Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time? 182
uvince asks: "Sure, the air is on all day at work, but when you are at home and it warms up (as the west coast is now) what do you do when a fan just won't cut it? Do you install a swamp cooler, set out a standing air conditioner, or install some air conditioner that fits in the window. How can I keep my apartment, or at least my bedroom cool? Anyone have any creative, green ideas?"
Go Naked (Score:2)
Re:Go Naked (Score:5, Funny)
Naw, AC is too much of a troll. Can you imagine living with him? Of course the frost piss will cool things down somewhat.
Re:Go Naked (Score:2)
suggestion: (Score:3, Funny)
Haxor ways to cool the house (Score:3, Funny)
My thinking was that when we as people get out of the pool / ocean / whatever and are still wet, even a moderate breeze cools us off very quickly, to the point of chills. Soak down the outside walls of yo
Evaporative cooling? (Score:5, Interesting)
The idea is that water has to absorb heat form it's surroundings when it evaporates, like sweat absorbs heat from the body. But if there's no other source of heat, it will absorb it from the air. The water doesn't even need to be all that cold, though cold water will obviously absorb more heat.
All you need is some way to expose the water to air. One suggestion would be to build an "evaporator" out of brown corregated carboard, use a small pump to trickle water over it and a small fan to draw air through it.
If you can build a tall "stack" and place the evaporator at the top, you can take advantage of natural convection to eliminate the fan. (Cold, denser air drops down stack, pulling in more air through the evaporator)
If you can get the materials just right, and/or have a pressurized source of water (house main), you can take advantage of capillary action/mains pressure to eliminate the pump.
Silent and green. Too bad it doesn't work in humid regions!
=Smidge=
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:3, Informative)
I used something like this once for the purpose of keeping the room at a decent humidity, because a place I was renting had friggin' dry air. As a side effect, it did cool down the room quite a lot. (Alas, it was the winter and an undesired side effect.)
I bought one of these [honeywellc...oducts.com] 'cool air humidifiers'
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
The dehumifier dried the air, which helped the window unit work better.
It's easier to cool warmer dry air than warm humid air, since part of the work of the a/c unit is removing the water.
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
The issue is that dehumidification requires a fixed amount of heat to be removed from the air - with a dehumidifier, the temperature difference at which this heat is being removed is smaller than the air conditioner (using the already cooled air). Since the air conditioner is not dehumidifying, you can run more air past the evaporator coils, thus improving the efficiency of the air
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
My original point is that heat had to be taken out of the air in order to get the water vapor (humidity) to condense. The reject heat can then be used to reheat the air (and will be warmer than the ambient air temp). This is related to why you get such good convection cells going in thunderclouds.
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
A dehumidifier removes moisture from the air. Moisture in air is also heat (latent heat). Even though it does not lower the temperature in the room, it still removes this latent heat.
Now the window AC not only also removes moisture from the air like a dehumidifier (see the condensate dripping out of the unit?), it also lowers the temperature of the air (sensible heat)
Bottom line: Using a dehumidifier and an AC at the same time only makes sense if the air is very humid and the capa
Re:Evaporative cooling? (Score:2)
But if the window A/C unit is dripping tons of water, that probably means that the humidity of the room is pretty high.
In my area, (Chicago suburbs), the humidity is usually high when it's warm enough to need a/c. Having a dehumidifier running helps.
In places such as Arizona, a dehumidifier would be likely useless when trying to cool the house.
take a shower before bedtime (Score:5, Funny)
Re:take a shower before bedtime (Score:2, Funny)
Re:take a shower before bedtime (Score:2)
Better make that a cool chick? :-)
zKeeping cool (Score:2, Informative)
Breath mints (Score:5, Funny)
Good luck!
Re:Breath mints (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Breath mints (Score:2)
Re:Breath mints (Score:2)
Some simple answers... (Score:3, Funny)
However, angels will cry, baby jesus will be vexed, and your PG&E bill will be orbital.
Re:Some simple answers... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Some simple answers... (Score:2)
Interesting... (1). I use cheap box fans in my windows controlled by X10 timers to cool my house and turn off before it starts to warm up in the morning.
