You are here » » Home Cooling SystemsTougher energy standards for window air conditioners mean that your utility bill won’t soar when temperatures do. Window air conditioners manufactured since the end of October have such innovations as high-efficiency compressors and fans, and better insulated installation materials that give you a tighter fit. And to help you choose, Consumer Reports upgraded its testing chamber to give an even more accurate idea of how an A/C cools in real-world conditions. We found some winners from GE, LG, Frigidaire, and Haier.When it comes to air conditioners, bigger isn’t always better. A unit that’s too big for the space it’s meant to cool will cycle on and off without removing enough moisture from the air, leaving you feeling cold and clammy. One that’s too small will struggle to cool down the room, leaving you hot and sweaty. Here’s how to find one that’s just right and that's recommended by Consumer Reports. Small (5,000 to 6,500 Btu/hr.)

(Cools 100 to 300 square feet.) For a small bedroom, home office, or guest room you’ll want an air conditioner with good scores for comfort and quiet. GE AEM05LV, $170 (CR Best Buy) Medium (7,000 to 8,500 Btu/hr.) (Cools 250 to 400 square feet.) To cool a master bedroom or playroom, step up to a mid-sized air conditioner. Large (9,800 to 12,500 Btu/hr.) (Cools 350 to 650 square feet.) For a living room or family room, you’ll want a large air conditioner, especially if you have an open floor plan. LG LW1216ER, $350 (CR Best Buy) When You Can’t Install a Window A/C For apartment buildings that don’t allow window air conditioners or for homes that don’t have double hung windows, you can consider a portable air conditioner. But be forewarned that in our tests they had subpar scores for comfort, meaning they labored at lowering the temperature of the testing chamber to a comfortable level. At 80 pounds, some portable A/Cs are anything but and can be cumbersome to move around, even when they have casters.

And they’re typically bigger, noisier, more expensive, and use more energy than window air conditioners.air conditioning units that heatCeiling and box fans won't lower a room’s temperature or remove humidity from the air, but they can make you feel several degrees cooler and don’t cost much to run. what size ac unit do i need for 1600Ceiling fans that earn the Energy Star label move air 20 percent more efficiently than standard models. what does a 2 ton ac unit meanWhen used in concert with an air conditioner, a ceiling fan allows you to set the temperature a bit higher and save money. But keep in mind that fans cool you and not the room so turn if off when you leave. Too cool for school How do you keep comfortable when it heats up?

In a perfect, eco-friendly world, we would all stay cool by dabbing crystal, cold stream water on our pressure points and fanning ourselves with giant leaves. But in the actual world we live in, much of the United States has been facing a record-setting heatwave for weeks and, for some, there's only one way to combat it: air conditioning.And, for lots of us, keeping your room at a comfortable temperature is safer than battling the heat on your own, especially for kids, pets, and the elderly, and with these energy-efficient air conditioners, you can chill out about your energy use, too.The Friedrich Kuhl Plus Series comes with one function that's probably the last thing on your mind: It also acts as a heater. Designed to work when temperatures drop as low as 50 degrees or shoot up as high as 115 degrees, it's a conditioner that will keep your space warm on chilly September nights -- while it's still too warm to heat the whole house -- and cool on stifling August days.The front cover comes in six different colors, just in case you're tired of white, and the 9,500 BTU unit is 30 percent more efficient than the government standard.

The company also promises "heavy duty construction" with parts like copper tubing, aluminum fins, and commercial-grade motors, so you won't have to replace it after this year's heatwave takes its toll. (Friedrich Kuhl Plus, $1,100) Photo: FrigidaireAt 13"x18", this sleek Frigidaire air conditioner is compact enough to fit in even those tiny, third-floor walkup windows, but still offers 8,000 BTUs of cooling power to keep a 350-square-foot space comfortable.The remote control that operates the unit also has a thermostat located on it, so the unit will cool based n the temperature of the room and not just the temperature around the window, and with an EER of 10.8, the air conditioner is 10 percent more efficient than the government standard. Photo: Appliances ConnectionThe Whirlpool Resource Saver 6300 BTU air conditioner has an EER of 11, which makes it 13 percent more efficient than the requirements, but that's not it's only energy-saving feature: the remote and docking system monitor the temperature throughout the room;

sleep mode slowly raises the temperature whole you sleep to conserve energy; and a 24-hour timer lets you come home to a cool house without keeping the A/C on high while you're at work all day. (Whirlpool Resource Saver, $350) Photo: KenmoreWhile putting a smaller unit in each room helps you control the individual temperatures, the Kenmore 25,000 BTU air conditioner offers enough cold air to keep the temperature steady in almost your entire house -- it's rated for spaces up to 1,600 square feet.The Energy Star-compliant air conditioner includes a sleep mode to keep you from paying for cool air all night and the remote-with-thermostat to measure the temperature elsewhere in your home, while the timer lets you decide when to start and stop the cooling. It's 11 percent more efficient than the government standard -- just remember that, since cool air sinks, you'll want to put it upstairs to keep your first floor comfortable during the hottest part of the day. (Kenmore 25,000 BTU, $590)