Window Air Conditioners, also known as window A/C or room air conditioners, are excellent solutions for cooling individual rooms and small areas. They are designed to be easy to install (although you may require professional assistance in tall buildings or metropolitan areas).
If only one or two areas of your house need cooling, they can save energy compared to whole house air conditioning systems, and are often ideal for bedrooms and living areas. If you need more than a couple of these air conditioners, and it is possible to do so, central air conditioning may be a better and more energy efficient alternative, but window aircons are a good solution where that is not the case.
Work is still in progress
Energyboom's Best Window Air Conditioner Recommendations are currently being finalized and will be published soon. These are relatively large devices and they can be quite energy-hungry, so our team takes the process of testing, compiling data and reviewing very seriously.
The amount of energy that can be saved by choosing an Energy Star efficient model is significant, and can trim quite a bit off your utility bill while also reducing your environmental impact.
Energy Useage
The amount of energy used varies from unit to unit, with window AC units using anywhere from 500 to 1440 watts of electricity to run. For comparison, a typical central air unit in the average sized home uses about 3500 watts.- For example, a 1440-watt air conditioner running for a 24 hour period would consume 34.5 kWh (1440 watts * 24 hours, divided by 1000). If you pay 18 cents per kWh, running such an air conditioner will add about $6.22 per day to your power bill (plus taxes and fees).
- An energy efficient 500-watt unit would only consume 12 kWh, which at 18c per kWh would reduce the cost to $2.16 - a daily saving of over $4. Most people find they only need to run these units for a few hours in the day or night, reducing costs even further.
About Window Air Conditioners
A window aircon unit is generally more energy efficient than a whole-house air cooling system when only a small area needs to be consistently cooled, and is also more efficient than a portable aircon. A window aircon delivers even more cooling power per BTU (British Thermal Units) due to its greater efficiency in venting the heat created to the outside world.
The unit is stored outside your living space, generally with only the control panel and front of the unit inside the room, which can help reduce clutter.
What sort of Air Conditioner do you need?
There are several options for Air Conditioners, and which is most appropriate for you depends on your own needs. The main factors that may affect your decision include- The size of your space
- Where you want to install the unit
- Local rules and regulations
