On Mon, 03 Jul 2006 14:22:27 GMT, (Curly
Sue) wrote:

On Mon, 3 Jul 2006 09:42:05 -0400, "RichK" wrote:


"Curly Sue" wrote in message

I have a 1 yr old through the wall unit, around 18000 btu with a 220v
plug.

1) Does the energy saver mode make a measurable difference in energy
use? Mine goes on and off in what I think is short cycles, I assume
because the room temp increases rapidly. I keep the temp set at
around 74 deg. The room stays comfortable enough.

Not sure what the desiners meant by energy saver mode in your unit. Any
description in the User Manual? Or is it in Chinese?

I found this on the website (it's a GE):

Energy Saver Switch
A sought-after feature of GE Room Air Conditioners is the Energy Saver
Switch. With the switch in the "normal" position, the fan runs
continuously and provides more uniform temperature in the room. In the
"save" position, the fan turns off and on with the air conditioner's
compressor to help reduce power consumption and operating cost.

This is what I hve read in other brands' owners manuals.

Yes, the fan doesn't use much electricity, and I have always found it
surprising that they named it that. I want the fan off when the AC is
off because the constant noise is annoying. During the day, and even
moreso during the night, becuase often it cools off enough at night
that the AC turns off for the rest of the night, and one could have
actual silence if the fan turned off too.

I had a room ac in Brooklyn, and it didnt' turn the fan off between
cycles, so I rewired it so it did. No cutting or soldering or
anything was necessary. Because it had spade connectors, it was just
a matter of taking 3 connections apart and putting them back together
in a different order. The goal was to put the thermostat in front of
both the fan and the compressor, instead of having the fan in front of
the thermostat, so the fan wire is always hot when the AC is ON, and
the fan runs all the time. If the fan is in exact parallel with the
compressor, when one is on the other is on.

Some might worry I suppose that that model wasn't designed for the fan
to go off, but there's almost no difference and it worked just fine.


The fan in an AC is not very useful for personal comfort, when the
compressor isn't on, espcially when one is sleeping and isn't moving
very far. What works well then is a slow fan blowing right on your
body, or your face if the rest of your body is covered by a sheet or
blanket**. For much less money and much less noise, one can have a
much bigger breeze.

The AC is rarely in a place where its vent louvers will direct the
breeze at your body, and because of the convoluted path through the ac
and the vents, the fan motor makes much more noise for what breeze is
geenerated than does a plain table fan. I use a fan speed control,
meant for a wall, but installed in a platic box that I place next to
my bed, to lower the speed until I can't hear the fan but I can still
feel the breeze. There are other ways to do this too. Please post a
question if interested.

**It was hard not to use any covers at all, but I learned in my late
20's or 30's to sleep without any sheet or blanket. It's much more
comfortable in the summer time, unless the room is 70 or less. After
that I switched to very lighweight pajamas, stopped wearing the top,
and eventually, by my mid or late 30's, stopped wearing anything, with
no cover. That makes an 80 degree room feel like a 70 degree room. I
never have any 90 degree rooms at night, but I'm sure they would feel
like 80.

I stopped using a tent when I went camping, unless it was raining or
there was a need for privacy. A thin piece of ripstop nylon's not
going to stop a raccoon or a bear. (Just don't take uneaten food into
the tent.) But I think I was 42 before I learned to sleep outside, on
top of the sleeping bag or a blanket, without any clothes. A group I
belonged to had chosen a park in Southern NJ to go camping. As a
group we were able to reserve our own island, and everyone else seems
to like to sleep near each other. When everyone had chosen a place
and most people were asleep, I took a walk to a place either I had
found earlier or there was enough moonlight, about 300 feet from the
others and because it was humid finally had enough incentive to sleep
naked with no covers for the whole night. I know no one saw me or I
wouldn't have gotten a lot of teasing the next day.

2) Is all of that turning on and off bad for the unit? Should I just
keep it on regular mode running all the time, instead? I know that
the cooling part cycles on and off to keep the temp constant so I
assume the energy saver feature just controls the fan?

Depending how often it cycles. Starting a motor does increase the temp
temporarily, but it stabilizes in a minute or so. If the cycles are several
minutes, there should be no prob. Again assuming the design eng KNEW what
he was doing. Slower fan speed will save a bit of energy, but very little.

They seem to make a big deal of it (as per excerpt above) but
apparently it doesn't change the behavior of the compressor.

After reading the responses, I assume that it doesn't make such a big
difference.

Thanks.
Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!