[12amps]

I'm considering powering down. Part of the plan stop using AC and switch completely to a windowed air conditioner device / or a portable air conditioner device.

I'm trying to compare the pros and cons of windowed/ vs portable air conditioner (both are more efficent than the default AC method) and would like to know which one to use?

I've tried to do some research on the internet but have come across a lot of contradicting advice and I'm not sure which to believe.

[pea-jay]

depends.

If your Central AC uses less energy than your intended number of window units, then you are not going to come out ahead in the end. However if you have one or two window units, (new efficient models mind you) and you only use them to cool the room you are in like the living room in the day and the bedroom at night it's better than cooling the whole house.

Now there are some non-AC tricks you can do to avoid the need altoghether. If you live in a dry climate with little or no humidity in the summer, skip the AC altogether and get an evaporative cooler. Those things can cool air at 10-25% of the electrical consumption of an AC. They work great as long as there is little or no humidity.

If you live in a humid climate, your non AC option involves acclimation. THis means wear light clothes, drink lots of fluids, keep the sun out of the house and keep the air move. Basically grin and bear it. As long as you are healthy and keep the air temp below 100, you should be fine.

Fans of all kinds are great in any climate regardless of humidity

[Quirky]

Not sure of the difference between a portable air conditioner and a window unit. Quick search on the former pulls up recreational canteen like units. I would guess full home air conditioners are the most efficient. Efficiency tending to scale with size. Window units, thermodynamic efficiency of the unit aside, will not seal a window as well as double pane glass, likely not as well as single pain. No? Not sure this is obvious or not, but the net heat generated by an air conditioner is always positive. I had a professor that told us that an engineering student was kicked out when he opened up the door of his dorm 'frig to cool the room. Sure he was kidding, University would likely get sued, but too young at the time to know better.

[lutherquick]

12amps

What about switching to AC that is geothermal?
Or onpeak/offpeak units that make ice at night, and the ice is used the next day for cooling the AC unit?

Both are better than window, portable and default ac...

There are even better options if you can spend the money on digging up the ground...

Maybe the window unit is the best if you will huddle in one room and don't want to spend much money... portable are ok but not efficiant because the exothermic side is not outside.

[12amps]

I'm also looking into installing a mini- hot water heater/tank in the bathroom (the hot water for taking showers) and want to get rid of the gaint boiler in the house altogether. I'll only need to turn the portable water heater on whenever I need a shower, and it remains OFF at all other times.

I'm pretty sure this step will save a lot of energy, the third world have been using this for a long time because they could not afford the large boilers that are so prevalent in US homes. But where can I buy such a thing in America? Online does NOT seem like a option becuase the thing is too heavy, what stores would sell this? Home depot maybe??

Thanks

[smallpoxgirl]

Got just what you need!

[SoothSayer]

I think that powering down involves somewhat more than switching from big to small air conditioner.

Simply cutting your electricity usage from 10 gadzillion watts to a mere 5 gadzillion watts won't do it.

When you can run your house from a charged 12-volt car battery for say 2 days before needing a recharge then you are getting there!

[aflatoxin]

We lived without a/c for over 10 years. Our house has wide eaves that keeps the sun off the walls.

The house has a pitched roof/crawlspace. the hot roof is insulated with foil-backed insulation. The crawlspace/ceiling is insulated to r-55. During the summer, I open the gable vents, and let the roof turbines rip. I also have white shingles.

We open windows at night. Close them during the day. We live in the middle of an flood irrigated lawn, and have a few strategically placed trees.

Even when it's 100 outside, it rarely gets over 85 in the house. When I did put in an a/c system, the thing rarely runs except for the hottest days. I keep it set at 80.

Due to good design, the system is pretty inexpensive to run. I put the condensing unit in the shade, which I'm sure helps a lot. It only costs about $10 a month to run. (I would estimate 100 kwh) I could live without it though. The main reason for the a/c was it is part of the dual-fuel heatpump/gas furnace setup.

If I went with earth source heatpump technology, I could probably halve this power usage.

I'm really sceptical about the efficiency of window units.

Swamp coolers work really well in the desert, but, they use a lot of water (I've heard several hundred gallons a day) The City of Albuquerque actively encourages people to use refrigerated air. Swamp coolers suck in a lot of dust and pollen, which can cause problems for some people. the mineral content of the water adds to this issue as well, creating a microcrystiline silica issue, as well as (in this area at least) arsenic, manganese, and other dissolved solids. Plus, swamp coolers can provide a habitat for little beasties like legionella.

