Welcome to Ontario where it gets hotter than hot and humid as heck each and every year.
On top of this the temperature has been rising overall since the late 1970’s, so if it seems like its constantly getting hotter, it is!
Having said all of that, there is only one logical conclusion. Air conditioners are a must (some even consider them a bare human necessity!).
But before you go running out and buy an air conditioner to bring your home back to temperatures that are livable, there are a few things you should be aware of.
First we’ll tackle what is probably the number one mistake, or at least misunderstanding, anyone shopping for an air conditioner makes.
More is not necessarily better.
Here at Kawartha TV and Stereo we see this all the time.
People don't shop for air conditioners in January, they buy them when they need them, like in July. What typically happens is their old unit dies, or they suffer through a brutal heat spell and that gets them in their car looking for a replacement unit.
Since they just went through a spell of heat and humidity that they wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy they are in the mood to over-compensate, so the conversation with our staff typically starts out like this…
"I'm looking for the most powerful air conditioner you have in stock."
Air conditioners are measured in BTU's.
The more BTU's the more cooling the unit offers, so the logic is a 10,000 BTU unit HAS to be better than a 5,000 BTU unit.
But the problem is BTU's are only part of the story. If you get too many BTU's you’ll end up with a room that cools slower, or not at all.
How can this be?
The way an air conditioner works is it both cools the room as well as removes humidity. By using too powerful of an air conditioner it will cycle itself off too fast, and not dehumidify as it should.
Why? Think of it this way.
You turn your over sized AC unit on and it blows a massive dose cold air into your home. The thermostat registers this and turns the AC off, but because it cooled the air in your home so fast and turned off, things like the carpet, walls, furniture etc didn't have time to absorb the coolness, so as soon as the AC turns off, the heat from everything in your home warms the home up again.
On top of this the excessive on and off cycling wears the unit out faster, and burns more energy as well.
There are calculations you can do to determine the proper number of BTU's for the space your trying to cool. Contact one of our team at Kawartha TV and Stereo and we'll happily determine the proper sized AC unit for your home.