Shop Air Conditioning Units at Abt Abt has the air conditioning you'll need to stay cool during those hot summer days. We currently have five types of air conditioners: window, wall, casement, portable, split system and central air. We also have a variety of air conditioning accessories such as sleeves and power cords. When considering air conditioner types, the most important factor is the size of the room you want to keep cool. If you have a large space to cool, you'll want an AC unit with more BTUs to properly cool a room comfortably and efficiently. Top brands such as GE, Frigidaire and Friedrich provide quality air conditioners, which allow you to enjoy summer while they fight the heat. Still not sure which AC is right for you? Take a look at our Air Conditioner Buying Guide for more information to make the right choice. Casement Window Air Conditioners Central Air Conditioning Units Mini Split System Air Conditioners Featured Air Conditioner Videos

What air conditioner is right for your home? Depending on the area that requires cooling, you'll need to consider different types of air conditioners. To cool each room in your house simultaneously, a central air conditioning unit is best. It will run in conjunction with your furnace and use your home venting to distribute the cool air. For apartment and condo dwellers with no central AC option, consider a window or wall air conditioner. They can provide both permanent or temporary cooling solutions. If you only need a few rooms cooled or want a temporary cooling solution, then portable air conditioners are the perfect option. When using portable AC units, make sure there is window access for proper ventilation. Speak with a specialist in Abt's home comfort department for assistance in finding the perfect air conditioning unit to meet your needs.Residential HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical All material Copyrighted (c) by the Tuckey Companies, 2015. Is central air really better than window units?

Generally, yes – central air conditioning systems are better (mechanically, functionally, and with respect to efficiency) than window units. However, it’s important to remember that “better” can be defined in many different ways. There are indeed some circumstances where a window unit might be the best option for your cooling needs. First and foremost, keep in mind that window units are intended primarily for cooling a single room (or area of a room). Window units are not intended to cool multiple rooms in the same building (or even an entire room if the room itself is large). If your goal is to cool a large area or multiple rooms, you should be considering your central air conditioning options, which may include ductless systems in addition to more traditional HVAC systems. Some people assume that today’s ductless systems really just represent an evolution of decades-old window units. Like window units, ductless systems are also intended to cool only a limited space (such as one room or one portion of a room).

However, ductless systems are much more efficient than window units and can be installed as zoned systems with multiple indoor wall units. Ductless systems will also be much quieter to the indoor ear versus window units. Aesthetically speaking, window units carry the obvious baggage of having a large plastic-and-metal box jammed into your window frame – they block your view of the great outdoors, and they block sunlight coming into the room as well. 12 volt ac dcAdditionally, window units are louder to building occupants because their compressor is located within the unit itself (not outdoors or in a separate location).how many tons is my ac unit There are some limited situations in which a window unit might be the best fit for your cooling needs, including situations where you’re only concerned about cooling one room or where you’d like to supplement other cooling systems in hard-to-cool areas like a four-seasons room or a spare room over a garage.ac motor speed control unit

If you’re cooling multiple rooms and if the budget allows, central air conditioning is the more efficient, less costly-to-operate option to pursue. If you’re a typical homeowner, central air is the most cost effective, energy-efficient way to go. Additionally, central air is the lease intrusive and most aesthetically-pleasing home cooling option. For professional assistance with this and other home maintenance work, Tuckey is the local expert to call. Keep our number handy – you never know when you might need us! All material Copyrighted © by The Tuckey Companies, 2015. [/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons] DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as a reference guide only.  All mechanical, plumbing, electrical, remodeling, and restoration projects should be handled by a qualified, professional contractor like the Tuckey Companies.  Information presented here is of a general nature that may not be applicable in all situations. Tips, articles, and accompanying information do not represent an official recommendation of the Tuckey Companies.

Summer is here, which means for many of us, thoughts are turning to air conditioning. Let’s face it—central air conditioning will change your life. No more sweaty nights tossing and turning because you haven’t installed the window units yet. For that matter, no more installing the window units—or bashing your knuckles carrying them up and down the basement stairs each spring and fall. If you’re thinking about upgrading to central air, be prepared to spend between $6,000 and $15,000, depending on the size and complexity of the job. Installation usually takes several days, and the new system will increase your property value by as much as 10%, according to Twin Cities appraiser Alan Hummel. Here’s what else you need to know. Air conditioning is measured by the ton, which is the cooling energy released by a one-ton block of ice melting over the course of a day. You’ll pay about $2,000 to $4,000 per ton, and a typical two-story, 2,000-square-foot house might require 3 to 3.5 tons of air conditioning—but getting the tonnage exactly right is essential.

An oversized system will cool the house so quickly it doesn’t effectively dehumidify the air (a major key to comfort), and if it’s too small it will run almost constantly, increasing your energy bills and prematurely wearing out the equipment. The contractor should show you a printout of a heat-load calculation for your house, which factors in such things as your home’s location, cubic feet of living space, number and size of windows, and orientation to the sun. In general, today’s systems must be 14 SEER—which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio and is a measure of how much cooling you get for each watt of power used—or about 40% more efficient than the 10 SEER standard that was in place until 2006. Given that your old system isn’t running at peak efficiency anymore, your cooling bills should drop by about half. Or you can opt for even higher efficiency, all the way up to 24 SEER. A 16 SEER system, for example, might add about $2,000 in upfront costs—or perhaps just $500 if your state offers an energy incentive program (you can find a list here)—and will reduce your cooling costs by another 14% a year.

If you have an old central air system or forced air heat, your contractor can connect new AC equipment to the ducts that already exist inside the walls and floors of your home. Old ducts aren’t necessarily good ducts, however. If they’re leaky, you could lose 20% of your cooled (and heated) air into your attic and basement, says physicist Max Sherman, of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. So have the ducts checked, and if necessary sealed. That will add another $1,000 to $3,000 to your costs. If you don’t have ducts, or the old ones are super inefficient, you have two choices: A contractor can install new ducts in the attic and or basement—and run between-floor connections through closets—for the cost of about $4,000 to $5,000. Or you can opt for ductless air conditioning: Unlike central air conditioning, which has one or two central blower units (usually in the attic) that push air through ducts, these systems have individual blower units that usually get installed on the house’s perimeter walls.

You need one unit for each conditioned space, and therefore you have multiple zones throughout your house that can be more efficient than the all-or-nothing approach you get with central air conditioning. Not everyone likes the look of the blower units hanging on the walls, however, and ductless equipment will cost about 30% more for the system than for connecting new central air to existing ductwork. Do not install central air conditioning without adding a high-efficiency filter to the system. By cleaning the air as it moves through the system, it will reduce pollen and dust in the air inside your house—and it will help keep the inner workings of your AC equipment clean and efficient. A system with a “media filter” with a MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) rating of 12 will add $500 to $1,000 to installation costs but reduce your maintenance costs by about $500 every two years, says Wes Davis, of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, a trade organization. Like shopping for a flat-screen TV the week after the Super Bowl or a 2015 model year car after the 2016s hit the lot, timing your air conditioning purchase right can save you big.