I have solar on my house, interconnected with the grid. During summer, in the desert, I still see a high bill but I keep my house pretty darned cool (23C or there abouts) I'd like to have a couple window units that can help maintain temperature during the day, specifically my bedroom that gets hit with the sun. I'm working on insulation in the sun facing window and the secondary window that only gets a little morning sun would have the A/C Unit. I would close my bedroom during the day so it can stay cooler than the rest of the house. The other section of the house I'd put one more unit in a place that doesn't get much sun.

The objective is to use less power during the day by shutting off the main A/C and to have backup in case of a power outage. My generator probably won't start my main A/C unit (I believe it's a 5ton) so I want these for when those brownouts sometime happen in the middle of summer (and the solar has an automatic shutoff per regulations so I can't count on that.)

House is 2000sqft, two bedrooms sequestered and on shady side so I won't worry about cooling them as they stay shut. Main room is probably 1,000 sqft, again don't need this one super cooled but just maintained, I will run main A/C at night to get to the operating temperature I want. Master Bedroom is probably 450sqft counting open bathroom and open gun room.

I'm thinking two 10kBTU will do it, I'm trying to find ones that aren't terribly noisy (especially in the case of a power outage and I have to rely on it solely for sleep purposes, I'm a light sleeper) and energy efficient. 1kW or less is desirable. And won't break the bank either.

I shut down my A/C from 3-6pm to get a cheaper rate and my house will climb up to about 85. If I can get a window unit with a timer, I'll run those during that time so I will still have a surplus feeding back into the grid and hopefully can keep the inside temps from climbing that high in the three hour span. I'll likely be at work during that time period so a timer would be a must.

Any experience with window units from anyone here?

Most of the new units come with a temperature setting, the fan comes on periodically and checks the temperature.

I have an outbuilding on our ranch that I use a 10K btu unit to cool. Also run it from our generator if needed.
The building is well insulated (Texas heat) and the unit works pretty well. Not an energy hog by any means.

You mentioned the desert. You might look into an evaporative aka "swamp" cooler for use with your solar setup.
Basically you are just running a fan and a small pump to recirculate water to the pads.
A lot less energy draw than an a/c.
It's not as cold, of course,
but we use one an our rear deck and its not bad.

Nooooope, don't like swamp coolers. Can do without the humidity and once monsoons roll in, they're worthless anyways. I don't mind them on a back patio or something like you do. This is strictly for in the house.

I've been looking around online, hard to weed out some of these reviews. Some say quiet, other say super loud for the same unit I don't know, just toying with the idea. My real concern is a blackout or brownout during the summer, I don't think my genny will have the surge strength to start the big A/C. I suppose I could test that theory soon by cutting all power and isolating that one circuit and seeing if it'll start it. Hmmmm.

I went cheap so I was usually messing around in wally world looking at the 100 dollar 5k btu or whatever the 100 dollar stuff works out to.  With inflation it might be 110 or 120, I have not been in wally world to see this years ac units yet.



I like manual stuff, sure a remote is nice but I like manual stuff.



Being able to turn a knob or dial and make the fan come on and then kick in the ac once the fan is up to speed can let a generator see less initial hit.  I doubt you will have an issue really, but I had a generator barely able to run the thing, it usually ran on grid power but if the power is out I want my ac.



I do not like stuff cycling on and off and the compressor kicking on and off.  I can adjust to a constant noise but changing noises wake me up.



So while I had a whole first floor on a house to cool, I ran 2 window ac units.  The kitchen got hot but I was never in the kitchen very long.  The bedroom and living room are where I spent my time, so I set things up to cool those the best.  It was a pretty open floor plan on the first floor and a fan helped move the air around and let the 5k units do fine.



My bill was no worse doing this with the little units running about all the time vs. the previous year when I tried the landlords monster window ac unit she left.  It was modern enough to have a remote and digital temp setting, but it would freeze you out right by it and not really cool as much.



I forget its rating so it is probably unfair since it might have been an 8k unit vs 2 of the 5k units.



Plus 2 5k units meant if one dies I still have one left.



In spring and fall it would get cold enough I shut em down at some point.  But in the summer they just ran all out all the time.



Electric bills were a bit over 100 bucks a month and that included well pump, couple deep freezes but one was converted to a fridge.  Computers and lots of chargers for today's gadgets and tools and what not.



Shade would help you a ton, and especially over the window and its ac unit.  House I was renting had a lot of trees keeping it in the shade.  House was old but windows were new and efficient.



While I don't really consider these window ac units disposable, I sure the heck don't think I will be paying anyone to put in a compressor or recharge the unit if it needs work.  I took mine in for the winter and stored them out of the weather.  Would generally take em apart a bit and clean things up.



Read up on today's window ac units, used to be all the water drained out, the ones I run into these days have the fan splash water around to cool the coils and it does drain but it is not like the old ones where all water drained out.  This splashing water may or may not be an issue, I chose specific windows because of the water.  Did not want the water splashing me going in and out the front door or anything.

