Air conditioning units?!

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 13:33

The one I just bought uses 1.1Kw for cooling..

benjo plz. · 8 Jun 2006 at 13:36

KingAdora said:
So if you have it on for 3 hours a day - the monthly cost is £16!

It depends which power company you're with

.

toString · 8 Jun 2006 at 13:58

Zildjian said:
The one I just bought uses 1.1Kw for cooling..

When you get a sec, give us a review. I might pop down and buy the same one, save waiting for it to be delivered

benjo plz. · 8 Jun 2006 at 14:02

Zildjian said:
The one I just bought uses 1.1Kw for cooling..

You got a link for it?

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 14:04

KingAdora said:
When you get a sec, give us a review. I might pop down and buy the same one, save waiting for it to be delivered

I am leaving in about 30 mins to get it, so should have it set up in about an hour or two.

Flibster · 8 Jun 2006 at 14:05

teaboy5 said:
God its a little heat theres no need to rush out and buy an air con unit. What is it with people in the UK, we get a few days of sun and people are rushing out to get air con. It will soon be raining again so save your money man.

1x12ft long 6ft high south facing window in the bedroom
1x16ft long 6ft high south facing window in the lounge

Before 9am it was already 25°C in here.

It is currently 34°C in my playroom and I've shut 2 of my servers down to reduce the heat output.

Last summer and the year before it topped out at 40°C

Plus - I'm useless in any heat over 20°C.

So - either I go outside and suffer with my heyfever and feel crappy - or I spend £200 on an aircon unit to stay inside.

£200 please.

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 14:06

Phnom_Penh said:
You got a link for it?

I think it is the same as this, only with a different name.
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...001&langId=-1&catalogId=4551&productId=232603
Same price and everything...

BTW, she said they have tons in the Tunbridge Wells homebase...

Syph · 8 Jun 2006 at 14:07

My room here at work is sweltering. Approaching 35C now, with a huge window open and a fan at the window blowing air in. Going to have a chat with the school office about this Homebase aircon unit... particularly as our Media Server and Back Up servers operate from this room!

toString · 8 Jun 2006 at 15:35

Must be some kind of law about working in that heat? Or health & safety/human rights!

Radiation · 8 Jun 2006 at 15:37

I think there is around 35c depending on what the job is.

Flibster · 8 Jun 2006 at 16:08

Radiation said:
I think there is around 35c depending on what the job is.

No law on upper limit.

It's unenforcable tbh

Simon/~Flibster

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 16:22

Right, just got it up and running.

It is a lot more heavy than my stupid air cooling thing. The pipe and intructions etc is almost hidden at the bottom of the box, took me a while to find it.
Pretty easy to setup, nice and easy instructions. The pipe was not long enough to reach my top fan light window, which was very annoying. At first I turned it on with the pipe half in and half out, and it was blowing out bloody hot air out of the pipe back into my room. I moved it and put the pipe out my big window and it was much better, my room temp is now 22C I think it was around 28C before I turned it on - and it is still dropping.

Over all It's pretty good, apart from the pipe simply is not long ehough, it should be twice the length and the pipe needs to be properly out the window, or it will blow very hot air back into the room. It is noisey but that doesnt bother me at all, at least It's keeping my room at a very nice temp.

It's doing a nice job, very pleased I got it and worth the money - also has 1yr warranty. 200 times better than my old "air cooler" that didn't do anything...
It does take a while to lower the actual room temp, which is normal, so don't expect it to suddenly drop within a few minutes...

N9ne · 8 Jun 2006 at 17:17

Could someone suggest one that will allegedly cool "the entire house"? My windows are very high in my room, and faces two streets, so having an ugly white pipe sticking out of the window (which it won't reach anyway) isn't an option. Also, there's no space near the window to put the big air conditioner. Therefore, my only solution is to place it in a nearby room and have it cool the house from there...

Replicant · 8 Jun 2006 at 17:25

How noisy is this, compared to say an xbox 360, can i return it to homebase if not satisfied, can it be up an running for an hour an then switched off but still keep the room cool for a good while.

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 17:32

Replicant said:
How noisy is this, compared to say an xbox 360, can i return it to homebase if not satisfied, can it be up an running for an hour an then switched off but still keep the room cool for a good while.

It is pretty noisey, hard to saw how noisey - I will try and find out. I expect you could take it back if you are not satisfied, best to phone Homebase and find out.
I haven't turned mine off yet so I don't know how long it will stay cool, it will depend on loads of things like if you have PC's etc running, if the window is open... It's now just 21C in my room, so much better so I don't mind about the noise.

By the way, they had one already running in Homebase so you can see what It's like, but it wont be exactly the same as they didnt have the pipe out the window or anything, but you can get an idea of the size and noise, etc...

Spinal2k2 · 8 Jun 2006 at 20:52

Replicant said:
How noisy is this, compared to say an xbox 360, can i return it to homebase if not satisfied, can it be up an running for an hour an then switched off but still keep the room cool for a good while.

the noise depends on a few things if in cool/dry mode it can get noisy if set to high and if the extractor fan section is running (the unit controls this part and switches it off everyso often depending on the temp).

How quickly it cools, and how long the room stays cool after switching off will depend.

For best results make sure the only window open is the one with the pipe fed through it - also close the doors.

remember the unit controls the flow of air and all hot air in the room is sucked out buy the unit etc - so having windows or doors open just mean the cool air escapes and more hot air enters the room

GSDog · 8 Jun 2006 at 21:20

How often do you need to empty the water? The warning light just came on and it is absolutely full up!

Magsy · 8 Jun 2006 at 21:23

Depends on humidity afaik. It draws all the moisture out of the air, so on a humid day it perhaps fills up fast?

I'll be down homebase tomorrow, the heat coming off the pc under the desk is hitting me in the face, can't stand it!

With a bit of ingenuity you could probably hide it in the attic and pipe the cool air into the bedroom? I know its better to get a split system but this way you could move it if you had too...

Spinal2k2 · 8 Jun 2006 at 21:44

Zildjian said:
How often do you need to empty the water? The warning light just came on and it is absolutely full up!

depends on how much moisture there is in the air - i empty it ever so often sometimes there was quite a bit othertimes there was hardly any water.

(make sure that when its winter and the unit isnt going to be used - make sure you drain the tank_

Adam_151 · 8 Jun 2006 at 21:51

OoOverclockaoO said:
My 12k BTU uses 3.5kw, no idea how much it costs to run though

Edit : Found this tool : http://www.ukpower.co.uk/running-costs-elec.asp

I think you have got the wrong rating, or a very inefficent aircon

12k btu/hour is equal to 3.5kw, the btu rateing refers to how much thermal energy they shift around, and its typically at least 2x the electrical power taken to do it (that is the COP rateing)

so if your aircon really takes 3.5kw, a) its got a COPof 1 and is the most inefficent thing known to man this side of patio heaters, and b) too powerful to be run off a standard plug

In winter if your aircon has a heat function, its more efficent to use this to heat instead of a heater (because dragging heat in from the outside air gives you more heat per watt of power taken, then just converting those watts directly into heat)