Basic information: what kind of air conditioner is it??

You have already made up your mind – buy air conditioner… Now you have another important choice to make. It is necessary to choose such air conditioner capacity which will provide the best results for a concrete room where you are going to install it. But before this choice we have to decide what kind of air conditioner you need…

Two main types can be defined according to the mounting method: monoblock conditioner window or mobile and conditioner of “split-system” type.

Window air conditioners. Not so long time ago this was the most widespread type of air conditioners in our country. And now the majority of firms, making conditioners, offer window models with a capacity from 1,5 up to 5 kw. The most simple ones can only cool the air, the more expensive ones have a heating mode and remote control. The main disadvantage is the increased noise and the need for installation in a window opening. The installation of window conditioner inside the vacuum double-glazed window is practically impossible. Its main advantage today is a rather low price.

Mobile air conditioners. Outwardly it looks like a small nightstand on wheels. Do not require special installation, just bring the flexible hose duct with a diameter of about 15 centimeters and a length of 1-2 meters out through a window or hole in the wall. This hose moves the hot air out of the room. Disadvantage is the increased noise and rather high price, which is comparable with the cost of good split-system.

Split-systems. An air conditioner is divided into two blocks. Outer block, more cumbersome part with rather noisy compressor is setting outside for example, on the balcony or attached to the wall at home and the inner block – compact and working almost noiseless – hangs on the wall or is mounted on the ceiling or is put on the floor near the wall.

Outdoor and indoor units are united with each other by an electric cable and copper pipes through which the refrigerant circulates.

For air-conditioning of several premises simultaneously multisplit-systems are used, which include from two up to five indoor units, connected with one outdoor unit.

Among split-systems one can distinguish: wall conditioner, under-ceiling conditioner, cassette conditioner, column conditioner and canal conditioner.

Wall-mounted conditioner is now the most widespread and has the most practical correlation of price and quality. It is installed in any premises: office, apartment, store and so on.d. Power is within the limits from 1,5 kW to 6,5-8,5 kW, which corresponds to the area of the room of 12 to 75 square meters. m.

Floor-ceiling conditioner. Its dimensions are more like a heating battery. Its output can be up to 12.5 kW. They are installed either at the bottom of the wall in this case they really resemble a closed radiator of heating or on the ceiling.

In the first case the air stream is directed upwards, in the second – along the ceiling. It allows to evenly distribute cooled air in the whole volume of the premise and to avoid a direct stream of cold air on people.

A cassette conditioner is intended to be installed in a suspended ceiling. The lower part of its inner block has the standard size of ceiling tile 600×600 mm, but in case of high capacity it can be twice as big – 1200×600 mm.

The main advantage of a cassette conditioner is that it is almost hidden from eyes, only its lower part is seen, covered with a decorative grating.

Duct conditioner is installed behind the false or false ceiling, which hides the inside unit completely. Cooled air is distributed through the system of air ducts to several rooms at once.

The power reaches 20-25 kilowatt, which is enough to cool a small office or 4-5 room apartment. The important advantage is the possibility of a fresh air supply from the outside. But duct air conditioners are quite expensive.

Column or floor air conditioner has high cold-productivity and is intended for installation in large premise. It can be installed in places where no suspended ceilings can install a cassette or duct air conditioner.

From this variety of split-systems 90% of the market at present is occupied by split-systems with suspended inside unit on the wall.

And capacity is enough? And it will work?

If conditioner is not powerful enough, operation in a limiting mode will lead to fast wear and fracture of a compressor.

At too powerful conditioner the temperature oscillations in a premise can be rather sharp, and the cost of more powerful conditioner is higher and it will not be justified.

Experts in air conditioning have formulas. They take into account the so-called heat input energy in watts. It is a heat, which will be emitted by people and electric devices, being in the premise. It is considered that a person emits 0,1 kW of heat in a quiet condition and a computer or TV set – 0,3 kW.

The formulas also take into account the area of the room in square meters and the height of the ceilings in meters.

In addition, the auxiliary factor takes into account inputs of heat from outside. For southern side it is 40 W/cubic. m, for Northern one it is 30, and average value is 35 W/cc. m.

In order to calculate by this formula one should firstly calculate the heat-inflows from walls, windows, floor and ceiling. Then estimate how much heat should compensate a conditioner from the presence of people and operating technics.

These values are summed up and we get a figure, what power is needed for this concrete premise. If you have got the result more than 5 kilowatt, you need to call a manager, who will estimate the necessary power with professional precision. He will define the best location for the inside and outside blocks of air conditioner. And in all other cases it does not hurt to visit the manager.

And how the conditioner will work depends in many respects on the quality of installation works.

As for the warranty on air conditioner, the percentage of factory defects in conditioners of good brands is negligible. But the appliance breakdown because of unqualified installation is more probable.

That is why a guarantee for the installed air conditioner is often given by the company that performs the installation. For qualitative installation the team of fitters should be equipped with special expensive tools, manometer station, freon charging bottle, gas analyzer and vacuum pump. And of course it should be qualified specialists, who have got special training.

In a word, the prime cost of high-quality installation of air conditioner is rather high, and good installation cannot be cheap. You can save money by choosing a more modest air conditioner model, but it will be wrong to save money on installation.

That is why in order to get a guaranteed high-quality conditioner and qualified installation one better contact to a big supplier or its official dealer. Now the leading American firms, which are dealing with climatic equipment, have united into the Association of Enterprises of Climate Industry APIC . Membership in the APIC can be a guarantee of the seriousness of the company.

Currently, the association brings together dozens of New York and regional companies representing the full range of climate control market – from manufacturers and suppliers of equipment to installation companies.