The Laws Of Thermodynamics

[AntiCheatAgent94]

OK I need a scientist here..

When running a window AC unit in conjunction with a floor fan to cool a large room...

Is it better to put the floor fan right up to the window AC to blow the cool air further??

Or will it cool a large room more efficiently if I place the floor fan a couple feet (or more) in front of the window AC unit??

 

[ODark30]

I am more of an advocate of negative pressure. The AC is intake only for the most part so I dont think it is a variable here so it wont really matter which option you go with per your examples. This is where negative pressure plays into the equation. I am assuming that you dont also have a ceiling fan in said room.

Negative pressure will be created by placing another fan (or open window) downwind of the room in question. What this does is exhausts or pulls the warm air and hence the newly introduced cooled air throughout the room you are trying to cool and it also has the benefit of drawing that same newly cooled air beyond the boundaries of the target room.

I hope this makes some sense because, after all, I am only a truck driver. But look at it this way, fans in your computer tower (case) should have more exhaust fans than intake so that you create the same negative pressure in the case to get rid of the heat which makes the intake air fans work to their full potential.

I was just thinking back to my firefighters days and the practice of ventilation. I would place the floor fan quite close to the doorway because as the air blows through the fan it comes out in a fairly straight line but very quickly will start to expand outward and start to swirl. This swirling will actually start to blow back into the room when it hits an obstruction such as a door frame or surrounding walls. Our practice was to run your hand around the opening that you want the air to go through and see if you can feel much moving air at those outer boundaries or obstructions. You want as much air as possible to moving outward through that opening and not rebounding back into the room.

 

[AntiCheatAgent94]

Lots of good info.. Much Ass Grassy Ass...

 

[freakdaddy64]

omg really! if a window unit is the right size it will cool the room all by it self if its worth a shiz. although ceiling fans are nice too to blow it all around. its not rocket science its cookies and milk.

 

[ODark30]

omg, really the window unit will cool the room all by itself but that was not the question. There is cooling and then there is efficient cooling which to me was the main thrust of the original question. I like cookies and milk.

 

[AntiCheatAgent94]

Our electric bill is 600+ during the summer. Any way to maximize efficiency is a good thing for us..

 

[ODark30]

Keep the blinds or curtains closed as much as possible,

If you have a HVAC then keep it off as much as possible to minimize hot air coming in from outside,

If your humidity in the house tends to be a bit high then consider a dehumifier to remove excess moisture from the air. That humidity holds a lot of heat so reducing it means less heat to remove from the house,

If possible, BBQ more to avoid heating up the house with the stove or oven. Eat food that does not require prolonged heating,

If possible, dont turn off the ac when you leave the house as it takes more electricity to recool a room that has been allowed to warm up again,

Another trick is if you have a forced air furnace then leave the fan running all the time as this will keep some additional circulation of the air and help to prevent rooms from getting heat trapped. If you do this then make sure to keep new, clean, air filters in place AND THE SAME GOES FOR THAT WINDOW AC UNIT!!! Dirty filters make the unit work very hard to do its job and this takes more electricity plus the unit has to cool itself while working so hard which in turn means you get less cool air coming out it.

 

[Archangel72]

ahem.. turn off your gaming PC's when not in use...

 

[AntiCheatAgent94]

Yea, we don't use out Central Air unit at all anymore in the summer.. Doesn't cool for shit...

ahem.. turn off your gaming PC's when not in use...

Yea, I do that as well, but not for cooling..

I used to leave my PC on 24/7 for updates and stuff..

I was at work one day and my wife just happened to be walking by my PC when she noticed "I" was buying a $250 Amazon Gift Card...

She called me immediately and we were able to shut down the purchase almost while it was being made...

Every since then (happened about a year ago) I have always shut down my PC when I leave for work and overnight...

 

[Archangel72]

Wow she observed your pc being hacked?

 

[ODark30]

Yea, we don't use out Central Air unit at all anymore in the summer.. Doesn't cool for shit...

Whats wrong with the Central Air? Old and worn out? Low on gas? Two story or single story dwelling? Not trying to be nosy. LOL

I found that my best performance is I leave my thermostat at 22 Celcius (Canada) year round and never turn it up or down or adjust for different hours of the day.

 

[freakdaddy64]

this is florida and you have 2 choices extreme heat or ac to keep you cool. period. and a cold beer helps too.

 

[AntiCheatAgent94]

this is florida and you have 2 choices extreme heat or ac to keep you cool. period. and a cold beer helps too.

Yep.. And we used to live about an hour south of the Canadian border (Whidbey Island WA) so I have very thick blood.. My comfort zone is 50-ish degrees...

FL heat kills me every summer..