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| Steven Briggs replied to peter on 14 May 2004 |
In message <c83csu02hsm@enews4.newsguy.com>, peter <peter@mail.co.uk>
writes
Sound like a complete con.
See threads passim on (none) effectiveness of evaporative coolers in our
climate.
Probably not very.
Where does this ice come from? Out of you freezer, that's just spent
several house taking the heat energy out of some water, and dumping said
heat (+some) _into_ your house?
The laws of physics really get in the way of marketing BS sometimes....
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| N. Thornton replied to peter on 15 May 2004 |
Presumably this is an evaporative cooler. These are a cheapie approach
to cooling: cheap to buy, cheap to run. They simply evaporate water
into the air, as well as providing some air movement. The gentle fan
helps cool humans, the evaporation lowers the air temp a little. But
not greatly, and you do need some ventilation. Performance is limited
but they do make life quite a lot more comfortable nonetheless.
Air cons eat electricity, and yes youll need 1 or 2 hoses going
outside, and maybe a heat exchanger.
oh yes
not long. Forget using ice, they need water. Also they need cleaning
to prevent dirt bacteria and mould sprouting. They are baiscally a
water trought, cloth and fan. Easy to DIY.
Exhausting your attic heat is another good approach. Ditto using a
reflective curtain on the sunny windows. Ditto opening the windows at
10pm. Etc, there are many ways.
Regards, NT
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