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Home > Central AC - all its cracked up to be?

Central AC - all its cracked up to be?

March 9th, 2006 at 03:36 am

This is just a quick thought, thinking ahead to summer. And by the way, this info is my take on things, your situation may vary.

For those of you owning a home, you know (or will some day) that one of the biggest costs you can have is getting a central a/c unit. The darn things are super expensive. Yet, what are you to do?

Years ago people did without a/c. In fact I grew up without it, though I lived in the mountains of PA, and it was always cool at night, so the most that would be needed to sleep at night might be a fan on occassion.

Well now I live near DC, and summer nights can be brutal, and certainly the days can be. So when I bought my house 8 years ago, and looked into a central a/c unit (yes, the system in this house was dead - that's why I got it so cheap!) the prices were more than I felt comfortable with. I had yet to build up any savings to handle a bad stretch, so I decided to do what everyone did where I grew up, look into a window a/c unit.

The cost of an a/c unit then was (I think) about $175. This could handle two rooms. I figured two of these could handle 2/3 of the house, and since there was only me and my wife, I didn't need more horsepower. Comparing this with the cost of a new central system ($3k to $5k) was a no brainer for me. And as I have come to understand, an even better decision than I realized.

I have co-workers that have new systems that have had them brake down within 3 years of installation, having to spend hundreds of dollars to fix. Then since they have a central system, they have to cool the whole house. Their bills, even with slightly higher SEER ratings on their central system (SEER is a rating for how efficient the unit is) have usually been 50% higher than my bills, and with houses my size or smaller.

One nice thing about my window units is I never worry about the cost of repair. I have yet have one break down on me, but if I do, I only need to go to the store and buy another, and they are cheaper and more efficient than they were 8 years ago!

The downsides have been few for me. Of course the window is now used by an AC unit, so you can't look out it. There is more noise from these units, though I don't feel its that bad. And to make them last longer and work better, I take them out each fall, open them and clean them out with a hose, put them back together and store them in the house.

And lastly I live by myself now (with a renter), and before with my wife. If you have a large family, this technique might not be as efficient for you.

I guess the moral of the story is to look at all the costs (a/c units - or anything else for that matter) when deciding on something expensive (or even cheap). I went the way that I was told wasn't the best, yet over that time I have saved thousands (unit costs + power bills).

1 Responses to “Central AC - all its cracked up to be?”

  1. boomeyers Says:
    1141917293

    Those are good thoughts. I have a large family, but for the upstairs at night, this is always a good option!

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