# Where to buy a small air conditioner?



## mac-man6 (Oct 30, 2002)

I'll be staying in Toronto this summer and looking for a small air conditioner to fit a small dormroom. I have sliding windows and only about 12" of width to fit a unit. The room is roughly 8'x12' so I don't really need a powerful unit. The problem is I can't find something small enough and at the right price.

Besides the big box stores where could I find a suitable air conditioner?


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

You could try craigslist for a used A/C unit.


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

I have one, $100. I bought it new about 6 years ago, and haven't used in at least 4 years, cause I moved. The room I used it in is roughly about the same size as yours, and the recommended size is 150' sq. ft. so more than enough for your needs. It's also the smallest window A/C unit you can get. 

It's like new condition, and it's been in the sealed original box since I moved. PM me if you're interested. 

vince


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## mac-man6 (Oct 30, 2002)

Wow, I was looking for hints as in stores, I should've put this in the classifieds. I sent a PM scootsandludes.


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

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## 2063 (Nov 9, 2003)

Don't. Sorry to get all environmentalist on you, but Toronto is hot in part because we have coal power plants all around S. Ontario and we have non-essential use of AC's chewing up power.

I say sweat it out, chicks dig the beads man! If you don't like the heat do the following:

- get good drapes which can block out heat in the daytime, and keep a breeze
- get a good fan
- keep the lights off
- if you have many windows, keep them open to create a cross-breeze

My Dad was dead-set against, and subsequently got really good with all the tricks. Coming home in the middle of the day, in the sweltering summer and the place felt straight up chilly (sans AC!). Seriously, go without!

If you HAVE to buy one, use it in the night time only, that will ease the load on all our power.


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## Fink-Nottle (Feb 25, 2001)

Here's my college solution for sleeping when it's hot:

1. Acquire 6 or more plastic pop bottles... the 2 litre kind work well. 

2. Fill them with salt water and put them in the freezer.

3. When it's hot, take three bottles out of the freezer and put them in front of a fan which is pointing at your bed. If it's really hot you may need to replace the bottles in the night... but only when it's really hot.

I was taught this by a friend of mine... I think the salt in the ice keeps it frozen longer. As a bonus this is much quieter than most air conditioners.

Good luck!


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Neat little trick F-N, I will give it a try!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

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## audiodan (Sep 26, 2005)

Home Depot
Sears
(Not Best Buy! )


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

12" is pretty small, Mine is about 19".

We have a fixed electricity rate, So you can bet that they'll be in all the way as soon as it gets hot.

(We're talking about air conditioners btw)

D


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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

HowEver said:


> Okay, seriously: Costco. Even with the membership fee, if you really are buying a small air conditioner and not getting the one mentioned earlier in the thread (or trying to fit something into a 12" wide space), their prices are lower than anywhere I found.
> 
> As for the 12" space or less. If you *also* like portability, and not having to do a full installation, you can use one of these to fit the intake and output into a six inch wide nearly-closed window, and keep the rest of the unit inside:
> 
> ...


How much?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

Do you own one? if so how much does it usually cost (electic bill).


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

ravijo said:


> Don't. Sorry to get all environmentalist on you, but Toronto is hot in part because we have coal power plants all around S. Ontario and we have non-essential use of AC's chewing up power.


:lmao: Yes, those coal power plants are generating all kinds of heat that melts Toronto! I love environmentalists who know nothing of science.



> I say sweat it out, chicks dig the beads man! If you don't like the heat do the following:
> 
> - get good drapes which can block out heat in the daytime, and keep a breeze
> - get a good fan
> ...


I live in a basement apartment. I have to run a dehumidifier all summer to prevent my place becoming moldy. That contributes a bit to the heat, but honestly, my place doesn't drop below 28 all summer! Not exactly easy to get a good nights sleep at that temperature. A/C is fine, as long as you aren't trying to cool your whole apartment, all day. At night, in the bedroom only.

I've seen those portables in action. They work great, but tend to be more expensive than window models.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

We bought all 3 of our window air conditioners at Leon's,
Yes...They are cheap enough to buy 3 of them.

D


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## mac-man6 (Oct 30, 2002)

Well, I checked the Leon's site but they didn't have anything. The bottle trick sounds interesting and is tempting my frugal side. As for prices, I think Canadian Tire has the best price and Costco seems more expensive, just comparing numbers. The thing I noticed about the portable units are they are $200-$300 more expensive than the window mounted versions. I've remeasured my window and I can do 16" maybe 17" but again the standard seems to be 18". 

One question, adding salt to the water and freezing it, won't it make it thaw quicker and be less effective?


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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

mac-man6 said:


> Well, I checked the Leon's site but they didn't have anything. The bottle trick sounds interesting and is tempting my frugal side. As for prices, I think Canadian Tire has the best price and Costco seems more expensive, just comparing numbers. The thing I noticed about the portable units are they are $200-$300 more expensive than the window mounted versions. I've remeasured my window and I can do 16" maybe 17" but again the standard seems to be 18".
> 
> One question, adding salt to the water and freezing it, won't it make it thaw quicker and be less effective?


They said that it will make it last longer. They use salt as an insulation but I havent heard about mixing it in water oh well.

The cost of the unit is ok, my biggest concern is electricity cost.


