We live in a mobile home in the southwest.

The central A/C unit is about 10 years old.

When the unit needs replacement,
could I get comparable cooling by installing
3 X 5K window units throughout the house ?

It would certainly be a helluva lot cheaper.....

How about efficiency ??

Good plan? or not ......

rj

"RJ" wrote in message
...
We live in a mobile home in the southwest.

The central A/C unit is about 10 years old.

When the unit needs replacement,
could I get comparable cooling by installing
3 X 5K window units throughout the house ?

It would certainly be a helluva lot cheaper.....

How about efficiency ??

Good plan? or not ......

Check the total current draw of the 3 units compared to the single that you
would have instead. Next, consider the air circulation It may not be
adequate to keep the entire place completely cooled. Bathroom, for instance
may be a hot spot. This can be overcome some with a fan. That will give
you at least a start on your comparison.

Window-shakers would make it trivial to zone the cooling, maybe more
than you really want. Depending, they are noisy.

Their side-curtains for sealing opening in window are typically lousy,
which doesn't boost efficiency.

Window-units should really be on a circuit such that there's minimal
voltage drop from the panel to the outlet, so some rewiring may be in
order. Of course, for motor-loads, the outlet should not be
"back-stabbed", but with screw-terminals.

J

For comparable cooling, your current central air conditioner would have to
be 15,000 BTU, and they don't make them that small. Your current unit is
probably 230 volts, and most 5,000 BTU window units are 115 volts. To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

"RJ" wrote in message
...
We live in a mobile home in the southwest.

The central A/C unit is about 10 years old.

When the unit needs replacement,
could I get comparable cooling by installing
3 X 5K window units throughout the house ?

It would certainly be a helluva lot cheaper.....

How about efficiency ??

Good plan? or not ......

rj

Bob wrote:
For comparable cooling, your current central air conditioner would have to
be 15,000 BTU, and they don't make them that small. Your current unit is
probably 230 volts, and most 5,000 BTU window units are 115 volts. To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

Are you assuming that the averaged SEER of window shakers is going to be
half that of a central AC unit?

Richard Perry



"RJ" wrote in message
...

We live in a mobile home in the southwest.

The central A/C unit is about 10 years old.

When the unit needs replacement,
could I get comparable cooling by installing
3 X 5K window units throughout the house ?

It would certainly be a helluva lot cheaper.....

How about efficiency ??

Good plan? or not ......

rj

"Bob" wrote in message
...
To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

How do you figure that? Amps drops when voltage doubles, but watts is what
we pay for.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Bob" wrote in message
...

To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.


How do you figure that? Amps drops when voltage doubles, but watts is what
we pay for.


Hi,
Higher voltage unit would have better efficiency but not to a tune of
double amount. Watt is unit of power. Energy is measured in Watt hour.
Tony

If you know the amperage and the voltage, you can find the wattage.
Amps x volts = watts
1 watt x 1 hour = 1 watt hour

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
om...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

How do you figure that? Amps drops when voltage doubles, but watts is
what
we pay for.

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:43:17 -0600, RP
wrote:



Bob wrote:
For comparable cooling, your current central air conditioner would have to
be 15,000 BTU, and they don't make them that small. Your current unit is
probably 230 volts, and most 5,000 BTU window units are 115 volts. To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

Are you assuming that the averaged SEER of window shakers is going to be
half that of a central AC unit?

Richard Perry


Exactly!

All the previous posters are full of it.

The windows units will cool your house just fine and at half the cost
of your central unit. Assuming of course, that you do the smart
thing and only buy high EER units. Nothing lower than a 11 EER.

And you can buy 220 or 110 and have a line run if one is not there.
You probably aren't using that 220 line behind your gas stove, anyway.

I didn't know they made 5,000 BTU window units in 220 volt.

"WM" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:43:17 -0600, RP
wrote:



Bob wrote:
For comparable cooling, your current central air conditioner would have
to
be 15,000 BTU, and they don't make them that small. Your current unit
is
probably 230 volts, and most 5,000 BTU window units are 115 volts. To
match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much
in
electricity.

Are you assuming that the averaged SEER of window shakers is going to be
half that of a central AC unit?

Richard Perry


Exactly!

All the previous posters are full of it.

The windows units will cool your house just fine and at half the cost
of your central unit. Assuming of course, that you do the smart
thing and only buy high EER units. Nothing lower than a 11 EER.

And you can buy 220 or 110 and have a line run if one is not there.
You probably aren't using that 220 line behind your gas stove, anyway.

WM wrote:

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:43:17 -0600, RP
wrote:



Bob wrote:

For comparable cooling, your current central air conditioner would have to
be 15,000 BTU, and they don't make them that small. Your current unit is
probably 230 volts, and most 5,000 BTU window units are 115 volts. To match
the BTUs you have now, 115 volt units, it will cost you twice as much in
electricity.

Are you assuming that the averaged SEER of window shakers is going to be
half that of a central AC unit?

Richard Perry



Exactly!

All the previous posters are full of it.

The windows units will cool your house just fine and at half the cost
of your central unit. Assuming of course, that you do the smart
thing and only buy high EER units. Nothing lower than a 11 EER.

I didn't know that they had 11 EER window shakers. Did you mean 11 SEER?
Anyway, yes, the window unit configuration can actually cost less to
run, that is, given the inherent zoning capability that goes above and
beyond the control offered with typical zoned central systems. Also vs
an initial install they would be much much cheaper up front due to lack
of ductwork. But I'll stick with my central AC nevertheless

Richard Perry

Bob wrote:

If you know the amperage and the voltage, you can find the wattage.
Amps x volts = watts (Right-on, Bob)
1 watt x 1 hour = 1 watt hour


There is NO difference in the units efficiency or operating costs based
on whether it operates on 230-volts or 115-volts.
Doubling the voltage halves the amperage for the same wattage
requirements. a 230-volt load reduces the amperage load on conductors, etc.
The EER rating has to due with the design of the A/C NOT the voltage it
operates with. - udarrell

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