Summer means a rise in temperature and humidity. With more people working from home and spending longer indoors, keeping cool can be a problem. Getting a good night’s sleep also becomes difficult when the weather turns hot and sticky. An air conditioner is one solution and Chris Michael, MD at Meaco, gives his top tips when it comes to choosing one, and for getting the best results.
The best advice on buying an air conditioner is to ignore the gimmicks and go for a larger capacity. Most people underestimate this and are then can be disappointed. A bigger unit not only gives more cool air in a larger space but will be quieter too. Calculating the correct size is dependent on a number of factors:
• The floor area of the room
• The size and position of windows, and whether they have blinds or shades
• The number of room occupants (if any)
• The heat generated by equipment
• The heat generated by lighting
Other factors influencing how long it takes to cool a room are:
• Is the room south facing?
• Is the room shaded from the sun by trees?
• Does the room have thermal blinds? ( and whether they are being used ).
• Is the room upstairs and getting drawing heat from the floor below ( of particular relevance to high rise flats )?
• Is the room being used for heat generating exercise ( home excercising )?
• How well insulated are the walls?
• How well insulated is the attic?
• What electrical equipment is being used?
If getting a good night’s sleep is the main purpose of the air conditioner, then we know that putting the air conditioner on mid-afternoon, with the blinds and curtains drawn , and the door closed, is the key to efficiently cooling the room down. Only open windows when the outside temperature is lower than inside, and turn off electrical appliances when they are not being used. At bedtime you can then turn the air conditioner off, or just run it in fan mode. An ideal bedroom temperature is around 16-18°C (60-65°F). Temperatures over 24°C (71°F) are likely to cause restlessness, while a cold room of about 12°C (53°F) will make it difficult to fall asleep.
Some people ask “what is the difference between wall-mounted and standalone air conditioners?”. Fixed air conditioning needs to be professionally installed and once installed you cannot move it to another room or house. Permission might be needed for the siting of the external kit., and there will probably be servicing and maintenance costs . It will be quieter than a portable air conditioner but not as flexible.
Meaco has a range of portable air conditioners, the MeacoCool MC Series, with six BTU model sizes to choose from, providing localised cooling in rooms from 12M² to 36m² and an emphasis on low noise and energy efficiency. In the low fan speed setting, the sound pressure level of just 53dB(A) makes this an easy portable air conditioner to live with. Pre-cooling a bedroom is easy to do with the timer function that allows users to set both an on and off timer from anytime between one and 24 hours. An easy-to-use remote control provides full control of the air conditioner, enabling the user to adjust the temperature and engage a sleep mode to ensure a restful night’s sleep.
Products featured: Meaco MC Series air conditioners
2 Responses
Question please: I’m looking for a portable unit that will automatically act as climate control; heating and cooling automatically as necessary to maintain a set temperature. Which of your units will do this please? Note: this request is not simply for an air conditioning unit that also heats, but rather for one that automatically toggles between heating & cooling without adjustment. Thank you
Thank you for your query,
Our MeacoCool MC Series Portable Air Conditioners require manual operation when selecting a desired mode, for example, by toggling the mode button you have the option on CH models, to select cool, fan, dry or heat as the mode of operation. They cannot automatically change to another mode without manual control.
I hope this helps.
Omar@Meaco