How to Put a Single, Powerful Air Conditioning Unit to Work Cooling Your Entire Home
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by Tom Mercer
High BTU Air Conditioners
If you're shopping for air conditioners, you may have noticed airconditioning units above 25,000 BTU, and wondered if you could use that to cool several bedrooms, or even your entire house.
Although central air might be a little bit cooler, it can be much more expensive.
Preparing your home system
To cool your whole house with one air conditioner, use your furnace fan. Put the unit in a room with a return duct, or install the air conditioner as close as possible to a return vent. Try to place the unit where the impact from noise will be minimized. Usually furnace fans are located in basements or out-of-the-way parts of homes, but find the best location for your system.
Close the supply vent in the room where you install the air conditioner, and leave the return vent open. Close all the other return vents in the system.
Finding the right air conditioner
First, you're going to need to calculate the BTU requirements for your home. Use this Air Conditioning BTU Size Calculator to find out how many BTU you need to cool certain room types and square footage or square feet of the room.
You may have heard that going the next size up is a good thing, but there is a drawback. Going more than 1.5 or 2.0 times the actual BTU requirement will cause your unit to cycle on and off, whereas proper sizing keeps air dehumidified, and saves money on energy bills by running more efficiently.
Think: slow-and-steady = efficiency.
Tips for maximum efficiency
- Close supply vents in all the rooms except those you are occupying.
- Running the fan at the highest speeds can boost efficiency, but will be noisier.
- Don't use an exhaust fan to 'push' hot air out. This will pull hot air through cracks and leak cool air.
Final Thoughts
Using a high BTU Air Conditioner to pump cool air through your existing ventilation system can save you $400 - $2,500 upfront, save $100s on monthly electricity bills, and keep you cool in the summer months.
By Tom Mercer
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
