Best way to cool an apartment??

[Fether]

My wife and I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment and rent is really cheap... but there is no AC. We wake up and go to bed hot and the heat just sucks all motivation out of us to get up and be active. 

We have been looking into getting a portable AC unit and are looking for the cheapest and best option. 

Anyone have a particular device they recomendar??

I found these two, but don't want to spend much more than this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W2KG92Y/ref=asc_df_B00W2KG92Y5059013/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B00W2KG92Y&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167119222542&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17385640875665094343&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029908&hvtargid=pla-274288519645

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E13ERQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499145469&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=air+conditioner+honeywell&dpPl=1&dpID=31ZmhVYvNGL&ref=plSrch

(we would get two of these)

[zil]

If you live in an arid area, an evaporative cooler (aka swamp cooler) works wonders, and you can get ones that go in the window (another window on the opposite side of the house should be cracked to allow air flow).

Otherwise, I'm clueless.

[The Folk Prophet]

Window AC units work great in a small place. It will definitely cool you better than the fan. Having been on a mission where we slept with nothing but a fan in the Philippines and having lived in a small apartment in the summer heat with a window AC unit I can testify of this.

[Just_A_Guy]

I am currently spending my weekdays in a non-air conditioned one-bedroom apartment in the Uintah Basin.  I have a 5000 BTU window unit left by a previous tenant and a tower fan to move air around; and it really isn't enough.  A 5000 BTU unit sounds very under-sized for a two-bedroom apartment, and you'll actually wind up spending more money via your electric bill because you'll have to run it so much.  

I would go ahead and spring for a larger-sized unit.  Even then you'll want a fan to help move air around.  Fans without A/C will provide some relief if you're just sitting around; but they won't give you that get-up-and-go feeling you're looking for.

Also, window units are a pain to install.  Look for a truly portable unit.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Just_A_Guy

[Just_A_Guy]

PS - I'm not very scientifically minded--I'll leave the physics discussion to folks like @Vort--but I think the Honeywell unit you link to doesn't actually cool the air.  As I understand it you can only create cool, by drawing the heat out of the air and transferring the heat elsewhere.  That's why portable units are either mounted on windows with much of the unit outside, or else have hoses that vent hot air out the nearest window.

[Vort]

Random factoid: Refrigeration units can be broadly classified into two types, compressive and absorptive. Albert Einstein himself filed a bunch of patents for an absorptive refrigerator design. The general line of reasoning is that after the invention of Freon, compressive refrigeration was more efficient and simply outcompeted everything else, which is why all of our fridges today have compressors.

Mmmmm...not really.

It's true that, with the development of an efficient refrigerant like Freon, compressive refrigeration technology outperformed the absorptive prototypes. But at least as important was the early 20th century's nascent power grid industry, which wanted more than just light bulbs as customer needs. Absorptive refrigeration can run on anything that can heat up the refrigerant fluid enough to drive it out of the water -- natural gas, for example, or even sunlight. But compressors require electricity. So the power producers were happy to help tout the virtues of compressive refrigeration. And here we are today.

When the excrement interfaces with the atmospheric turbine and we all go back to the stone age, don't be surprised if your great-grandchildren, on redeveloping the technology of their ancestors, look with bewilderment on ancient compressive refrigeration and ask, "Why did they do it that way?"

[Backroads]

I used to own Choice No. 2. Liked it quite a lot. It's at my brother's apartment now because, well, our swamp cooler is awesome. (Sure, we plan to one day get central air but it would require some retrofitting work and the swamp cooler really does a respectable job.)

[Vort]

2 hours ago, Backroads said:

I used to own Choice No. 2. Liked it quite a lot. It's at my brother's apartment now because, well, our swamp cooler is awesome. (Sure, we plan to one day get central air but it would require some retrofitting work and the swamp cooler really does a respectable job.)

Heat pump >>>> central air. Costs more, but it will pay for itself within five years. Great investment. Our heat pump is cheaper than a full-sized furnace (we still have a smaller furnace to help out on very cold days), and as a bonus, we are among the few in the Seattle area with summer cooling.

