Summer is fast approaching and your air conditioner just does not work the way it used too. It barely cools, if it does anything at all. You have tried cleaning it. You have tried flushing it. You have tried everything including kick it and hit it with a mallet. The service man wants to charge you an arm and a leg, and probably a few other body parts to repair it. You are left with only one other choice. Spend all that money to repair a central air conditioning unit that is 20 years old, or spend about the same amount to buy a new, updated central air conditioning unit. If you are going to spend the money, why not get something under warranty that, theoretically, it should last 20 more years? Seems like an easy decision to me. When purchasing a new central air conditioning unit there are five guidelines to keep in mind that will keep you on track and make sure you do not waste your hard earned money. These guidelines are just what they say they are: guidelines. They are not laws or rules you need to follow, but they are suggestions that are meant to guide you towards buying the right central air conditioner for you and your home. air condition compressorsWHAT TYPE OF AIR CONDITIONER DO YOU NEED? There are many brands of central air conditioning units available to purchase from any hardware or appliance store. Some sales associates will try to sell you a window air conditioning unit. Do not let that sales associate talk you into wasting your money. These window air conditioners are a waste of money. They usually only cool one room and they suck a lot of power so you will be spending a lot more money each month on the utility bill. Remember that if you have multiple rooms or a house, you want a central air unit. Do not let the sales associate trick you into anything else. INSTALLATION OF MY CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING UNIT: One more detail to consider is installation. Most people do not want to crawl under, over, around, and through the walls of their house to install a new air conditioner. That is why most places that sell these units also install them for you. Some places install these free of charge with the purchase of a new unit. Even if they dont do it free, you should get someone to professionally install your new unit. It will save you time, headaches, and sweat if you do. If they do not offer installation, you may want to look elsewhere to purchase your unit. It is much easier and cost efficient to get this all done in one step. TEMPURATURE SETTINGS: Most new units come with a new thermostat. You should make sure this thermostat can create the ideal temperature that suits you and your family. If you are comfortable in a room that is 60°, then make sure the unit will cool to that temperature. You also need to make sure you can increase and decrease the temperature in 1° or 2° increments just in case you are not comfortable. FILTERS: There are many filters out there today. The ones that are permanent are the best value. You simply take them out, hose them down, and stick them back in. They save you a lot of money every year, not to mention you dont have to keep track of what size you need. Just remember to clean them once a month. Also, make sure your unit supports these filters. ENERGY SAVER: You should also look to see if your new unit has a sleep setting or an energy saving setting. This allows the unit to run when you are sleeping or not home and not run up your bill. It will keep the house a little warmer when you are not home, and then cool it before you come home. This saves hundreds of dollars a year. Keeping these in mind, finding the perfect unit will be a snap and could turn out to be a fun shopping experience. Just ask the sales associate for more details if you need help. They can be most helpful if these guidelines still have you guessing. http://www.insidewoodworking.com/tools/images/spacer.gif [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
