June 2, 2017 9:57 AM   Subscribe

The Best Way to Cool Your Space [The New York Times] “Summer is nearly here, and your home will soon be heating up. But just the thought of looking for a new air-conditioner is enough to make you break out in a sweat. How do you know which one to buy, and how it will affect your energy bill? What if your apartment building doesn’t allow window units? Not to worry: We’ve done the research for you. The key to comfort and savings is finding the unit that fits your space. An air-conditioner that isn’t powerful enough won’t effectively cool your home and could end up inflating your power bill. One that is too powerful will work too quickly, shutting off before most of the humidity has been removed, leaving your place cool but clammy. And all that cycling on and off can stress the equipment and shorten its life span.”
posted by Fizz (36 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks for this -- timely. I didn't even know casement window units were a thing.

It's a shame they don't mention non-AC methods, from growing a tree for shade to window and curtain manipulation. Through trial and error, I've found that sunlight streaming it does a ton to heat up my house on sunny summer days, and closing the curtains on one side in the morning and the afternoon on the other side goes a long way.

Now I just need to figure out when to open the top half of double-hung windows vs. the bottom, and whether my attic skylights should be open all the time or can profitably be opened and closed to match the outside temperature.
posted by msalt at 10:24 AM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Is there a word in German for when you wake up to the news of Trump pulling out of the Paris climate agreement and you finish reading what the BBC had to say and you come here for the MeFi perspective and the first article you see is about optimizing air conditioning in NYC and you read that article instead because it's getting hotter and hotter and you'd like to at least be efficient while using up more than your fair share of the earth's resources?
posted by eggkeeper at 10:24 AM on June 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I live in downtown St. Paul. This is my air conditioner. (District Energy)
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:30 AM on June 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I live in downtown St. Paul. This is my air conditioner. (District Energy)

How well does that work? I've lived in a humid hot climate, and the thought of having cooling on tap like electric or gas intrigues me.
posted by zabuni at 10:36 AM on June 2, 2017


It's a shame they don't mention non-AC methods, from growing a tree for shade to window and curtain manipulation.

Given they seem to spend most of their time on non-central air, I'd say this about NY city apartment dwellers, who might be limited in their means to effect their living space.
posted by zabuni at 10:39 AM on June 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


How well does that work?

As far as my actual apartment is concerned it's exactly like central air controlled by a themostat. Also there's a "cooling" line on my utility bill. I understand there's chilled water being piped around, but I never actually see it.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:41 AM on June 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


It's a shame they don't mention non-AC methods, from growing a tree for shade to window and curtain manipulation. Through trial and error, I've found that sunlight streaming it does a ton to heat up my house on sunny summer days, and closing the curtains on one side in the morning and the afternoon on the other side goes a long way.

We have central air-conditioning in our home but we have yet to turn it on.

It's still Spring and in our part of Canada (Niagara Falls region) we can generally survive for the most part with a few well placed circulating fans. As well as keeping certain windows open at certain times of the day to let a breeze in.

And you nailed it with the shading/curtains/blinds. That is very important and can dramatically impact the temperature. Lots of ways to save money and also not ruin our planet.
posted by Fizz at 10:41 AM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I live in San Francisco and this is my air conditioning. Except on those terrible days when he forsakes us and it gets up to like 75.
posted by Nelson at 10:43 AM on June 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


How often do people think of things like windows for cross ventilation or the way the sun hits at a particular part of the day when they're choosing a place to live?

Maybe I'm just overly nit-picky but whenever I've looked at a place to live, these are things that I absolutely have to consider before I put some money down.

Also, our family has some specific "never pick a home that faces south" kind of superstition.
posted by Fizz at 11:00 AM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


How often do people think of things like windows for cross ventilation or the way the sun hits at a particular part of the day when they're choosing a place to live?
IME, not super often where I've lived, because down here (Texas, Mississippi, Alabama) that's not gonna get the job done for you most of the summer. You need actual AC.

Lots of housing stock here in Houston is old enough to have been built for crossflow and whatnot, but nearly all of those houses now have either many window units or central air. Newer buildings are built without regard to that idea, but with much more attention paid to insulation (which the older homes typically don't do as well).

