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How to choose an air-conditioner

The living room is an essential space in a home. It is where the family gathers in the evenings for play and television. It's a place for friends to meet and catch up. It is where you want to be comfortable. In hot humid Asia, air conditioning not only removes heat from your living room, humidity is reduced so you don't feel "sticky" and bothered. Excess moisture is expelled outside, while filters in the air conditioners help remove dust, smells and pollen, which can be a great relief to asthma and allergy sufferers in the house. The basics of buying and installing an air conditioner in your living room are similar to those for the bedroom. For features to consider, check them out here. However, extra focus should be made on what lies within your living room space.

The space you have

Typically, the living room would be the most brightly lit room in the house as this is where family and friends would gather. Note the size and position of the windows as large sections of glass exposed to the sun can direct excessive sunlight in, generating more heat. To help your air conditioner work less, solar window film can be applied to the window glass to reduce glare, eliminate ultra-violet rays, and reduce the heat load of the room by as much as 80 percent. Shades or blinds are also help cut down the heat load.

To ensure the best possible performance of your air conditioner as well, be this a single or portable unit or split system, locate this in a shady part of the living room. Direct sunshine on the air conditioner will require more energy to cool the air. Check also if the living room has a main door or opening that is frequently accessed, as well as the height of the ceiling. These may also affect the amount of enery needed to cool the room.

Appliances give off a lot of heat as well. There are numerous heat sources to take into account in a living room. By taking note of them, you should be able to get a feel of the amount of cooling required. Typically in a living room, you have several hot items around ranging from a flat-panel TV to a DVD player/recorder, to a home theater system, to possibly a gaming console. Then there are the numerous living room lights required to illuminate a bigger space in the house. You will have to take into account the number of people who normally occupy the living room space. According to one guide, the heat output can be calculated at about 400 BTU per person.

Finally, as the living room is also the most visible room in the house to outsiders, you should consider what the air conditioner will look like attached to your wall. Try to choose one that blends in with your decor. Or you can hide it with a ceiling unit that is mounted in the ceiling space and mostly unseen except for the air grilles.

Your cooling requirements

Know your capacity:
Once you've decided on the type of air conditioner to get, there are two technical specifications to heed.

BTU: Every air conditioner has a cooling capacity number in BTU or British thermal units per hour. The higher the value, the stronger the air conditioner is. Of course, the more the BTU, the costlier. So in short, bigger isn't always necessarily better. It would be good to get as close to the correct BTU as possible as too small a unit could leave you sweltering despite the air conditioning, while too big a unit could cost you more to cool your room. You will also need factor in other aspects like number of windows, whether your bedroom faces the sun, how insulated it is, if there are electronic devices in the room, and how many people share the room.

EER: EER or Energy Efficiency Ratio is another good indicator for measuring how energy efficient an air conditioner is at turning electricity into cooling. With utility cost on the rise, your monthly bill could be quite brutal if you plan to run your unit for long hours. So check the EER number. Generally, the higher the number, the more efficient the unit, the less it will cost to run.

Air-conditioner types:
Here's a quick look at some of the more popular air conditioner types for your living room.

Ceiling unit:
For use in large areas, the ceiling air conditioner is useful if you want to hide it out of sight under the ceiling, or if your walls and floor can't accommodate an air conditioner. A ceiling unit also provides uniform cooling.

Window unit:
Typically a self-contained single unit, as its name implies, this sits within a window encasement with the cooler facing the room and the coils outside the window. Window units extract heat and moisture from the room, blows them outside, and returns cooled air to the room. There are three main types: Double-hung windows, sliding windows and casement windows.

Wall unit:
Similar to window units, this fits through a hole in the wall instead and are generally used to cool a single room. You will need a sleeve in your wall to support the weight.

Ductless, split system:
These are more popular in homes to cool multiple rooms or open areas. Typically more expensive than the wall or window units, this needs professional help to install as the compressor sits outside, while one or more indoor air conditioner outlets need to be mounted either on the walls or in the ceilings of the rooms.

Portable system:
As the name implies, these are portable upright units usually with wheels at the base. Hot air is vented through a hose attached to the unit, while condensation is recycled through the air or collected in a bucket or tray which will need to be emptied regularly. Portable units can be plugged into any normal mains and can cool a small room.

Your budget

An oversized air conditioning system, apart from costing you more to buy, will also cost more to run. However, if it's undersized, the purpose of cooling your living room will be defeated. So keep in mind the above factors. There are lots of cooling calculators online that can give you a guide of how many BTUs to consider. There are also plenty of online calculators, including this worksheet to help you estimate just how powerful an air conditioner you need. Alternatively, you can seek expert advice in the stores as no two rooms are exactly alike, and an expert should be better informed in terms of matching an air conditioner's capacity with your needs and budget range. Bear in mind that an air conditioner with a higher price does not necessarily equate to a better one. Look for good product design, quality and performance, and the features that will best suit your room needs.