Well, we don't have monsoons in Texas,
and the humidity is usually low out at our ranch - which is a requirement for a swamp cooler anyways. (low humidity)

The cooler is used for the back deck, but it is installed in a window next to the window to our living room. - easy 90 degree turn to install into the living room.
The thought being, in case of a prolonged power outage, we can power it with an inverter and our battery bank - better than nothing. (actually much better)

Short term power loss, we have always used a window a/c and the generator.
plus,
A small window ac in the bedroom can be a real treat if the main ac unit breaks down,
which always seems to happen on a Saturday night..... hmmmmm

The last hurricane that blew thru, we used a 12k portable unit on wheels in the bedroom using generator power. Kept the bedroom reasonable. The rest of the house got fairly warm since the power was out for 2 days but the two bedrooms had their own portable units and they worked fine. None of the ones we've used/seen have been what I would call "quiet". But with generators all over the neighborhood now, it's not like even if you had a whisper-quiet one, it would make much difference in the noise level.

We used a window unit at our old home to supplement the central ac. We bought the largest 115 volt 15 amp plug unit they made.  It turned out to have almost as high energy efficiency rating as the central ac.  We use it to keep the rest of the house at 78, but keep the bedroom colder.    We installed it in early August and we dropped our  elect bill by $75, even though the month was hotter.  

I wish we could use it in our new home, but the HOA has a clause specifically prohibiting window units.

The new units ar very quiet. It never bothered us sleeping and we were glad we has it during A 3 day power outage the next year.

The new unit I just bought for our cabin has a timer built in

We have a small 5k $100 window unit from Menards that went into my office/soon to be living room. We have an 18 year old Roper 5k unit in our big bedroom, even on low it keeps it plenty cold in there (cold means the spiders don't like the bedroom and tend to go downstairs where we deal with them during the day). We have a 12k btu window unit as the only AC downstairs. Will freeze you out on low easily. The 12k unit is a kenmore, electric (lost the remote, though), but it "gently" enables the fan then the compressor, and a 3500 watt generator doesn't even notice it is there.

Hope that helps.


Oh, our house is an old log cabin/stick combo. 1 1/2 story, old shitty windows. 1400 sq ft total, but very boxy (opposite of open floor plan)

Thank y'all. I'm rethinking what I do. I think a 5k will be sufficient for the bedroom if I block the main heat bearing window. Closing off my bedroom should allow it to remain cool, I don't need it cold quick, just maintain until I get home. I'll probably stick to a 10k in the living room since it'll be for the rest of the house.

And that way I have something if power goes out my main genset can handle those easy enough.

I would suggest that in lieu of a window unit you consider one that is wall mounted with the compressor outside (generally referred to as a split system) and just the vents for the most part inside.

They are a little more pricey but far more efficient and since the noisy stuff is outside they tend to be very quite on the inside. They are also of considerably higher quality than most window units and don't require you to hack up a window to install them.

http://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/products

A lot of people are installing these in lieu of central A/C as you can put them where you need them instead of trying to cool a whole house.

We have a 6K BTU Frigidaire window unit (about 2 years old,) that will be pressed into service if the need arises, in one room. After a hurricane, if the power goes out, the next day is usually clear and nice. But, the following day, the humidity and heat come in with a vengeance. Having one room that can be cool is a real treat.I can push this unit with my Champion Inverter Genny. It sips fuel. Until then, it sits in its box. We used it a couple of summers ago to cool the upstairs, as I replaced the 3 ton unit on the second floor.

I think I got the best deal from Amazon, believe it or not.

I had a freestanding unit on wheels that stays in the room and vents out a nearby window.  I liked it way better than window units (the kind that perch in the window).  It was freaking awesome and ran off plain old 110.



I have an 10,000 BTU Everstar but got central air a while back and got rid of it.  I assume there are much better ones now.



It was kind of like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-MN10CESWW-Portable-Conditioner-Control/dp/B00B2BTAV6/ref=pd_sbs_hg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0GJ3Q2AC5QY91AB8MW3X



It had a piece of corrugated tubing that goes to an inset like a doggie-door that gets closed between the window and the frame.  You can put a stick in to keep the window closed so it's semi-secure.

I'd look at a VRF system since they are so much more efficient.

Since it sounds like you intend to install this and leave it in place I would get a split system.  So much better then a window unit and of course quieter.  Another strength is you can mount it up high by the ceiling.  Now you are cooling the hottest air in the room and taking full advantage of the fact cold air drops.

What have you done to reduce solar gain on your outside walls?  Are you venting the attic space with a fan?

We are the opposite of you and last year we didn't even put our window units in.  Ours are kept in the basement with the mounting boxes made for them.  I rigged up a frame from 2x4's that goes into the open window and holds the unit in place.  Then it is sandwiched on both sides with clear plexiglass.  I did this because mine go Into sideways sliding windows.  I could never put one of these in the bedroom and sleep.  I have never seen a window unit that is quiet.  The constant white noise of a fan pulling cooler air into the bedroom works for me.  If we stay here I will put a split system in.

Yeah... when it gets hot here, we're lucky if it dips below 100 at night California definitely has the nice weather factor.

I want to do a UPS and battery backup system but I don't have the space or money Sounds like you have a nice setup.