If your summer is more temperate (and less humid), my guess is that the answer is different.
posted by uberchet at 11:03 AM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Fair enough uberchet. You're right that it's not something that will fix all of the temperature and air cooling needs.
posted by Fizz at 11:15 AM on June 2, 2017


How often do people think of things like windows for cross ventilation or the way the sun hits at a particular part of the day when they're choosing a place to live?

In NYC, getting an apartment at the price you're aiming for is first. If it comes with amenities like cross breezes or a kitchen that can fit two people, those are nice bonuses. My current room has an overhead fan, but requires me to open it up for my roommate's cats to wander around if I want a cross breeze. I know New York real estate is absurd, but given how tricky it can be to get a cheap or decently priced apartment, airflow is generally not high on the list. If I was looking to rent a larger space, it's something I'd look into, but given that I'm moving into a one bedroom soon, cooling it with a medium sized window AC for 3-4 months a year seems to be ok. It's not as bad as east Texas or Alabama, but the heat and humidity do creep up on you.
posted by Hactar at 11:26 AM on June 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


How often do people think of things like windows for cross ventilation or the way the sun hits at a particular part of the day when they're choosing a place to live?

In San Jose? Must be NICE to have enough money to be that picky.

We're moving soon, and our top priority at our price range is "Not currently on fire or filled with bedbugs. " Amenities such as opening windows have to be secondary.

In our current place, the computer den regularly gets over a hundred in summer- partially because the AC is all the way across the spartment. We just bought an evaporative cooper, and we'll see how it goes.
posted by happyroach at 11:32 AM on June 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


About to enter my fifth summer with no air conditioning at home, and 3/4 of the previous ones weren't so bad. The one that was, though, that was a doozy. I got a portable evaporative cooler (swamp cooler) and it helped some. Not only has my apartment got casement windows, it's got five-foot-tall casement windows. The only way I'm going to get a seal is... huh, apparently it's possible to order a "high-window accessory kit" for the suggested casement window AC unit.

I figure if it's really hot this summer I'll just go to the movies a lot with the money I'm saving by renting a place without air conditioning.
posted by asperity at 11:36 AM on June 2, 2017


I live and work in a small house in Toronto with windows facing east (office, kitchen) and west (living room, bedroom). I have central air, but I try to use it as little as possible, so I have a ritual throughout the day and evening as I raise and lower blinds, encourage cross-breezes when possible, use two box fans to pull in cooler air/push out hot air at night, and appreciate the little bit of help I get from the ceiling fan and floor fan as I work. I take an extra cool shower if needed and wear floaty things.

However, heat waves over the past few summers have made extra-hot nights brutal. I'm seriously looking at moving my bed to the basement, but those casement AC units look awfully tempting ...
posted by maudlin at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2017



We're moving soon, and our top priority at our price range is "Not currently on fire or filled with bedbugs. " Amenities such as opening windows have to be secondary.

posted by happyroach ......


Epony-bleeeeeggghhhh!
posted by lalochezia at 12:29 PM on June 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Seriously, see Swamp Coolers for much more efficient form of climate control.

Alas for many "Evaporative cooling is especially well suited for climates where the air is hot and humidity is low.".
posted by lalochezia at 12:30 PM on June 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Now I just need to figure out when to open the top half of double-hung windows vs. the bottom

You're supposed to open both at once if you can. If you don't have full height screens on your windows there's a tip in that thread about opening the bottom window upwind, and the top window downwind.
posted by fedward at 12:31 PM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I have baseboard hydronic radiators and they work great to heat our place in the winter. I wonder why they don't pipe cold water through the radiators in the summer? I guess maybe the convective cooling doesn't work as well as convective heating.

Our current rental doesn't have AC, and I have a very good routine down of opening and closing windows and using window fans in certain ones blowing this way and that, but I don't know how to convey this all to MuddDude without sounding like a crazy person, so whenever it's his turn to button up the house at night, we don't lose any heat at all.
posted by muddgirl at 12:33 PM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Thanks, fedward. The short story from that old (but timeless) topic:
1. Open top and bottom as soon as it's cooler outside than it is inside.
2. Leave them open until it gets hot again (overnight, is what this usually means).
3. When the sun hits the window, close it up tight, and draw blinds, curtains, what have you.
4. When it is still cooler outside than inside, close up all the windows (and blinds) - timing may mean that you close it up just before you leave for work.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
posted by msalt at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Seriously, see Swamp Coolers for much more efficient form of climate control. Alas for many "Evaporative cooling is especially well suited for climates where the air is hot and humidity is low."