Be kind to your Athlon, for it bears you (Score:3, Informative)
I hate using the AC, but most recent architecture around here assumes that you will use it. There is an earth burmed home a short distance from here. Makes perfect sense in this climate.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Be kind to your Athlon, for it bears you (Score:2)
I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:4, Informative)
* Highest BTU A/C that runs on 115 volts
* Isn't a no-name brand
* Is cheap.
I researched a *lot* of a/c's and that's what I came up with.
(If anyone else has found a better one, let me know!)
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2, Interesting)
Uhh... Kenmore doesn't actually make anything, eh?
They're like today's HP. Buy it from a cheap Taiwanese factory and slap a Kenmore sticker on it (okay, okay, not that bad, but a lot of it is actually made by Amana -- at least for fridges).
What does suck is that sometimes lower quality parts are subbed in. A good friend who once sold power tools told me that if I was to buy Black and Decker (which, in his opinion, sucked anyways) never to buy them at Sears, as the Sears version
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
How funny, you're right! I wonder how I could confirm if any parts have been changed out, say, from the Frigidaire model. I could buy both, then rip them open and see for myself.
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2, Funny)
Thanks
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:5, Insightful)
-> More uniform distribtion of power leads to greater effiency
-> Slightly lower equipment cost
-> Multipule "zones" (at night, or whenever you sleep only one "zone" needs to be cooled)
-> Smaller units are usually quieter leading to a quieter "zone"
-> A few more BTUs total
Just a thought.
--adam
"Go back to bed America... your government is in control." --Bill Hicks [billhicks.com]
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
It's best to just make sure the AC is sized right for the room. Most utility companies have a chart as well as the owners manuals for the AC's. I'm sure it can be found via google.
The difference in electricity used with a Massive unit in a tiny room is mu
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
* The most important room that we need to cool doesn't have a window that we can install an a/c in. Therefore, I'm installing a *huge* a/c in the nearest window (which is in the next room, the kitchen/living room) and hoping that through some combination of fans or luck it will cool both.
* that would be ugly (where we're putting the big one now, no one will see it from the outside of the house).
* I am lazy, and we plan on uninstalling it eve
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
Most people with this problem put a hole in the wall near the ceiling, avoiding the window altogether. Flash and caulk it right, insulate the surround, get a good support frame and a winter cover, and you don't need to worry about it until the unit dies. Fortunately the trend is always toward minaturization, so a new unit can be fitted in.
Oh, and replace the casements with double-hung when you can. (Sorry, I hate casements).
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
BTW, why do you hate casements? Besides the fact that they don't play nice with a/c, I've enjoyed them (easy to open, but that's not always a fu
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
While it's possible for a double-hung to become painted shut, or old ones to get stuck (modern ones have much better jambs), in the event of an emergency it's almost always possible to open a double-hung.
Casements rely on unreliable hardware to open. Two of the three casements in my house need the cranks replaced. Also, due to styling, t
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
Good thought (Score:2)
Having just made an almost identical decision at BJ's last month, I'm backing this. I went in for the 15 KBTU $400 unit, left with 3 5 KBTU $89 units. These were Maytags with a 5-year in home service warranty and a $10 rebate. I think they were mid range in efficiency, but they sticker said they cost $38/yr t
Semi-OT: Rebate for one (Score:2)
I would often get rebates at my school apartment for stuff my mom bought - An extra "household".
Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:2)
my experiences/suggestions... (Score:3, Informative)
Some nice things about it is that it attempts to maintain a certain temperature. You can set it to a desired temperature and it'll (try to) maintain that temperature by varying it's output over time. I cant tell for sure how accurate it is, but it gets the job of done from the standpoint of maintaining a consistent "feel".
You can also set a timer to turn it off after so many hours, or on after so many hours. This good for when I go to bed, I can set the timer to turn the a/c off after 2 hours so that it's not running all night, and then, when leaving for work/school in the morning, set it to how long I plan on being out minus one hour, this way my room is cool by the time I get home without the system running all day with no one there.
