The rating for maximum amps is the most important number to know for electrical appliances, since it’s this factor that moves you closer to the limit of your circuit breaker. You may not have a listing for watts at all. If you already own an air conditioner (or other electrical appliance) it will have a label that tells you how many amperes (“amps”) of current they can draw. You’re spending less on electricity because you’re only cooling off one room when you’re in it, but you have to settle for more noise and an obstructed window. Remember, though, that even if the efficiencies are comparable the way you use a central air conditioner is different from a central system. Cool model from Home Depot with the same capacity but a SEER of 14.5 will use about 1,000 watts more, and only runs at one speed. It’ll use about 1400 watts to cool about 1200 square feet of a house in average summer conditions, and even less if you only need a little bit of cooling. If you can find a non-“seasonal” EER rating for a central system, that is a number you can more closely compare with the CEER of a window unit.Įnergy Star lists the most-efficient central air conditioning systems, among which we found a Lennox unit that hit a class-leading EER of 16 (SEER of 26) for a small 24000-BTU central system. That means the SEER rating for a central air conditioner is always higher than the CEER of a window unit, even sometimes if the central system is really less efficient. That same standard defines another calculation called the “ Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio” (SEER) to average out efficiency over an entire year, including a standardized number of days out of the year an air conditioner is not running. Window unit CEER is based on the BTUs per hour removed when it’s 95 degrees outside, as defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute standard 210/240. central systemsĬomparing window units to central air conditioning is trickier, though, since the efficiency rating system most often advertised is different. You’ll use about 50% more electricity to get the same amount of cooling, and that’s assuming only moderate outdoor heat - on the hottest days, even the best portable air conditioners can’t keep up. Window vs portable air conditioner efficiencyĬompared to portable air conditioners, window units are engineering marvels: Most portable designs can’t even hit an efficiency rating of better than 7 or 8 in real-world conditions, and so a rating is rarely listed. The latest and most efficient variable-speed window units like this bigger model from LG or the brand-new Midea U-shaped unit rate as high as 14.7 and 15, but you’ll pay extra up-front to squeeze out that extra efficiency. As you can see, there is some difference, but it’s not very large. When we tested 8,000 BTU window air conditioners, we also tested the power draw on every cooling and fan setting with an electricity usage monitor. A big 14,000 BTU air conditioner should only use 1,250 wattsĮven the least-expensive units we researched for our review of the best window air conditioners got a score of 11, and all of our picks were rated 12 or 12.1.A mid-size 8,000 BTU AC should use fewer than 715 watts.For a small bedroom, a 5,000 BTU window unit should only use 450 watts.That works out to the following figures for popular sizes: The Department of Energy “Energy Star” rating is given to window air conditioners that rate better than 11. If you’re shopping for a window air conditioner, there’s an official standard for efficiency you should understand: the combined energy efficiency ratio, or CEER, which represents the number of BTUs of heat per hour an air conditioner removes for every watt of electricity it consumes.
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