Sounds like a good fit for Portland OR, where I am, but that article is vague at best about how you actually do this. Do I buy something? Make something? I'm surprised I don't hear more about this method. They mumble something about big central units with roof coolers, but that's not financially practical.

Googling just got me a bunch of arguments and a much-ridiculed DIY design from the Oregonian. This homemade one (designed for Burning Man) sounds a little better, but I'm having trouble getting any good information.

Why swamp coolers? Energy efficient plus sliding casement windows.

Another suggestion I found: spraying water from your hose on the roof in late afternoon. Thoughts?
posted by msalt at 1:10 PM on June 2, 2017


There was a time when swamp coolers worked well enough in northern Arkansas. My great aunt had one. The water source was an area in a drainage ditch where water temporarily pooled. (She lived on the side of a mountain, quite literally) Back in the 50s and 60s, the stream was perennial and the humidity was low enough that it could drop the temperature 15-20 degrees on hot days. Combined with her house being far enough up the hill that it was already cooler and breezier than down in town (or worse, the hollow between her house and downtown) it kept things below 80 indoors for the cost of a fan.

These days, the dew point gets so high in the summer that a swamp cooler does zero good. It had already become mostly useless by the 80s, actually. Being higher in elevation still helps, though.
posted by wierdo at 1:24 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Rumor is that the only building in Superior, WI (on Lake Superior, across the Bong Bridge from Duluth MN) that has air conditioning is the Holiday Inn. While this is certainly incorrect it's sort of fun to think that there is only one air conditioner in a city of 30,000 people.
posted by lstanley at 1:33 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh hell, we repeatedly get squirrels nesting in our attic- running around at all hours, having fights, and otherwise making our place sound like something out of a haunted house movie. And our maintenence guy shrugs and offers to poison them then seal the attic, not considering what the result of dead squirrels in the attic would be.

In other words, squirrels are just rats with Charisma and good PR. Just change the question to "Do I want to have gray rats, or do I favor red rats"; either way it's still rodents.
posted by happyroach at 1:38 PM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I gotta say FUUUD window units, at least for houses. I used to live in a 50's rambler with *six* of them. In the bedroom, a tiny bug got stuck in the drain pipe, which backed up and created a prodigious amount of mold on the drywall. And then one tripped the kitchen circuit breaker and spoiled all the food in our fridge.

My new idea is Peltier modules worn around the neck and plugged into rails on the ceiling, but I have yet to test the practicality.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:41 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


DUCTLESS MINI-SPLIT AIR-CONDITIONER ...Mounted on a wall and operated by remote control...Though not as discreet as central air, ductless mini-split systems are highly efficient, as each unit can be controlled separately. These systems can also provide heating.

I bolded a thing from the article. People are horrified when they hear Shanghai doesn't have central heating, not realizing that nearly every room in Shanghai and south and west has this thing in it.
One of these in the living room/kitchen, one in the bedroom, and I'm pretty much happy. Also, anything more than 1,000 sqf. is too much house if you live alone, so...two. You need two of these.
posted by saysthis at 2:02 PM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I consider getting those -- they're heat as well as cooling -- but they cost thousands. Also require an large outside unit which isn't practical for condos and is unsightly anywhere.
posted by msalt at 3:23 PM on June 2, 2017


Yeah, those ductless things are all over Japanese houses too and work pretty well. I have central A/C in LA but usually I only need one or two rooms cooled down anyway (but I'm renting and its an old single-zone system). If I had my own place I'd either want some fancy multi-zone system or just switch to the one-per-room model.
posted by thefoxgod at 7:11 PM on June 2, 2017


I have baseboard hydronic radiators and they work great to heat our place in the winter. I wonder why they don't pipe cold water through the radiators in the summer? I guess maybe the convective cooling doesn't work as well as convective heating.

It would probably work, but the pools of condensation below the radiators would not be ideal.
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:54 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


In other words, squirrels are just rats with Charisma and good PR. Just change the question to "Do I want to have gray rats, or do I favor red rats"; either way it's still rodents.

Ok but how do they cool
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:38 PM on June 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Why swamp coolers? Energy efficient plus sliding casement windows.

