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#1
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
I recently moved into a second floor apartment without a window air
conditioner. The only suitable windows for air conditioner placement are over walkways which makes me very uneasy about putting an A/C in there. I think my best bet is putting in a portable A/C. I do have a few questions though. I've been looking at the Sunpentown 1010E units which are 10000 BTU units. ( http://www.sunpentown.com/ ) 1. All the info I see says that these have a LCDI plug. Does this require a special electrical socket? 2. One website says that the 14000 BTU version requires a 20 AMP socket. It specifically says (This unit is designed to operate on a 120-volt/20-amp circuit, using a specific electrical plug and outlet. If you do not have this type of outlet or if not enough amperage, contact an electrician who can install a proper outlet designed to carry the necessary amperage.) I can't find any info on what the 10000 BTU unit need. I checked my sockets and they say that they're 15 AMP. Is this enough? I'm a definite newb when it comes to this stuff. I didn't realize that there was so much to research. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Tony |
#2
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
wrote in message oups.com... I recently moved into a second floor apartment without a window air conditioner. The only suitable windows for air conditioner placement are over walkways which makes me very uneasy about putting an A/C in there. Why? Properly installed, they are secure and do not drip. Easier to get over your fears than have a second rate unit. |
#4
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
Thanks for the help everyone. The support people at Sunpentown said a
regular 15 amp outlet will work fine. Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. |
#6
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
"z" wrote in message oups.com... wrote: Thanks for the help everyone. The support people at Sunpentown said a regular 15 amp outlet will work fine. Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. Happens less often than you might think. Of course, when it does.... It has to randomly fall when someone is randomly benieth it. You can get brackets to secure it more firmly or you can buiold a small platform outside the window. for a 20A plug, the blades have one horizontal and one vertical, it should not fit in a 15A receptacle unless the cord had been replaced. Usually a receptacle with a single plug is installed but they also have 20A duplex receptacles too. In any case, the circuit should be dedicated to that appliance or at least don't use anything else with lots of watts on the same branch or you will trip the breaker. A/Cs draw the most current right when they start up, then it immediately drops to a more reasonable level. |
#7
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
Just FYI... they are not noisy.. but they do burn the electricity.
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#8
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
wrote in message Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. Then stay cooped up in your house. Crossing the street is more of a danger than walking near air conditioners. Installed correctly, it is perfectly safe. |
#9
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
PipeDown wrote: "z" wrote in message oups.com... wrote: Thanks for the help everyone. The support people at Sunpentown said a regular 15 amp outlet will work fine. Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. Happens less often than you might think. Of course, when it does.... It has to randomly fall when someone is randomly benieth it. You can get brackets to secure it more firmly or you can buiold a small platform outside the window. I was thinking the pretty much only chance of it falling, without major structural failure of the wall, is during installation if you manage to drop it before closing the sash. for a 20A plug, the blades have one horizontal and one vertical, it should not fit in a 15A receptacle unless the cord had been replaced. Usually a receptacle with a single plug is installed but they also have 20A duplex receptacles too. In any case, the circuit should be dedicated to that appliance or at least don't use anything else with lots of watts on the same branch or you will trip the breaker. A/Cs draw the most current right when they start up, then it immediately drops to a more reasonable level. |
#10
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
On 25 May 2006 07:57:20 -0700, "z" wrote:
PipeDown wrote: "z" wrote in message oups.com... wrote: Thanks for the help everyone. The support people at Sunpentown said a regular 15 amp outlet will work fine. Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. Happens less often than you might think. Of course, when it does.... It has to randomly fall when someone is randomly benieth it. You can get brackets to secure it more firmly or you can buiold a small platform outside the window. I did the latter. And even though there was no walkway underneath. Actually, first I put in a shelf in the kitchen, to hold plants outside the kitchen window. Then I put a charcoal grill on that shelf and had many nice grilled meals from my fifth floor apartement. (window couldn't be seen except by recovering drug addicts next door, although one time one of them told someone there was a fire in my apartment. That's when the charcoal lighter was still burning, and it certainly looked like a fire from 4 flights down. Also, on rare occasiosn the smoke blew into the kitchen enough to bother me, and I closed the window several times. Once during the flaming part, I broke the window. But only once out of about 50 times.) Then I put the AC in my bedroom, and the first thing I did was build a shelf, just a piece of plywood with 2 wood blocks nailed to it. The blocks sat on the cement window sill, and the plywood was nailed to the wooden, outdoor window frame. I removed the AC when I left, but the shelf was still good. I was thinking the pretty much only chance of it falling, without major structural failure of the wall, is during installation if you manage to drop it before closing the sash. That's enough. And you forgot when it is removed for any reason. for a 20A plug, the blades have one horizontal and one vertical, it should not fit in a 15A receptacle unless the cord had been replaced. Usually a receptacle with a single plug is installed but they also have 20A duplex receptacles too. In any case, the circuit should be dedicated to that appliance or at least don't use anything else with lots of watts on the same branch or you will trip the breaker. A/Cs draw the most current right when they start up, then it immediately drops to a more reasonable level. |
#11
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
On Thu, 25 May 2006 03:20:45 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote: wrote in message Also, I am worried about the window A/C dropping on someone's head. Then stay cooped up in your house. Crossing the street is more of a danger than walking near air conditioners. Installed correctly, it is perfectly safe. The difference is that crossing the street is a danger to oneself. Dropping an AC is a danger to someone else. Higher standards apply. |
#12
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Portable Air Conditioner Questions
wrote: I recently moved into a second floor apartment without a window air conditioner. The only suitable windows for air conditioner placement are over walkways which makes me very uneasy about putting an A/C in there. I think my best bet is putting in a portable A/C. I do have a few questions though. I've been looking at the Sunpentown 1010E units which are 10000 BTU units. ( http://www.sunpentown.com/ ) 1. All the info I see says that these have a LCDI plug. Does this require a special electrical socket? 2. One website says that the 14000 BTU version requires a 20 AMP socket. It specifically says (This unit is designed to operate on a 120-volt/20-amp circuit, using a specific electrical plug and outlet. If you do not have this type of outlet or if not enough amperage, contact an electrician who can install a proper outlet designed to carry the necessary amperage.) I can't find any info on what the 10000 BTU unit need. I checked my sockets and they say that they're 15 AMP. Is this enough? I'm a definite newb when it comes to this stuff. I didn't realize that there was so much to research. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Tony Consumer Reports just had a mention of these kind of ACs in the new issue (not a full review). They looked at 3 10,000 btu models and found that they delivered less than half of that. They recommend that instead of a one hose model that sucks in room air to cool the condensor and blows it out the window, you look for a two hose model that sucks in outside air to cool the condensor and blows it back out. That makes great sense, I didn't know they made such things. |
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