[SpiritDragon]

39 minutes ago, Vort said:

Heat pump >>>> central air. Costs more, but it will pay for itself within five years. Great investment. Our heat pump is cheaper than a full-sized furnace (we still have a smaller furnace to help out on very cold days), and as a bonus, we are among the few in the Seattle area with summer cooling.

Is your heat pump attached through your furnace vents to distribute air throughout the house? Does it rely on convection or forced air? You're clearly satisfied with your purchase, what suggestions would you give to any one looking into getting one. Does your furnace need to help out often in the colder months? I'm more than a little curious now. How well do you think it would work in a climate with temperature extremes from 40^o C to -40^{0 C} (104⁰ F to -40⁰ F)?

[Backroads]

51 minutes ago, Vort said:

Heat pump >>>> central air. Costs more, but it will pay for itself within five years. Great investment. Our heat pump is cheaper than a full-sized furnace (we still have a smaller furnace to help out on very cold days), and as a bonus, we are among the few in the Seattle area with summer cooling.

Would this work with radiant heating or would we, once again, require some retrofitting?

[seashmore]

I haven't seen the basics covered. Open windows, especially if you can get any cross ventilation, and keep curtains drawn during daylight hours. Ceiling fans if you've got them also keep the air circulating and cooler. Try to avoid using the oven and/or clothes dryer (if applicable) on really hot days. And sometimes, sleeping with just sheets is cooler than sleeping with no covers. If you find yourself getting too hot to stand it, sit in a cold bath for an hour. 

Last summer, my A/C went out when highs went from low 70s to upper 90s in less than a week, and I found that wearing a lightweight maxi dress kept me cooler than walking around the apartment "Mormon naked" (just my garments). Fun fact, when I was in college, I lived in dorms with no A/C during record breaking heat, with bonuses of broken blinds and an eastern facing window. There was one day I came home, put my hand on the wooden door as I unlocked it, and flashbacked to fire safety videos that said to not open a door if it was warm to the touch.  Six months later, I was living on the other side of campus when our heat went out during record breaking lows. I would rather have the latter.

[person0]

Dry ice in a bucket with a fan blowing outward.  Kind of like this:

Now, to prevent suffocation and death from too much CO2, well that wasn't mentioned as a qualifier.   

[dahlia]

I have had window units most of my life (I have central air now, thank goodness. There does seem to be difference). They do the job well, but you may need 2 if your space is big. I lived in one place where I only had 1 in the bedroom and in Philly's heat, me, my son, and our rabbit would sleep in my bedroom because you just couldn't function in the heat and humidity and get up for work/school the next day. They are a lot cheaper than they used to be, and quieter too. Even with central air, I keep curtains drawn and use the ceiling fans that are in every Midwest home. Love the fans, but need the AC as well.

[Vort]

2 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

Is your heat pump attached through your furnace vents to distribute air throughout the house? Does it rely on convection or forced air? You're clearly satisfied with your purchase, what suggestions would you give to any one looking into getting one. Does your furnace need to help out often in the colder months? I'm more than a little curious now. How well do you think it would work in a climate with temperature extremes from 40^o C to -40^{0 C} (104⁰ F to -40⁰ F)?

Yes. Forced air. No specific suggestions, just use common sense. It doesn't usually get very cold in Seattle, so the furnace (natural gas) is used only occasionally. I think a heat pump would work very well in a more extreme climate, though of course its efficiency falls as the temperature hits the extremes. Ask around your area and do some Googling to see how well it would work for you. My guess is that it's still a winner of an idea.

[Vort]

2 hours ago, Backroads said:

Would this work with radiant heating or would we, once again, require some retrofitting?

No, you need to have vents and such. If you have baseboard or radiator heating, you would have to have ducting put in for an air pump, which would run you $$$$$$$$$.

[Vort]

During the summer when I was on my mission (Italy), I found that sticking my feet in a bucket of cold water cooled me down faster than anything else except for standing in a cold shower. Seems like I slept a couple of times with my feet in a bucket, and it worked great, until I wanted to roll over.

[Backroads]

11 hours ago, Vort said:

No, you need to have vents and such. If you have baseboard or radiator heating, you would have to have ducting put in for an air pump, which would run you $$$$$$$$$.

All righty. But if we're going to be doing that one day anyway, we may as well get the heat pump whilst spending the money?