Every homeowner appreciates the comfort of cool and dehumidified air especially on a hot and humid summer day. The development of air conditioning has come a long way and is mostly driven by the challenge posed by the environment. Before central air conditioning came into the picture, most people used window-mounted room ACs to cool their homes. Up until today, there are still some people who prefer window ACs because of the lower cost of installation or the practicality of their indoor space.
Whatever the case, it is important to know how to improve the cooling in your home without the need of installing a central AC system.
Locating the Window Air Conditioning Unit
The main objective when cooling your home using window units is to optimize their cooling capacity and get air to flow in without any obstructions. In case your indoor space has lots of obstructions such as wall partitions, you can create the airflow direction you desire by using electric fans located at strategic places in doorways. The idea here is to draw in as much cool air into your remote rooms as possible while using the fans in the doorway to bend the airflow around the corners.
To start with, you need to pick a good location for your window AC which will also serve the flow. You may want to pick a location on a central hallway which feeds the spaces and rooms to be cooled. Where this is not appropriate due to the configuration of your flow plan, you may pick a room which is in close proximity to the center of the floor.
A good location will significantly reduce the cool airflow amount needed. If you can manage to locate the window AC unit in a room where the main secondary room to be cooled is right across the hall, this will serve you even better. The nature of an air flow is to maintain a straight path as much as possible. This means it won’t easily bend around the corners and will efficiently follow a nudge as it negotiates around bends. Therefore, if you want to force air around a sharp bend or past more than two doorways, electric fans as described above are the solution. You may also need a second window AC.
If you have a furnace and ductwork, you can let the room AC to blow the cold dehumidified air in the direction of a register or return air grill of your furnace system. Thereafter, turn on the blower fan on the setting of your thermostat so as to move the cool air around your home. The more efficient you are in directing the air to the return air grill or register the better the cooling results.
An important factor to note is these tips may not give you the quietness and efficiency of a central air conditioning unit but they can help cool your home in summer if you do not have a central AC installed.
