Hmm, I do like hot weather, but that's too hot.

We got a full size 3-unit A/C (heatpump) installed at the end of last summer. One in the lounge, one in the bedroom and one in my office. They don't do super well at heating, but they do marvelously at cooling, taking the bedroom from 80 down to a bearable 65 in an hour or so.

As for the A/C being on the floor and not cooling the upper air that well, it might be worth setting up a fan next to it that helps to distribute the air around, either blowing the cold air out or blowing the hot air towards it. Worth experimenting with.

 

Our power went out yesterday at 5pm and finally came back on 24 hours later. Talk about being grumpy in the heat x10. Ie ended up going to one of my husband's offices to sit in their AC while he did some work.

Glad you found a unit so you can at least get a little relief from the insanity. :D And yeah, a lot of the ones they sell in stores these days, despite their giant power-rating numbers, they really aren't that powerful and many actually end up only putting out (using?) little better than half of their claim. Or something like that, I don't remember the details. Consumers Reports did a report on that recently. You can't expect them to cool an entire house - they're largely for one-room use only, whether they have wheels or they're window-mounted.

 

Three weeks of heat and we haven't even hit the hottest time of the year!

I know Berkeley and Oakland have Tool Libraries as part of their book library programs if you need additional tools for that hole in your wall. Your plant will probably survive the baking.

Might want to try opening the window in the bedroom to get the cool air there. If I recall from college physics, by opening the window and blowing the air out of the room, it'll create an airflow to get the cool air in.

No AC in Oakland, but we open the window in the dining room and the window in the bedroom for the air flow to slowly move around.

 

Really you should be thankful that all the stores were sold out of smaller units. Depending on how much you use it, that will likely save you a lot of money. The biggest mistake most people make when they buy those window A/C units is to buy the cheapest one (usually about 5,000 or 6,500 btu), since they are only using it for a small room. The problem is that while they may be rated for 100sq ft. (and why do they rate them by square feet? Wouldn't cubic feet make more sesne?), that is in ideal conditions; tested in an empty room and mounted directly in the center of the wall, which is just never possible in a real life situation. The smaller unit will have to struggle to keep the room remotely cool, and if it is too small, the A/C may never kick off.

It costs a little more to run an 18,000 btu A/C than to run a 6,500 when the compressor is running, but when they cycle to fan, it costs exactly the same. The larger unit should be able to cool down the room (though you can't will the cool air where you want it) and then start cycling the compressor on and off. The smaller A/C would struggle to cool the room, and may never cycle off.

I made that mistake with the first one I bought, and it ran constantly. It cost me about $100 to run it per month, which I just assumed was the going rate. When it went out last year, I bought a new one with double the rating. I assumed it was going to cost a little bit more to run, but when I got the first bill, I found that it had only cost $70 to run it for the month.

Since A/C is pretty much required in Arizona for about 4 months, I would have saved about $500 dollars on electric bills if I had just bought the larger unit when I first decided to get one five years ago.

Now if I could just find one that could fit in an opening that is 18.5" wide, I wouldn't be dripping sweat while I type this.

 

Have you been getting any power outages up there in SF? Our power went out again, for 16 hours this time, yesterday. :/

The power demand all over CA lately is just crazy, with State 2 emergency status and requests for voluntary non-use from companies as well as homeowners. I sure hope it cools off soon like they're predicting so things can calm down.

I tell ya, this has been a lesson on how stupid people who are unused to such heat can be...power goes out, and when it comes on again, what do they all do - turn on their AC and fans once more instead of taking the hint that maybe our power companies can't handle the load, and boom, the power goes out again.

 

Have you been getting any power outages up there in SF? Our power went out again, for 16 hours this time, yesterday. :/

The power demand all over CA lately is just crazy, with State 2 emergency status and requests for voluntary non-use from companies as well as homeowners. I sure hope it cools off soon like they're predicting so things can calm down.

I tell ya, this has been a lesson on how stupid people who are unused to such heat can be...power goes out, and when it comes on again, what do they all do - turn on their AC and fans once more instead of taking the hint that maybe our power companies can't handle the load, and boom, the power goes out again.

(hope this doesn't double-post, clicked post once and it didn't seem to register - if it does, apologies)

 

Oh...you have comments on approval now. Sorry...delete this and the doubleposting, then. :)

 

We've been lucky enough not to have any blackouts here, but who knows; they could come at any time. Lamorinda is a pretty spread out area; low population density and no big businesses, so I'd think we're not high on the power usage target board.

 

Have you tried closing the bedroom window completely yet? Part of the benefit of an air conditioner is that it removes humidity from the air...but only if you continually cycle indoor air through it. Opening up the bedroom window lets all that new, humid air back in and ruins the...uh...conditioning. Not sure how well this works for a wall unit, but out here in the boonies in Indiana, where most everyone has central air, it makes a big difference if you leave just one window open.

May be worth a try...