Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [air-conditioning]

For general questions regarding cooling your home.

See also for home cooling systems, or the following components for questions related to a specific part of the AC system:

1138 questions
36
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6 answers

Are mobile air conditioning systems an inherently flawed design?

I read an opinion somewhere that almost all mobile air-conditioning systems are "working against themselves". An A/C whose motor and compressor is inside the house as opposed to being mounted on the outer wall is inherently "flawed". I am talking…
Martin Drozdik
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21
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7 answers

How to disconnect air conditioner lines from outdoor unit?

I need to temporarily move the outdoor unit to one side to access the wall behind it. Is it possible to do this with basic tools? I just need to disconnect the copper pipes as there's enough slack in the power supply so I can keep the wires…
user82609
11
votes
5 answers

What are the recommended settings for a dual-zone air conditioning unit?

What are the recommended settings for an air conditioning unit that is dual-zone? Meaning, if I have a house that is two stories I know that in Florida they recommend you keep it at 78 F in the summer and 69 in the winter, but the top half of the…
Engineer2021
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11
votes
7 answers

How do I reduce how much the sun heats up a front room of my house?

My office room is in the front of the house and facing south. It gets hot very fast during hot days (even in spring). It is a fairly small room and I have computers there attributing to heat. There's a small double pane window with cloth blinds.…
Zepplock
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11
votes
8 answers

Can I vent a portable air conditioner inside?

I recently bought a portable air conditioner and was wondering if it is absolutely necessary to vent it to the outside. I plan on using it in a room that doesn't have a window as was wondering if I could vent it to another room in the house without…
Dylan
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11
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8 answers

Would this air conditioner setup work?

Forgive me for my poor paint skill: I have this small room, one door, no windows, one skylight. I'm planning to buy a portable air conditioner and put the hot air pipe near the lower area of the skylight, pressed against the mosquito net. Note that…
flagg19
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9
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2 answers

Is it OK to leave window opened and air conditioner ON (cooling) at night?

At night temperature outside is usually lower than temperature set on AC. So looks like conditioned air should not leak outside (if it does, it is replaced with even colder air) and it is fine to leave window opened. Is this correct? Note: when…
Roman
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8
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6 answers

Turning off Air Conditioning when out of the house for extended time

Most people that live in cold climates know that you should not turn your heat off when you go away for an extended period of time. Just turn it down so the pipes don't freeze. What about the opposite? If you are going away in the summer should…
mohlsen
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8
votes
5 answers

Do on-wall air conditioners, mini splits, need expert installation or water replacements?

Picture below - says it heats and cools. For an AC like this, Are regular "refills" needed, like changing water/cartridges? Can I reasonably install it myself? I'm no DIY expert (Optional) Is annual maintenance priority (and can I do it…
OverLordGoldDragon
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6
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2 answers

Can I use a swamp cooler to cool an AC unit's condenser?

Swamp coolers work great and use a fraction of the electricity of an air conditioner in a dry climate with little humidity (like Phoenix) but there are downsides like mold and, well, everything feels wet in your house. Dry cool air is more…
tooshel
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6
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3 answers

How do I install an air conditioner on a horizontal sliding window?

There isn't a great amount of literature on this subject it seems. I have an air conditioner, the manual assumes that you have a vertical sliding window, but I have one that slides horizontal, so how do I install the unit?
Ichiro
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5
votes
4 answers

How to keep my air conditioner from freezing when it is cool outside?

My bedroom is the hottest room in the house, and even with all the windows open and fans in them doesn't cool off as much as I would like when it's an acceptable temperature outside. And I prefer to sleep in a rather cool room since I find it…
Grant
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5
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4 answers

What could be causing the delay in the start up of my air conditioner?

I have an air conditioner that is probably 15 years old now. The problem is when I turn it on after it has been off for a long period of time (several hours) it takes a long time for the outdoor unit (compressor?) to start running. The outdoor unit…
Eric
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5
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3 answers

Do two 5k BTU air conditioners produce the same cooling power as one 10k BTU unit?

Could you interchange 10k BTU air conditioner with 2 5k BTU air conditioner and get the same result? Or is there a reason why buying one 10k BTU air conditioner is better than having 2 5k BTU air conditioners.
Ichiro
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4
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2 answers

Do you need to service air conditioning units?

We recently had an air conditioning unit repaired. When had done the job, the guy asked when the last time was that we had our units serviced, and looked shocked when we said we never service them; all we do is clean out the dust filters. He says…
Shaul Behr
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