As for how much it's added to the electric bill, I cant really tell (nor remember). I have two roomates, each of whom have their own a/c boxen in their bedrooms. But yes - the bill will go up by a significant margin.
If you choose a box air conditioner - pick one suitable for the size of the room it'll be installed in. If it's a small room like mine, 5000 or 6000 BTUs will do, but if it's larger, go something with more strength. I highly recommend the features like those I noted above.
oh - and the best feature of my air conditioner - It has a Remote Control!
Re:my experiences/suggestions... (Score:2, Interesting)
Quick rule of thumb: For residential spaces, 20-25 BTUs of cooling per square foot is generally sufficient to keep you comfortable.
=Smidge=
ceiling fan (Score:2)
swamp coolers are not so good. you only get a change of 20 degrees or so, which sucks if it is 105 or so.
Re:you need more than a ceiling fan (Score:2)
Never got over 114 in the shade when I lived there. In 56 years of keeping records...
PHOENIX, AZ (56yrs) 88Jan 92Feb 100Mar 105April 113May 122June 118July 116Aug 118Sept 107Oct 93Nov 88Dec 122annual
http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/wx/climate/
125... uh huh. In the sun.
Re:you need more than a ceiling fan (Score:2)
I would say the difference is nowhere near 10 degrees during the day. At night, yes. Daytime only 2 or 3 degrees most of the time.
awnings (Score:4, Interesting)
well, maybe there's one more thing you can do, if you have no qualms about it.....you can also get a metal detector, probe the walls, find the central HVAC ductwork from the people next door running their AC, tap into it, suck in cool airbandwith, PROFIT!!!!1!
heh heh
In the olden daze, people would sometimes use damp sheets at night, I've tried it myself, it works, The easiest way to dampen them without a big mess and a lot of hassle is to get a towel or three wet, wring them out, lay them on top of the sheet, once the amount of moisture you want (damp, not soaking) is transferred, you slip under the sheets, fall asleep. It actually works, gets cool. Another way is to sleep on an unheated water bed, they usually stay pretty cool and will wick away body heat, unless they themselves get to 98.6 obviously. Do the water bed and the damp sheet trick, at least you can fall asleep comfortable, it takes one or two nights to get used to the sheet, but then it feels real nice. That and fans and an awning is about it in the cheap and low energy range in an apartment.
Homer would (Score:2)
Ummm... (Score:2)
Before you switch on the air conditioner... (Score:5, Informative)
Keep the windows open at night. Let it get really cold throughout the house (except maybe the bedroom). Close the windows and blinds in the morning. Having tight seals on doors and windows helps here.
In the evening, use fans to bring in cooler air from outside. (This depends on where you live. In the San Francisco area, it gets down into the 50s and 60s in the evening.)
Put the fans in the windows. Block off as much of the window as you can except the area where the fan goes. Ideally, you can find box fans that fit precisely in the window.
Important: point the fans OUT. Open a window on the other side of the house where air will come in. Pointing fans out is more efficient at moving air than pointing them in. Although pointing them in feels better, it doesn't do as good a job at actually bringing in cool air from outside.
Don't use interior fans except when you are in the room.
At night, I cool down the non-bedroom areas. During the evening, those areas are most comfortable, so I stay there. But I'm also cooling down the bedroom so that by the time I go to bed, the bedroom is comfortable.
Re:Before you switch on the air conditioner... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Before you switch on the air conditioner... (Score:2)
If you're really dedicated and have done all the things the grandparent of this post mentioned, it might be time to go to Lowes/HomeDepot and buy $70 worth of blow-in insulation (read: big bales of pocket-lint). Such a purchase allows you to borrow their insulation blower. You install the insulation it in your attic. If you have balls you can cha
Re:Before you switch on the air conditioner... (Score:2)
One minor point here, the topic is cooling apartments... For most apartment dwellers, this is simply not at option. In most metro areas, people only rent a multi-bedroom apartment if they have roommates...
Re:Before you switch on the air conditioner... (Score:2)
My first tip: (Score:2)
For God's sake, man! Turn off your computer! ;)
Seriously. My damned machine heats up the entire apartment!