Evaporative coolers come in portable, window, and central varieties just like air conditioners, and you can buy them at Home Depot, Costco, or a reasonably large fraction of other places that sell air conditioners. Central is most effective and efficient, but as ever, not super useful for people who rent. My energy provider offers rebates for installed evaporative coolers, but not the portable kind. (Translation: screw you, renters!)

If you want to experience the wonders of evaporative cooling while being extra-efficient and not actually spending any money, try this: do some laundry. Set it up to dry in front of you. Set up a fan on the other side of the wet laundry, pointing at you. Wait for a bit. Is your laundry actually getting dry? Do you feel cooler, or just damper? If you feel that it's an improvement, a swamp cooler may be a good option for you!

There's also some window-opening involved, since you need to exchange the moist indoor air with the (hopefully) dryer outdoor air. That can get kind of annoying, since getting appropriate air flow in the right directions isn't always easy. Plus refilling the thing with water becomes a regular chore. I'm pretty sure that if you have one hooked up permanently, they run a water line to it so that's not necessary.

Anyway, they're a reasonable option if it's hot and dry.
posted by asperity at 8:40 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Thanks! I've seen swamp cooler references over the years but it always came off like DIY/hillbilly/downhome aw shucks we don't need no fancy MACHINES, without anyone ever spelling out hwo they did it. I'll hit up Lowe's.

Or I could just tear out these crappy aluminum casement windows and replace them with double-hungs from a local house-parts thrift shop (Portland has several) which is probably what I should really do.
posted by msalt at 10:56 PM on June 2, 2017


Let me toss out a hearty recommendation for dehumidifiers, especially if you live in a humid area. They significantly improve comfort level. I cannot stess that enough. I made the mistake, years ago, of buying a table model, and it made no difference. Screw that, get one of the 50 or 70 pint behemoths. They weigh around 50 pounds and can cost 200-300 dollars, but if you have the money, don't hesitate to consider getting one.

A dehumidifier can make your room feel like it's early fall with no humidity and no clammy skin, and I live in Houston! Walmart delivered mine for free, and I know BB also sells them.
posted by Beholder at 1:18 AM on June 3, 2017


We're in NYC, and Hactar is absolutely correct, finding an apartment with cross-breeze and sun-facing considerations is a rare treat, not a must-have. Hell, we're lucky to live in an apartment in BKY where the heat isn't building-controlled and where all the windows open. (I really wish I were exaggerating.)

I would love a decent article aimed at renters for how to more effectively cool their apartments. We have insulating curtains, a big window fan that exists to suck air out and generate a cross-breeze, one A/C unit per bedroom, and it's still murder-by-heat in the living room during the summer.
posted by XtinaS at 5:49 AM on June 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Let me toss out a hearty recommendation for dehumidifiers, especially if you live in a humid area. They significantly improve comfort level.

For the last four summers I've worked in West Africa, where the temperature is regularly above 100F. I manage just fine without AC. Most people do.

I do have an unusually high tolerance for heat for an American, but a large part of it is just that (a) the air is dry*, and (b) I don't spin into a crisis when I'm a little warm and feel like I "need" to have AC because I'm not perfectly comfortable. But it's mostly (a). When I go home to the midwest I notice the difference immediately.

So yes, dehumidifier. It's really worth trying out.

* In many of the local languages "humid" and "cool" are the same word. Blows my midwestern mind a bit...
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:59 AM on June 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I consider getting those -- they're heat as well as cooling -- but they cost thousands. Also require an large outside unit which isn't practical for condos and is unsightly anywhere.

Eh, even a multi-room mini-split's outside unit is much smaller and (far) quieter than a traditional whole house outside unit. They tend to blend into the surroundings better, and are no worse than window or wall units in terms of looks, unless you have a hundred of them hanging off the side of an apartment building. Even then, they are far more efficient than most window and wall units.

I've had a good number installed for server rooms, often with the ceiling cassettes rather than the wall mounted indoor parts, though either is much quieter than a window unit, which are usually loud enough to be annoying, though they do double as white noise machines.

The only advantage window units have over mini-split systems is up front cost, and even then that's only applicable if you need to cool one or two rooms at most and don't have to modify your window to fit one.
posted by wierdo at 10:40 AM on June 3, 2017


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