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Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time?

Posted by Cliff on from the keeping-your-air-temp-in-the-comfort-zone dept.

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?"

2 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Keeping cool by travail_jgd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My apartment's AC isn't that good, so here's some of the things that I try to do:

    1. Change your lightbulbs. Either switch to a lower wattage incandescent, or use the compact flourescent fixtures. The halogen torches stay off all summer.

    2. Turn off computers, lights, monitors and TVs when they're not being used. Yes, it will ruin your uptime, but most computers from the past few years dissipate 30-90 watts of heat. CRTs and TVs also generate a lot of heat. I had a room that I kept 10 degrees F warmer in winter just by leaving the computers (P3-866 and Athlon 1800+) and their monitors on all night.

    3. Use your bedroom for nothing but sleeping. Turn on as few lights as possible, keep the TV and computer out of there. And sex will heat up a room (done properly).

    4. Control your apartment's airflow. Put a fan in the window of your bedroom, aimed in. In another room, put a fan in the window, aiming it out. Close all other windows, and you should get a nice amount of airflow -- either to cool down your bedroom, or take heat out of the rest of the apartment.

    5. Put a fan at the foot of your bed, and crank it up.

    #2, #4, and #5 have the greatest effect in my apartment. Just remember that everything that uses electricity is going to generate some heat, and decide what you want to do from there.

  2. Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU by kinema · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Instead of buying a single Kenmore 15,100 BTU Room Air Conditioner for $US380 (39.7 BTUs per dollar) why not buy three Kenmore 5,250 BTU Room Air Conditioners for US$99 each (53.0 BTUs per dollar)? Install each of the three units in different sections of the house or appartment. Some of the benifits of this solution are as follows:

    -> More uniform distribtion of power leads to greater effiency
    -> Slightly lower equipment cost
    -> Multipule "zones" (at night, or whenever you sleep only one "zone" needs to be cooled)
    -> Smaller units are usually quieter leading to a quieter "zone"
    -> A few more BTUs total
    Just a thought.

    --adam


    "Go back to bed America... your government is in control." --Bill Hicks