What air conditioner to buy, where best price?

seeker

Mon, May 22 2017, 10:27 pm

Thinking of replacing my air conditioner. It's old, noisy, and bothers me that it doesn't shut off when it's cool enough. If I want a break from the noise on Shabbos or after bedtime I need to put it on a timer, and I've gone through several timers because even the heavy duty kind seem to break more quickly on an air conditioner. Or maybe just this one.

But in truth we do have an air conditioner, so it would be hard to justify spending much to replace something that technically works. And we're away all summer, though it can get pretty hot before and after the summer too. We don't have a lot of extra room in the budget.

So:
1 - Where is the best place to shop for an air conditioner? Is there a chain store with the best prices/sales/coupons? A mom n pop store with the best advice and selection?

2 - Any idea what is the low-end price range for something that runs relatively quietly and has an energy-saver mode?

In terms of BTU it's hard to estimate what I need, the a/c goes in a very small room (about 150 sq ft) BUT I need it to push out as much as possible to another, larger room that gets very little airflow. The flow from the a/c room to the next room is really not great but there is definitely a difference in the second room when my noisy air conditioner is going. It's still hot but not nearly as hot as the kitchen where there's no a/c. So the room where the a/c is going 5000 BTU would be plenty, but to get it to push out to the next room I imagine I might need more.

I have a neighbor moving out and selling a 5000 BTU a/c for $75 and I'm tempted but not sure because it might not be enough to make any difference to that second room, and it still doesn't have an energy saver mode (though supposedly it runs quiet) - on the other hand if I'd have to pay 3x as much to get what I really need, then it might just be a choice between staying with what I have or taking the small one.

seeker

Tue, May 23 2017, 10:19 am

Think 6000 would help or do I need to go to 8000? The bedroom (with the ac) is about 13 ft squared, but with some floor-to-ceiling closets shrinking that. The next room is the same width but a few feet longer, and without the closets.

The room with the a/c is a bedroom, plus being small, I'm concerned about noise. The noise from current a/c gets very annoying at times.

Also unsure how to arrange a fan. There is a fan built into the wall between the rooms but it doesn't seem very helpful. And there's a lot of traffic between the rooms so I can't put one in the doorway. Would a fan near the door help? Any particular type of fan?

amother

Tangerine

Tue, May 23 2017, 6:49 pm

First things first, do not take the a/c from your neighbor. The older the model the higher your electric bill will be. Also you may not be able to replace missing parts etc. A 5000 BTU is not a lot, I am in a 12*12 bedroom and thats what I have and it's perfect. I bought a ge model AEZ05LTQ1 for $150 on Walmart.com
Another thing a air conditioner guy told me that there are two manufacturers in China and people put on their own company label on the a/c.
Db electronics is cheap and they deliver in the tri state area.
You can buy on Amazon as well and you can buy an extended canopy insurance on the product in case it breaks.
Our electric bills went from $300 to $60 once we got our new a/c and refrigerator

seeker

Tue, May 23 2017, 9:47 pm

I want energy saver or timer because my ears get fatigued if I don't get a break from the noise, especially since it's in the bedroom so if you keep it on while you sleep then that's a LOT of constant noise. Especially on Shabbos. My parents' house has two a/cs with energy saver modes - one they've had for at least ten years and still seems to work like new, the other they have had probably for close to 30 years and while it definitely does not work like new it still works (the energy saver does not work anymore but the a/c does...) so I'm not so convinced about the compressor breaking, whatever that is.

Ra_mom what do you mean by a digital that works with Shabbos timer?

Amother I decided against the neighbor's because based on this thread 5000 is starting to seem too low. But theirs is not old and spends the winter in a closet, they're just moving far away so emptying out their home. Thanks for the recommendations of where to buy!

ra_mom

Tue, May 23 2017, 11:15 pm

Basically the settings are digital. So you set the unit to a certain degree on the digital display rather than just setting it on high or low. And the unit turns off when it reaches the temperature setting, and turns back on when it gets warm again. It's supposed to be better for the compressor than setting it to energy saver. Some units like that are still compatible for use with a shabbos clock. We had a few such units for years. My husband just reminded me that the digital ones we had with were compatible with shabbos clocks were from Panasonic and really great units.

At one point we also we got hooked up with con ed energy saver program. They sent us a free kit which we hooked up to our units (which happened to not be digital) and they were able to be monitored remotely from our smart phone and computer. We set it with temperature we were comfortable with and it made the unit go and off according to the temperature. We were also able to turn the a/c on when we were on our way home so the house was cool when we got there. Wink