Thanks, I was looking at both this and a multi split, both options seem nice if you don't have central A/C already but otherwise are way too pricey and I might as well use my central which works fine. The idea was more for backup that my genset can handle if power goes off in addition to lower pricing during my "on peak times" without having to run the big A/C in the house.

I might get a portable for one room and window for the bedroom. I know the last 10k portable I had sounded like a fucking jet turbine but then I was sleeping right next to it at the time...

Living in a concrete jungle in Arizona, I doubt an attic fan will do much other than die. The heat in the attic may actually be acting as a buffer from the concrete tiles on top, I don't know. The house is newer so it's pretty darned efficient and made for the summers here.

I was going to plant some trees but I'm actually thinking of different ideas. I might run some panels outside that would also absorb the direct sunlight... I don't have money right now and I'm trying to decide on the layout of my yard. I'm probably going to start a couple hens soon for bug control and I want to get garden going so it's all a work in progress.

Another thing to consider is depending on the MS system, I would probably have to get an electrician to put a power outlet for a condenser somewhere on the outside, and an HVAC person to install it. I suppose I could but not being knowledgeable in these areas, I fear that is a safety risk as well as coding violations should I want to sell the house. And that's an extra cost on top of the unit cost. So that's pretty much out. Though I do like the idea, it's far cheaper and easier to run my central A/C. The only advantage is it looks like it can run off my genset if power goes out. For those one off times, I can live with a loud window unit, I guess. Sure beats trying to sleep in an oven. Running during the day won't matter as I'm awake and can close the door. If I had money though...

One thing you may want to study up on, and there is plenty of contradiction so be sure of your sources, but using radiant barriers to help keep heat out of the attic.

I have plenty of experience using it to keep heat in, with products like Prodex and Reflectix but I have read more than once how it can be used under the roof to reflect heat out and away.  IMHO opinion, no matter where you live, having an understanding of the path traveled by the sun relative to your home and the seasons is critical.  Here in Northern Wisconsin if the temps go over 80 or humidity nears 50% people consider suicide as an option. At the same time the majority of homes are not positioned or designed properly to use solar gain in winter.  You want to defeat solar gain.

For inspiration, look to some architects in Texas.  I cant think of their name but I will find the link.


This guy and his partner
" In Texas, and thus at Lake/Flato, the sun is Public Enemy Number One."

http://gardenandgun.com/article/ted-flato-catching-breeze

Their web site:
http://www.lakeflato.com/

Yeah, I know exactly where the sun hits throughout the year. I have held off on shade trees because I'm considering garden and some citrus trees and if I do auxillary ground mount panels for a small battery bank, I don't want to block the sun if I put panels in and they'd provide a shading effect on my house. I'm in an HOA so while I do have a large privacy fence, I just have to be careful for any nosy folk.

Window A/Cs are verboten but both the windows I'd use would be in the back where it can't be seen. I'm still debating on pulling the trigger on one.

All good info so far. Thanks y'all.

If HOA has a fit because during a power outage you plug in a genny powered window AC so as to not melt to death, I would tell them to F*** off, but that is just me.

 

If I lived in the SW (never again thanks) I would not rely on anything that may require water to live.  Also, at my age I don't have time to wait for trees to grow!  That is true even up here in the North.  Use what you have at hand today.

Use awnings and overhangs to cover your walls and windows in shade now, except for the coldest months.  Then tackle the attic and roof.

I know over on the solar forums I visited there was talk of a Sharp mini split AC that used 400 watts  on it's lowest setting. It will cost more, but it might be worth looking

I have a cheapo  6K window unit and a Sharp indoor AC 13K btu unit that works well. Either runs nicely  on my EU2000.

I don't believe HOAs would an issue with just about anything during/after an emergency. I have seen people here ban together afterwards and help each other greatly. Sleeping can be a challenge though, with 100 generators running through the night in the neighborhood. Have to sleep with the windows closed, its so noisy. That's where the window AC unit comes in handy. It masks the outside sounds, and cools the room.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but ground floor window seated AC units are a good place for thieves to start , we have it happen to the nabes house in
Santa Fe, NM, unit was anchored well, they just popped a crow bar under the window sill and broke out enough of the frame to lift out the unit and stepped into the house , onto the nursing Rotty they were sitting , Guess they went out quickly the way they cam in as they only found a sneaker

I got an SPT 12K unit last year off of Amazon based on the excellent reviews and it cooled my entire apartment very well.

SPT 12K

They have a newer one out now that is slightly more energy efficient, but it's still a bit more expensive.

I will likely buy another one in a few months.

Do you know what the real-life amperage draw on that is?

LOL, no there's one dude that drives around to various HOAs to look for violations. In power outage, I highly doubt he'll be cruising around, let alone trespassing to check out my genset. He might find himself runnoft from the property

Shit, they could just go into my backyard unseen and jimmy or break the sliding glass door open. I'm not worried about thievery, everything is insured and expendable.

12-13 IIRC per my kill-a-watt, but voltage was reading quite high.  I'll have to measure again when I put it back in the window.

Enough that when it kicks on, it briefly dips the light on a 15 amp breaker.

Nice

Insurance is great, if they pay out