On 7/12/2011 1:09 PM, kansascats wrote:
I plugged my window AC into a "killawatt". It was running 900 watts,
then the past few days it's been climbing to 1000, then 1100, even
1200 as the day wears on -- and the sun beats down on the unit to the
west side.

Suppose shading this could make a big (300 w) difference?


There are a lot of factors that can contribute to increased power
consumption with a dirty coil being one of them but what first came
to me as I read your post was the fact that the voltage in the grid
may be dropping as more and more people run their AC units. When the
voltage drops, the current goes up and the wattage your AC uses may
also go up. Look at the voltage readings when the watts are low and
compare it to the voltage when when the wattage use is higher. One
thing you can do the help your AC unit is the (gently) use your water
hose on a spray setting to wash the outside coil. A power stream will
bend the fins on the condenser so be careful. You can do it while it's
running without a problem as long as you don't direct a direct stream
at the electrical covers through the side vents where you can rinse out
the inside of your window unit.

TDD