So my apartment doesn't have AC, and I've been thinking of buying one. My first problem is I'm not entirely sure what BTU\hour to look for. The rough dimensions of my main apartment area are 13' x 18', or 234 square feet. Home Depot's little guide for AC's says that I'd need about a 6000 BTU AC, but they only have them in 5,000 and 6,500 BTU. Would 5000 really not be enough, or conversely, would 6500 really be overkill?
My second problem is the fact that my apartment kind of sucks. I only really have two (two plug slots each) usable, 3 pronged outlets in my main living area. One of the two outlets is taken up by my fridge, and a powerstrip which my microwave, toaster, and various handheld charging devices. The other is taken up by another powerstrip which has my TV and game systems hooked up to, and a powersquid, which is what my computer, monitor, modem, router and speakers are hooked up to. As you can see, I don't have a plug available just for the AC. These are also surge protectors (Power Sentry brand, if that helps). Would it be incredibly stupid of me to plug an AC into one of my power strips? My "entertainment strip" is only at most running my HDTV and 360 at any one point in time.
tl;dr: which would be better for a 234 sq. ft. room, 5000 or 6500 BTU. Also, is plugging an air conditioner into a powerstrip/surge protector a horrible idea?
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The AC units shold have a reccomended room size, you want one that is close to/slightly bigger than your cooled square footage. Be ready for your power bill to jump.
I just sold it to a coworker on Friday and she loved it -- far better than her bigger, older units.
It's worth it to shop around and do some research into models. Not all models are created equally, just like any other piece of electronics. Amazon has a lot of reviews of most any semi-popular model, and probably new ones too as summer's started.
within limits of course.
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
When I moved into this apartment, let's just say it probably hadn't been cleaned in years - a good inch of dust was on the filter, which was killing it's effiecency.