Re:My first tip: (Score:2)
It's the Humidity (Score:2, Insightful)
A swamp cooler will only work if it's hot but not very humid. Here in Boston, for example, it would only make things worse. Note that you can't leave loose papers lying around with a swamp cooler running -- it's like a hurricane in the house.
A ceiling fan makes your air conditioner work much better.
One thing to look for in an air conditioner is the ability to suck in a bit of its air from outside, instead of just recirculating inside air or (with the lever pulled) blow
drink hot beverages (Score:4, Informative)
And lose some weight. You'll sweat less.
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:2)
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole idea is that your body overcompensates, because its 'thermostat' is in the back of your mouth (or troath, don't remember) and it gets it contact with the beverage, measuring an incorrect temperature.
Now that may be (though personally I dou
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:2)
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:2)
If you leave the door of the refrigator open, or if you put hot stuff in it, it will work harder to cool down, but it won't be any cooler in it. And if it was already it at the maximum of its cooling capacity, it will warm up instead of cool down.
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:2, Informative)
Re:drink hot beverages (Score:3, Funny)
Green Solutions (Score:2)
If you have heat sources other than a couple people recreationally involved, then cooling might actually be required. Simple solution... shut off the computer at night!
Re:Green Solutions (Score:2)
Fans fans and more fans (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously though, having a house in the shade of something else (trees most of the time) does wonders. I know it's not the greatest idea to have trees large enough to overhang a structure (not my idea, not my tree, yes limbs have damaged the roof when falling before) between the shade from the trees and the fact that none of the windows have a clear path to catch sun, it stays a good 5-10 degrees colder most of the time.
plants (Score:3, Interesting)
Turn on the oven in the kitchen... (Score:3, Funny)
Move (Score:2, Funny)
Move to a place with central air. My place is no more expensive than any other.
Either that, or move to Alaska.
Keeping cool (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Change your lightbulbs. Either switch to a lower wattage incandescent, or use the compact flourescent fixtures. The halogen torches stay off all summer.
2. Turn off computers, lights, monitors and TVs when they're not being used. Yes, it will ruin your uptime, but most computers from the past few years dissipate 30-90 watts of heat. CRTs and TVs also generate a lot of heat. I had a room that I kept 10 degrees F warmer in winter just by leaving the computers (P3-866 and Athlon 1800+) and their monitors on all night.
3. Use your bedroom for nothing but sleeping. Turn on as few lights as possible, keep the TV and computer out of there. And sex will heat up a room (done properly).
4. Control your apartment's airflow. Put a fan in the window of your bedroom, aimed in. In another room, put a fan in the window, aiming it out. Close all other windows, and you should get a nice amount of airflow -- either to cool down your bedroom, or take heat out of the rest of the apartment.
5. Put a fan at the foot of your bed, and crank it up.
#2, #4, and #5 have the greatest effect in my apartment. Just remember that everything that uses electricity is going to generate some heat, and decide what you want to do from there.
Re: Keeping cool (Score:2)
> Turn off computers, lights, monitors and TVs when they're not being used. Yes, it will ruin your uptime, but most computers from the past few years dissipate 30-90 watts of heat. CRTs and TVs also generate a lot of heat. I had a room that I kept 10 degrees F warmer in winter just by leaving the computers (P3-866 and Athlon 1800+) and their monitors on all night.
And if you can't turn your computer(s) off for some reason, be sure you've got DPMS set to power off the monitor(s) when you get distracted
Earth. Use It. Don't Abuse It! (Score:5, Funny)
Once underground, your only real environmental problem is lighting, for which you should use fibre optics and solar collectors during the day and use LED lighting powered by batteries when the sun is not out. Oh, and charge the batteries using solar too.
If there are no caves on the market in your area, just bury your house. Remember, the dirt needs to be at least three feet thick, but you will reach a point of diminishing returns at around five or six feet so there's no need to waste your money and labor on extra dirt. Where you get the dirt is up to you, but please ask your neighbor before digging in their yard!