I've lived in New Mexico my entire life. I work outside when it's hot. I drink a lot of water, try to stay out of the sun, and if it's really too hot, I go take a siesta, and finish up when things cool off. 100-105 is pretty easy to cope with if you manage things well.

The only time when it was really too hot to deal with it was when i was working in Daggett, California, (125) and Goodvear, AZ (120). I would just avoid these places and live somewhere else

[pea-jay]

If a swamp cooler is sucking several hundred gallons a day, i'd be worried too. They don't however (unless you got a leak or your float valve is busted). Mine went through relatively small amounts of water. According to the California energy commission, a swamp cooler can use between 3 to 15 gallons of water a day. If your electricity is thermally created (fossil fuels or nuclear) the generator uses more water to generate the power the AC demands.

California recommends evap units over AC.

As for the crud, I installed a purge pump. After 8 hours of usage, the unit would pump out all of the water (and crud). No bleed valve usage. With the water getting dumped that frequently and constantly circulating, bacterial infestation chances are close to nil.

Regular cleaning/replacement of the pads also help. It is true however that the unit can suck in more pollen and dust than an AC system would use. The bottom line is keep these units serviced and clean and they will work quite well.

Plus, the purged water is great for yard watering duty. It contains some nutrients. I channeled mine to water the side yard.

[Daculling]

1. Get an attic fan.

2. Open the windows.

3. Turn on the attic fan.

4. Remove unnecessary clothing.

5. Wet bath towel with cold water.

6. Wrap towel around head.

7. Don't move unless necessary.

[Ludi]

We have two window units in our house here in hot central texas. We generally only run one at a time, when we are working in that room. We have two window units in our workshop, which we typically run one at a time only when we are working in there. Generally we only put on the AC in the house when temps get around 95-100F. I'm happy with the window units, they're pretty efficient at cooling the small space.

We don't run AC just for household comfort, only when working for money. Otherwise we just use fans.

[Etalon]

Open the windows at night, and close them during the day!

[dinopello]

1. Get an attic fan.

2. Open the windows.

3. Turn on the attic fan.

4. Remove unnecessary clothing.

5. Wet bath towel with cold water.

6. Wrap towel around head.

7. Don't move unless necessary.

Funny, but this works much better with a significant other present!

[Falconoffury]

I was browsing the news over at LATOC, and this article really caught my eye.

Air Conditioning: Our Cross to Bear

I am a bit surprised by some of the comments. A lot of commenters are basically saying that they will pay for air conditioning no matter how expensive electricity gets. They will fight tooth and nail to keep their air conditioning.

Air conditioning is very different from motor vehicles but has some strong similarities in its effect on the environment. The CFCs and other gases that are eventually released are bad for the ozone layer. They put an enormous strain on power companies during summer months, forcing ever more carbon into the air from the burning of natural gas and coal. Homes built in the past 30 years have lost their energy saving and natural cooling features, making us ever more dependant on air conditioning.

I live in Florida, and we have a huge amount of elderly retirees. Let me tell you, air conditioning is keeping them alive. We would probably lose 5% of southern florida's populations to heat related death if electricity failed during the hottest weeks of summer. We were lucky last year, because after hurricane Wilma, we experienced cool temperatures. If the power goes out for a few weeks this summer, and temperatures are at record highs, thousands will die.

[Leanan]

Newsweek had an article last fall that claimed air-conditioning is the only reason the Gulf Coast is as populated as it is. The rise of cheap air-conditioning coincided with a period of unusually low hurricanes.

Before, there were mostly poor people living on the coast, and not many of them. It was too hot and humid.

Now we have millions living in harm's way, thanks to air-conditioning.

[ubercrap]

Part of the problem is the size of the massive houses being air conditioned. What if one had a tiny house with only certain parts air conditioned? It wouldn't be nearly that big of a deal then.

[NeoPeasant]

My chronic power failure plan is to hang out in the basement with my family in front of a 12 volt solar powered fan and squirt each other with spray bottles of water. Ok, maybe it's stupid, but at least I have a plan.

[SoothSayer]

What does aircon mean to me as a Brit?

The first things that come to mind are:

- overcold hotel lobbies

- overcold up-market shops

- something in my car which I have never ever turned on

- when I visit the US: noisy huge aircraft engine-like objects stuck through my hotel wall keeping me awake all night

My part of Europe can survive without them.

I didn't realise that they were essential anywhere in the USA.

As a child I lived in "hot places" abroad and we had those swirly stylish roof fans ... seemed to work OK.