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  • Home Air Conditioner

    Hawaii has great trade winds and fresh, clean air, but sometimes heat sets in due to lack of those trades, humidity, or just the hot, hot sun.

    Do you have an air conditioner in your home? If so, how often do you use it? Or abuse it? Central or window unit?

    Or are you a fan of fans?

    Elaborate on car and work A/C too!
    28
    Need it on all the time
    7.14%
    2
    I'm practical, only running it when the heat is intolerable
    42.86%
    12
    If HECO didn't charge me, I'd run it all the time
    7.14%
    2
    I'm a "green" person and don't believe in air conditioning
    3.57%
    1
    I don't have a home air conditioner (portable, window or central)
    28.57%
    8
    I prefer a fan
    10.71%
    3
    Hot? Who's hot?
    0.00%
    0
    sigpic The Tasty Island

  • #2
    Re: Home Air Conditioner

    The three first-floor bedrooms have Panasonic window units (7800 BTU). Also, a 12,000 BTU in my office back of the garage. I have vaulted ceilings (no attic air space). There's a ceiling fan in the kitchen, as well as several oscillating floor fans.

    Upstairs, there is attic space which insulates, so ceiling fans are extremely helpful as we have good cross-ventilation with the tradewinds. I'm pre-wired for the future installation of three split-AC systems in the 30,000-36,000 BTU range, but there hasn't been a real need. I'd rather keep the 11 grand for other things, as well as control my electric bill.

    A solar-powered attic venting fan is less costly to install and qualifies for a tax credit, so that's another option.

    Car AC? Worth the price of any mileage "penalty." Have them in all vehicles. The minivan also has "rear AC" vents.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Home Air Conditioner

      Originally posted by oceanpacific View Post
      A solar-powered attic venting fan is less costly to install and qualifies for a tax credit, so that's another option.
      Glad you brought that up.

      Insulation and ventilation play a HUGE role in how efficient your home is, energy-wise, and in overall comfort.

      I began installing TARPFOIL Radiant Barrier "Insulation" in the attic at mom's place, but haven't finished it yet. It's a tough job crawling in the tight space between the ceiling joists and angled roof rafters without falling through the drywall below. The heat up there is also torturous. When it's done, I'll report the results in average room temperature.

      I also need to get mom one of those solar-powered vent fans. That would do WONDERS to the upstairs rooms.
      sigpic The Tasty Island

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      • #4
        Re: Home Air Conditioner

        I have an electrical socket in the attic, so I could use a fan while in there. The temperature could be at least 120, otherwise. But it would have to be a pretty big fan, at least 30-36" in diameter.

        I should have installed that foil barrier during construction, as well as wire the walls for my sound systems. After all, I did the wiring for the split-AC and also put in a central vacuum. Not enough foresight on my part: hindsight is 20-20 ...............

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        • #5
          Re: Home Air Conditioner

          I've always been a fan fan . Even as a kid when the biggest thrill for my mom was to get air conditioners for the bedrooms, I was the only one who didn't want it. But then again, my bedroom window faced the ocean and I got beautiful breezes at night. No one else in the house had that. I still hate air conditioning. I don't even think about having it. Although....., if I lived in Florida with all that stinking humidity, I'd probably never leave the air conditioning.

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          • #6
            Re: Home Air Conditioner

            I'm in Ohio with some of that stinking humidity (and smog, no less), so a/c is a must when it gets up in the 90s. I have central air, so I just keep the thermostat set at 75 and it kicks in whenever. I also have a box fan because my apartment gets stuffy otherwise. I really wish I had ceiling fans.
            Four Thousand Miles (blog) | MacRatLove (comic)
            Better Holes and Garbage (rats) | Perfectly Inadequate (music)

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            • #7
              Re: Home Air Conditioner

              Originally posted by oceanpacific View Post
              I should have installed that foil barrier during construction, as well as wire the walls for my sound systems. After all, I did the wiring for the split-AC and also put in a central vacuum. Not enough foresight on my part: hindsight is 20-20 ...............
              Nah, no need for in-wall speakers. Be like me! Use concrete blocks and wooden planks. Will make you feel like your back in college listening to ole' component system in the dorm/frat house.
              This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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              • #8
                Re: Home Air Conditioner