Note: author not responsible for damage to buried houses
Re:Earth. Use It. Don't Abuse It! (Score:4, Funny)
I'll get there eventually. I'm smoking all I can! Don't rush me!
Simple solution (Score:2)
Re:Simple solution (Score:2)
Cold Water? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Cold Water? (Score:2)
When I die, I hope that I go straight to hell. Just so long as there isn't a layover in California.
Paint the roof... (Score:2)
One Word...... Patton (Score:2)
link here from amazon [amazon.com]
WEAK! (Score:2)
We have an old but MASSIVE exhaust fan that's easily 24" or more. We have it in an upstairs room, facing out the window.
For a significant portion of the summer (until it gets REALLY hot), all we need to do is open all the windows and turn that thing on, we get a cool breeze coming in to every window in the house.
Even on some of the hotter days, running it at night makes the house cool enough so that the AC doesn't kick on until late afternoon.
The easiest way I know (Score:2)
Insulation (Score:2, Informative)
Check out the roof (Score:3, Insightful)
When I lived in Southern California, I rented an apartment on the top floor. Typical California apartment complex- the roof was six inches think, maximum. The landlords reroofed the place and all that black tar up there would help the sun cook my place in the summer. The "property managers" were unresponsive so I took matters into my own hands, climbing up on the roof with a bucket of white paint and basically spilling it about where my apartment was located (the roof was flat and not visible from the street). This made a huge difference in temperature.
I subsequently learned that they make a paint specifically for this purpose (reflecting sunlight off of roofs instead of absorbing it) and that a lot of large buildings in the LA area were using it to lower energy usage.
Also, the previous post about awnings was spot on. Having shades is one thing, but the heat is already inside. Being able to block direct sunlight before it gets to the window will shave a few degrees off of the temperature.
Overclocking cooling? (Score:2)
- Thermal grease
- Water cooled heatsinks
- Various overly large fans
-psy
Summertime and the living is easy... (Score:2)
Sell your soul to the electric company... (Score:2)
Ducting (Score:2)
Water evaporators are bad (Score:3, Funny)
Evaporate pure grain alcohol! At $35 a galon, it is not too expensive. (Albertson's vodka is even cheaper than Everclear). Alcohol will prevent growth of mold, give out a nice refreshing smell and make your hot appartment very enjoyable. Biodegradable - and will not hurt ozonosphere.
If you are willing to invest, buy a big dewar. Liquid nitrogen in bulk volumes is cheaper than milk. Wach out for a frozen mailman on doorsteps.
lump of mirror matter (Score:2)
Geez just get 'air' and a celing fan. (Score:2)
Stick a unit in the window(s).. if thats not allowed get a free standing one and drag it around the apartment with you...
Or find another place to live..
Not been on your own long i take it?
Have two levels? (Score:2)
Re:Air Conditioner? (Score:2)
Don't ya know, it's because electricity is so damn expensive here! Well, plus we have nice ocean breezes or the Santa Ana winds most of the time.
Re:Air Conditioner? (Score:3, Informative)
Dispite the pacific north west's relitivly low cost of electric... air conditioners are none too popular. I mean it would be kinda cool to have one in the car, and I plan to upgrade to having one in the future, but for the most part they are they are rare items to find.
For me, a large attic fan is most adquate for my cooling needs, though it wasn't quite enough when I was operating a sun 4/260 i'll tell you.
--
Re:Air Conditioner? (Score:2)
It doens't matter which one is hotter and which one you want to warm. Has much better efficiency than most other heating/cooling method (execpt burning fossils). Cost a lot to install. Need to have a house. Last longer. Very eco-friendly.
Re:Dehumidifier (Score:2)
Not a bad move. Here in Perth, W. Australia where it gets damn hot (as much as 46 deg. Celsius) in summer - and yes, I do know it's winter now :-) it has been getting muggier every year.
about 10 years ago we did OK with just a free-standing evaporative airconditioner, but now all they do is just make the heat less tolerable.
The answer: reverse-cycle split-system airconditioning. It doesn't need expensive ducting, and it is really efficient as a heater in winter
Re:Dehumidifier (Score:2)