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Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time?
uvince asks: "Sure, the air is on all day at work, but when you are at home and it warms up (as the west coast is now) what do you do when a fan just won't cut it? Do you install a swamp cooler, set out a standing air conditioner, or install some air conditioner that fits in the window. How can I keep my apartment, or at least my bedroom cool? Anyone have any creative, green ideas?"
swampies can cause fungal growth if you dont clean offen, (high temp + humidity)
My Athlon workstation noticed the heat before I did. It crashed three times in one day. Wasn't the OS (LeeNux for heaven's sake), couldn't be MY code, must be the hardware. Cracked the box and sure enough dust bunnies camping out all over, including the cooling fins under the cpu fan. All was well after a simple vacuum, but it got me thinking, at 90F, it isn't even hot yet for the Central California Valley.
I hate using the AC, but most recent architecture around here assumes that you will use it. There is an earth burmed home a short distance from here. Makes perfect sense in this climate.
First entomology, then virology, and finally bioinformatics systems. Bugs follow me wherever I go.
We're purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU Room Air Conditioner for $380. This is why I like it:
* Highest BTU A/C that runs on 115 volts
* Isn't a no-name brand
* Is cheap.
I researched a *lot* of a/c's and that's what I came up with.
(If anyone else has found a better one, let me know!)
Daniel
I have a drafty apartment, with a bedroom of about 15 ft by 10 ft. Last summer I bought a box air conditioner that goes in the window. It's a 6000 BTU that I got at Wal-Mart for around (I think, dont quote me) $160.
Some nice things about it is that it attempts to maintain a certain temperature. You can set it to a desired temperature and it'll (try to) maintain that temperature by varying it's output over time. I cant tell for sure how accurate it is, but it gets the job of done from the standpoint of maintaining a consistent "feel".
You can also set a timer to turn it off after so many hours, or on after so many hours. This good for when I go to bed, I can set the timer to turn the a/c off after 2 hours so that it's not running all night, and then, when leaving for work/school in the morning, set it to how long I plan on being out minus one hour, this way my room is cool by the time I get home without the system running all day with no one there.
As for how much it's added to the electric bill, I cant really tell (nor remember). I have two roomates, each of whom have their own a/c boxen in their bedrooms. But yes - the bill will go up by a significant margin.
If you choose a box air conditioner - pick one suitable for the size of the room it'll be installed in. If it's a small room like mine, 5000 or 6000 BTUs will do, but if it's larger, go something with more strength. I highly recommend the features like those I noted above.
oh - and the best feature of my air conditioner - It has a Remote Control!
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Keep the windows open at night. Let it get really cold throughout the house (except maybe the bedroom). Close the windows and blinds in the morning. Having tight seals on doors and windows helps here.
In the evening, use fans to bring in cooler air from outside. (This depends on where you live. In the San Francisco area, it gets down into the 50s and 60s in the evening.)
Put the fans in the windows. Block off as much of the window as you can except the area where the fan goes. Ideally, you can find box fans that fit precisely in the window.
Important: point the fans OUT. Open a window on the other side of the house where air will come in. Pointing fans out is more efficient at moving air than pointing them in. Although pointing them in feels better, it doesn't do as good a job at actually bringing in cool air from outside.
Don't use interior fans except when you are in the room.
At night, I cool down the non-bedroom areas. During the evening, those areas are most comfortable, so I stay there. But I'm also cooling down the bedroom so that by the time I go to bed, the bedroom is comfortable.
And lose some weight. You'll sweat less.
The first time I saw an air conditioner was when I was 7 years old and moved to the east coast.
Dispite the pacific north west's relitivly low cost of electric... air conditioners are none too popular. I mean it would be kinda cool to have one in the car, and I plan to upgrade to having one in the future, but for the most part they are they are rare items to find.
For me, a large attic fan is most adquate for my cooling needs, though it wasn't quite enough when I was operating a sun 4/260 i'll tell you.
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While this wouldn't nessicarly apeal to the apartment dweller, I saw something on telivision regarding terrestrial heating. basicly it went like this. Antifreese in copper pipes underground. In the summer time, ground temp in most enviroments is cooler then air temp, just flow water through system, blow air over radiator, radiator = heat. In winter, assuming ground temp is greater then air temp, same deal but just add a touch of heat. The idea was to lower heating bills.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
I used something like this once for the purpose of keeping the room at a decent humidity, because a place I was renting had friggin' dry air. As a side effect, it did cool down the room quite a lot. (Alas, it was the winter and an undesired side effect.)
I bought one of these 'cool air humidifiers' for CDN$50 at Future Shop (which is now owned by Worst Buy.) These are not to be mistaken for 'warm air humidifiers'. There are tons of models out there from various companies. I suggest you check out your nearest 'home improvement' type store (building box, home depot, etc.) and see their selection.
The only downside about them is that you have to clean them once a week which involved vinegar and a small amount of bleach. If you're not careful, you can easily leak water over everything during cleaning. Also, you've got to get a new filter once or twice a year. More often if you have hard water. And yes, it does work fine with hard water.
For your situation, I'd suggest you get one, and leave it running on 'low' most of the time. The higher settings are kind of noisy.
Since I own my house, I decided to get my walls injected with tri-poly insulation. My house is all brick and hollow tile construction, so it was a bit difficult for them to do the task, but it's worth the money. On days where we hit 80 degrees here, the house has warmed up inside to at most 68-70. This, combined with opening windows at night, should make life bearable inside this summer.
Heute die Welt, morgen das Sonnensystem!