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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

Aero said:


> They said that it will make it last longer. They use salt as an insulation but I havent heard about mixing it in water oh well.


Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water. Normally at 0 degress, water is an icecube. With salt though, it would still be liquid. Same temperature, different state.

Salt water works great in beer coolers, as you would have sub-zero water surrounding your beer, instead of ice blocks that don't make 100% contact with your beer.

I can't imagine how it would improve the pop-bottle / fan air-conditioning system.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

mac-man6 said:


> Well, I checked the Leon's site but they didn't have anything. The bottle trick sounds interesting and is tempting my frugal side. As for prices, I think Canadian Tire has the best price and Costco seems more expensive, just comparing numbers. The thing I noticed about the portable units are they are $200-$300 more expensive than the window mounted versions. I've remeasured my window and I can do 16" maybe 17" but again the standard seems to be 18".
> 
> One question, adding salt to the water and freezing it, won't it make it thaw quicker and be less effective?


I saw a pallet load of small ones at Walmart yesterday. The price was $129.83, I think the rating was 5000 BTU but I have no clue how wide a window it would fit.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

The window air conditioners that we bought at Leon's are LG WR-5210,
It's probably still too early to be shopping at Leon's for one, We bought ours in June, 
That's when they really start stocking them in.

The third one we have is actually different, It's an LG WM-6021 with a remote control.
(All of the air conditioners that we bought are rated at 5200 btu or higher)

You could also try looking at Zellers, I remember seeing some really tiny ones
for sale there last year made by Sunbeam I think.

D


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## 2063 (Nov 9, 2003)

HowEver said:


> I'm curious. What kind of car do you drive?


A bike 

and to guyToronto: carbon emissions created in part by coal power plants are at the root cause of global warming... you might look it up sometime. Not to mention smog raises the temperature of the city, and also adds the sticky feeling that people often try to escape with air conditioners. 

Secondly I never said that you shouldn't run a dehumidifier, mould is a health risk... heat isn't (not for most people). I'm saying that we all use far too much energy as it is, and ACs are simply another way to waste more.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

If you're still looking -

Rona had a 5200 BTU unit in their flyer for $98. That's probably the best price you can find.


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## ernestworthing (Jun 10, 2004)

guytoronto said:


> Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water. Normally at 0 degress, water is an icecube. With salt though, it would still be liquid. Same temperature, different state.
> I can't imagine how it would improve the pop-bottle / fan air-conditioning system.


Well, lowering the melting point would mean that the ice-block that comes out of your freezer is at a subzero temperature. Also, salt water melts slower than pure water.
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/solutions/faq/why-salt-cools-icewater.shtml

So you get more cooling (due to the larger Delta T) for a longer period.

There is no free lunch though. Your freezer has to work harder to bring the water down to subzero temperatures.


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

I was at one of the big Zehrs locations and they had a $98 5000 btu Diplomat(I think) air conditioner. I had been looking for one at that price in that btu range, but it wasn't energystar approved, so that's one thing to keep an eye on. The energystar 5000 btu one they had was $129.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Does anyone have one of those portable units that are vented out the window with flexible ducts? Any comments to share? 

Aside from portability, how do they compare with regular window-mounted units in terms of cooling, ease of use, power consumption, noise, etc.?


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

My two cents: I tried to use one of the "Penguin" models of air conditioner and found it wanting. It just didn't seem to have the same type of effective coverage as a smaller window-mounted model.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Perhaps I shall.


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## bishopandarlo (Mar 22, 2006)

AC's on sale this weekend under $100

Home Depot:
http://p.p0.com/YesConnect/HtmlMessagePreview?a=QhoOxeq5E0kJvlRR5Sm

Canadian Tire:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/affiliates/mega_sale/en/index_en.html


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

I .


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

I found a beaut at a yard sale. Still in the box and never used. It's a Maytag with a nifty remote control. Set it up in my new video editing room. I checked online and it costs about 400 bucks.

I paid sixty.


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## UnleashedLive (Aug 9, 2004)

I picked up the $89 unit at Home Depot. I've never had ac in my life so I can't wait.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

I think the original poster made their purchasing decision about four years ago... and possibly has graduated from that university by now.

Wecome to ehMac, one suggestion is to check the dates before replying to threads.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

CanadaRAM said:


> I think the original poster made their purchasing decision about four years ago... and possibly has graduated from that university by now.
> 
> Wecome to ehMac, one suggestion is to check the dates before replying to threads.


smallac means: "Small air conditioner" as indicated by his home page for air conditioner sales.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I reported it as spam and it's now gone.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

And here I was being all friendly and accommodating to a new ehMac member...

bah, rotten spammers.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

CanadaRAM said:


> And here I was being all friendly and accommodating to a new ehMac member...
> 
> bah, rotten spammers.


Keep being friendly. I've been all too kind to rotten spammers in the past myself. 

Whatever happened to Meella, by the way?


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## mac-man6 (Oct 30, 2002)

CanadaRAM said:


> I think the original poster made their purchasing decision about four years ago... and possibly has graduated from that university by now.
> 
> Wecome to ehMac, one suggestion is to check the dates before replying to threads.


I was surprised to see this bumped, I have graduated but never found an AC unit for that window. For a different room I bought a Danby portable unit at 4x the price of the in-window styles, worth every dollar but more than I would have liked to pay.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Well, nice to know it all had a happy ending.


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