If you live in a home that doesn’t have air conditioning, relying on ceiling fans and box fans simply may not be enough to keep your family comfortable during the hottest months of the year. Since single room units and central air conditioning are two of the more popular ways to efficiently cool your home, it’s critical to learn the advantages of each and when one makes more sense than the other before you make a decision. The information below will give you a good start in the decision-making process. Single room air conditioning allows for fast and relatively inexpensive installation into virtually any room in your home with a window. This can be an ideal cooling solution when you only need to cool a family room or the bedrooms while you sleep at night. From a cost perspective, only running one or two AC units in your home can be an affordable way to cool down the room you’re in. These air conditioners are also the more affordable option for homeowners who don’t plan to be in the home for long, or for renters who are unable to get their landlord to install a more expensive central air system.

Central air conditioning is the more energy efficient and affordable way to quickly cool every room in your home and keep it that way even when you aren’t there. This system relies on a network of ducts to force the air from the equipment into each room. Because there are more components involved in installing central air than single room units, the installation can take longer, but will not mar the visual appeal of your individual rooms with the bulky window units. From a cost perspective, it can cost several thousand dollars to install a central air conditioning system, especially if you don’t already have ductwork. However, it may be the more cost effective option when your cooling needs would require three or more individual room units, as the cost of the units may nearly cover the central air system’s installation. Also, using more than two single room units at once can demand more power than your central air system would use. The layout of your home can help you determine whether central air conditioning or single room units are right for you.

For instance, the installation of central AC can be much less expensive if you already have forced air heating in your home and the ducts are in good condition. On the other hand, a multi-story home with very limited space between levels may not have adequate room for ductwork without significant renovation. Since this can skyrocket the cost of your installation, it may make more sense to stick to single room units, even if they aren’t the most energy efficient option. Before you make a decision either way, it’s always worth getting a few estimates from air conditioning contractors so that you’ll have a better idea of the cost of installation for a central air system. This can help you make the best possible financial decision when you begin pricing single room units. All Undergraduate Housing rooms are furnished with a desk, desk chair and a bed for each resident. Additional furniture is described in individual sections below. All housing units also have internet service, with direct CITNET connections in Avery, Braun and Marks, Charter pipeline cable modem connections at 1170 E. Del Mar, 150 S. Chester and the off-campus houses.

Avery House is the newest housing facility at Caltech. There are 136 spaces available for undergraduate students. The entire building is air conditioned, and is wired to the Campus Internet. how to charge a central ac unitEach room has additional dressers and wardrobes for clothing storage. custom car ac unitsThe building construction also meets ADA wheelchair requirements.ac outside unit hot The residential areas are secured via use of card access security. The House has several lounges, kitchens, a dining area, as well as the Lorden Lounge, which has a piano available for recreational playing. There are two laundry rooms, each contain machines that accept both coins and ID card student account transactions. Cats are not permitted in Avery House.

Resident is not permitted to maintain pets except as provided by the Caltech Housing Pet Policy. Marks House has 30 single rooms and Braun House has 29 single rooms.  All rooms have window air conditioning units.  The rooms are slightly larger than those in the South Houses. They feature tiled floors and separate beds and desks (no bunkbeds or bed/desk combos).  The Houses each have their own kitchen and laundry room (coin or ID operated) in the basement area. There is an air-conditioned lounge that has a television. Cats are not permitted in Marks/Braun House. Resident is not permitted to maintain pets except as provided by the Caltech Housing Pet Policy. There is a Resident Associate on duty in Marks and Braun House. The Housing Office offers apartment style living, allowing easy access use of kitchen facilities and private bathrooms. There are 25 one bedroom units available at 150 S. Chester, each rated for two to three residents, with only minor variations in unit design.

There are nine units available at 1170 E. Del Mar, rated for two residents for studio units (2 available), two or three residents for one bedroom units (2 available) and three or four residents for two bedroom units (5 available). In addition to standard furnishings, there is a living room with a dining table, dining chairs and a couch in each unit. The kitchen is equipped with a gas range, refrigerator, stove and microwave oven (but no cooking utensils.) Laundry facilities are available in the apartments by coin operation only. Each building has a Resident Associate on duty. Internet connection is available in both buildings via Charter Spectrum. If you have questions about connectivity, please submit a request to Housing Maintenance. Personal campus extensions are not available. Cats are not permitted in the apartments. Housing Options at a Glance Please see the chart below for comparisons on the factors that have received the most inquiries: There is a room in our apartment which we use as an office that is always 10 to 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the house.

The apartment is cooled using a standard central AC, however the room in question does not have a vent on that AC. I think the reason for this is it likely was previously part of the adjacent bedroom, which is separated by a thin, non-load bearing wall. Because I use this room frequently, I'd like to add a small single room or portable AC unit inside of it. Here are the constraints that I have to work with: The room does not have any windows, and cutting a hole through the wall to use to drain an AC unit is not an option I cannot cut any holes through the wall into the adjacent bedroom I think water evaporation based AC units are out of the question since it would not only counteract the central AC that does work brilliantly in the other rooms, but also the office contains a lot of expensive electronics that I'd rather not damage with water Adding a vent in this room to the central AC isn't an option If that doesn't eliminate all types of feasible AC units, it at least seems to eliminate the bulk majority of them.

I've been unable to find an AC unit that could work in this type of situation. Maybe part of that is because without drainage or water vapor, I'm not sure how one would work. I guess if there was a type of unit that drained into a bucket, that would work. Does such a thing exist, or does anyone have any brilliant insight in terms of ideas? Congratulations - you have eliminated all the ways this might actually work. Either deal with it being hotter, or add a few options that you say are "not an option" with the most logical one being a connection to the central A/C. With a bucket, you could go with 50 pounds of ice, a fan blowing over it and a bucket for it to drain into as it melts. That will get you 7,200, perhaps 8,200 BTUs before you need to get another 50 lbs of ice...or the equivalent of about an hour's run time for a medium window A/C. Not very practical without a large supply of ice and labor to carry ice and buckets of water. Put a box fan in the door, and let the central AC handle it.