                I have an air conditioner downstairs and one in my mom's bedroom but I opt not to get one because I have more trade winds from the two coconut trees facing my bedroom and its cool.
                Aloha Kakou, maluhia a me aloha mau loa (Hello everyone, peace and love forever)

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                • #9
                  Re: Home Air Conditioner

                  we've got 8 fujitsu split systems. they work great!

                  if anyone is considering getting split systems, mitsubishi is a little overpriced for the name. fujitsu is the way to go. we normally don't use the things on more then the lowest setting.

                  a friend slept over a few months ago and told me "jes make um supa cold. i like it that way." i went medium cold in his bedroom and he woke me up in the middle of the night with chattering teeth. "eh how you told dis thing down. i stay freezin."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Home Air Conditioner

                    Originally posted by Pomai View Post
                    I began installing TARPFOIL Radiant Barrier "Insulation" in the attic at mom's place, but haven't finished it yet. It's a tough job crawling in the tight space between the ceiling joists and angled roof rafters without falling through the drywall below. The heat up there is also torturous. When it's done, I'll report the results in average room temperature.
                    Man, it's worth it, though, isn't it? You can feel the temperature drop 20-30 degrees while you're dripping away up there.

                    We did our garage attic first (in case I screwed up and fell through the ceiling) and then our 2nd story attic. Then we went back for more and did the inside of the garage door and the south side of our 2nd-story bedroom. (The back of the garage door cooled off 20 degrees.) Now we're thinking of pulling off a piece of the exterior south wall and sticking long pieces of the insulation down in between the studs.

                    Originally posted by Pomai View Post
                    I also need to get mom one of those solar-powered vent fans. That would do WONDERS to the upstairs rooms.
                    Skylights of Hawaii did two 800 cfm fans and a passive vent for us in 2000 for $1600. The fan on the roof above our stairwell was ducted to the ceiling at the top of the steps. Even before it was spinning you could feel the heat rising and the temperature dropping.

                    Prices may have gone up since then but your mother may also be able to take the state & federal tax credits for making home energy improvements. The catch is that the credits expire in a couple months.
                    Youth may be wasted on the young, but retirement is wasted on the old.
                    Live like you're dying, invest like you're immortal.
                    We grow old if we stop playing, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood.
                    Forget about who you were-- discover who you are.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Home Air Conditioner

                      Heat and me don't get along. I am prone to headaches and pain. I have a Panasonic 10000 btu in my bedroom which is always on rain or shine. It can be felt through-out my hale. In my computer room, I have a Whirlpool 5000 btu.

                      My Electrical bill is high.

                      But I the price for comfort.

                      No grumbling from me.

                      Auntie Lynn
                      Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
                      Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Home Air Conditioner

                        Open the window, let the trades do their thing. No more trades...open the window and turn on the ceiling fan(s).

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Home Air Conditioner

                          Originally posted by cezanne View Post
                          Open the window, let the trades do their thing. No more trades...open the window and turn on the ceiling fan(s).
                          It's against the rules and regulations to install ceiling fans at MWH. As well to make changes to a unit. You have to have a medical note from the doctor giving the reason for an air-conditioner. However, like so many rules and regulations which are not "followed," many units have ukapilia air-conditioners!

                          Auntie Lynn
                          Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
                          Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Home Air Conditioner

                            I have a fan that I salvaged out of a old 300MB drive (the "washing machine" type). It's been running for years. (The cheap stuff in the stores dies in a few months.) I run the fan anytime I'm home.

                            I do have a A/C, but I only run it on those nights when it's so humid I can't get to sleep. (I'm cheap!)

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                            • #15
                              Re: Home Air Conditioner

                              if you are in the market for a portable a/c (maybe buying now, when it's cooler and perhaps they're on sale), slate.com did a review of several models.
                              superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath) & acedia (sloth)--the seven deadly sins.

                              "when you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people i deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly..."--meditations, marcus aurelius (make sure you read the rest of the passage, ya lazy wankers!)

                              nothing humiliates like the truth.--me, in conversation w/mixedplatebroker re 3rd party, 2009-11-11, 1213

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