Understanding Your Air Conditioner Options

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If you are a homeowner, then HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) plays a big role in your life. Educating yourself about your climate control options can save you a nice chunk of change and make your home as comfortable as possible. To help you get better acquainted with the subject, here is an explanation of the different types of air conditioners and their uses:

Central Air Conditioners

Most air conditioners are centralized systems that serve entire buildings. While they are immobile, they are also quite a bit more efficient than other types. They also have the benefit of being nonintrusive in your daily life. While you might trip over a portable air conditioner, central units are located out of the way and distribute cool air through a system of vents in the walls. Unfortunately, this means that it can be difficult to troubleshoot your central AC if something goes wrong since everything is so hidden. If you do end up needing to fix the AC unit itself, you shouldn't try to conduct any repairs yourself. Centralized AC's use a massive amount of power, which can be a hazard even after being turned off. 

Portable Air Conditioners

If you don't need to cool an entire building, then you might want to look into portable air conditioners. As the name would suggest, such a unit can be easily moved from one location to another. If you only need to cool down a single room for a short period of time, then a portable air conditioner is a lot more cost effective than installing an entire central system. However, a portable AC is not very effective at cooling down an entire building, and will do the job both slower than a central air conditioner and at a much higher cost. Due to their smaller size, portable air conditioners tend to be louder and less energy efficient.

Window Air Conditioners

Finally, the window air conditioner is a good choice if you have an open window in the room that you want to cool and floor space is at a premium. These units sit in a window and cool down some air, which is then blown into the house. Heat created by the cooling process is vented outside the window. Although you need a window to run one, window air conditioners are easier to install than other options. The only major problem that is unique to the window AC is that you run the risk of the unit falling or being pushed out of the window. However, these units tend to be equipped with anchoring mechanisms that make such a situation incredibly unlikely.

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11 August 2015

all about attic ventilation

While sitting in my living room on a hot summer day, I could feel the heat coming through the ceiling out of my attic and making the house warm up more than it should. I crawled up into the attic one evening to find out that the roof vents weren't working any longer because they were clogged with all sorts of debris. Did you know that when this happens, your home's temperature can rise to very uncomfortable levels? Did you know that your home could actually be damaged if the attic isn't well vented? This blog will show you all about attic ventilation.