Portable A/C units

10YearsTogether

It's going to start getting pretty hot soon.  I hate our summer electric bills bc of running the AC.  And it's mainly for when we're home at night.  I'm considering getting a freestanding AC unit from Costco, they have one for $350 on sale.  Is that too expensive?  Too cheap?  Any reviews on these types of units?

The prob is that in order for our room to stay cool at night, we have to crank up the AC.  Our house has high ceilings downstairs so it's such a waste of energy to cool the entire place. We don't have the room to room AC option, unforch.  Our electricity bills are seriously $250ish+ a month during the summer bc of this.

Thought I'd see if anyone has any exp with these things. 

 

MissLinz

We got ours at Best Buy. I think it was around $500. We had a 10% off coupon. It was a must last summer when I was pregnant. I will get back to on the brand. It's stored.

happywife123

I want one of these.  I agree that it's a waste to heat the entire house when you really only need 1 or 2 rooms cooled. 

JD 2 B

I know you don't have a room to room option, but can you open/close vents? We do this in rooms we don't use and it seems to really help. The heat/ac doesn't blow in areas where we closed the vents (most of the downstairs).

pinkpuffyhearts

I've heard those free standing ACs don't work very well. We have window units which work great buy probably aren't an option in your house. I agree with JD, close the vents in the other rooms.

5dogs

R had one by Sharp that we loved - we gave it to his brother when he moved in with me, wish I had kept it for last summer when I was pregnant. We'll probably be picking up another one!

staycee

we got one for the Bug's room last June.   Her room gets disgustingly hot (upstairs and all afternoon sun), even with the central A/C on.    It was $650-ish at Costco.

It was a god-send.   The hook up to the outside window sorta sucks. 

Here is a pic of it in the corner of her nursery (before we replaced those old blinds with new window treatment)

themarshmalo

We were having the same issue last year. Then we just decided to keep our bedroom door shut, windows open, and run the ceiling fan on low throughout the day. We turn up the fan a couple of hours before bed and the room gets pretty cool. I'll have to see how this is working out in, say, July, but for now it's been keeping our bills down.

10YearsTogether

Thanks all!  I am going to go see the Costco one!  H is opposed and says they are pointless but he also isn't the one opening the SDGE bills.  =s

MissLinz

The brand we have is Danby. Looks like staycee's.