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Home air conditioner

(38 Posts)
WiltsGran Tue 01-Jun-21 15:35:47

Hi everyone. I'm thinking of getting a wall type air-conditioning unit fitted because I don't like really hot temperatures indoors, but I'm worried about the noise of the compressor as I don't want to upset the neighbours. I live in a detached house but the neighbours house walls are only about 2 metres away. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Mattsmum2 Tue 01-Jun-21 17:00:26

I will be interested to see what responses you get as I was thinking the same x

geekesse Tue 01-Jun-21 17:34:00

My Dad had a wall-mounted air-conditioner, and it was very quiet indeed - certainly not a problem for the neighbours.

BlueBelle Tue 01-Jun-21 17:38:26

I ve never found it warm enough in this country to even have a fan ?

Katie59 Tue 01-Jun-21 17:51:34

In the UK we have a large ceiling fan in the bedroom and a pedestal fan in the sitting room, both keep the air moving and make a big difference. Do try these before you spend thousands on a decent Aircon unit, in both cases you have to keep the warm air out by closing curtains in day time. If you leave doors and curtains open on a hot day neither will work.

MerylStreep Tue 01-Jun-21 17:58:51

Here’s my reply. www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world

Visgir1 Tue 01-Jun-21 18:09:15

Might be worth checking out portable ones, as well.
My son has one which he uses on the top floor, of his 3 storey house.
His is AEG from John Lewis, he's pleased with it.

MawBe Tue 01-Jun-21 18:11:16

I swear by my Dyson fan, almost completely silent, brilliant on a hot night and even although they are not cheap I would have thought cheaper to but two,or even three for different areas of your house, than to invest in air conditioning which is also expensive to run. Also more flexible. Plus think of the effect on the environment. AirCon is a major contributor in many ways.

geekesse Tue 01-Jun-21 22:06:51

MerylStreep

Here’s my reply. www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world

That’s all very ideologically sound, but some people need air conditioning for medical reasons. My Dad had a serious spinal injury which left him unable to regulate his body temperature, and was too disabled to put on extra clothes or remove clothing if he was cold or too hot. He had both air conditioning and central heating in his adapted house in order to maintain a normal body temperature.

CoffeeFirst Tue 01-Jun-21 22:16:58

Is the good weather due to continue then?

WiltsGran Wed 02-Jun-21 00:56:24

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I need to do more research re noise etc. Especially if I use it at night!

Mamie Wed 02-Jun-21 06:31:55

We have two Viessmann units (one up one down) that give us warm air or cold. There is a silent mode, but they are very quiet anyway. Downstairs is open plan and the one unit there is sufficient heating / cooling for the whole space. Upstairs is enough heat / cold with additional heat in bathroom.

marvelousmaggie15 Fri 11-Jun-21 03:42:06

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

CafeAuLait Fri 11-Jun-21 06:05:38

What about looking into evaporative cooling? That's very quiet.

Doodledog Fri 11-Jun-21 10:02:13

CafeAuLait

What about looking into evaporative cooling? That's very quiet.

I have considered that, but would worry about waterborne diseases, such as Legionnaire's Disease.

Katie59 Fri 11-Jun-21 12:20:49

Even in tropical countries a good quality quiet ceiling fan over the bed to keep the air moving makes a big difference. Ours is lovely, havn’t used it this year yet when we do it runs all night and we sleep with just a single sheet.

JaneJudge Fri 11-Jun-21 12:26:54

we have an air cooler. You can drain and change the water daily if you want to on ours

LauraNorder Fri 11-Jun-21 12:34:26

People in hot countries close their windows and shutters against the hot sun. In this country we make the mistake of opening all the windows letting the hot air in and letting the sun heat the glass that isn’t open.
Try leaving windows and curtains closed on the sides of the house that get the sun and hopefully at least your bedroom will stay cool enough for comfortable sleep. Air con is not good for you or for the environment.

CafeAuLait Fri 11-Jun-21 22:50:27

Doodledog

CafeAuLait

What about looking into evaporative cooling? That's very quiet.

I have considered that, but would worry about waterborne diseases, such as Legionnaire's Disease.

I've looked into this and you can't get Legionnaire's from evaporative cooling apparently. Lots of people in my area have it and it's not even a second thought.

www.seeleyinternational.com/ap/news/legionnaires-disease-why-evaporative-coolers-pose-no-risk-to-your-health/

NotSpaghetti Fri 11-Jun-21 23:52:05

Laura - people in hot countries also have air coolers/conditioners of one sort or another, where they can.

B9exchange Sat 12-Jun-21 00:15:40

If you mean an air conditioning system with wall unit and outside fan extractor unit, then there is no noise outside. I can walk past ours and not hear it. Ours are Daikin units, which we were told was the Rolls Royce of air con units! smile

CafeAuLait Sat 12-Jun-21 00:49:23

B9exchange

If you mean an air conditioning system with wall unit and outside fan extractor unit, then there is no noise outside. I can walk past ours and not hear it. Ours are Daikin units, which we were told was the Rolls Royce of air con units! smile

I have an older wall mounted one and it's noisy. I only use it when it gets to about 45 degrees and the evap cooling can't keep up. The neighbours all have the same, so we're good with each other running it when necessary. We don't expect each other to suffer.

Spice101 Sat 12-Jun-21 01:45:49

CafeAuLait

What about looking into evaporative cooling? That's very quiet.

Evaporative cooling as I know it (living in Australia) is not quiet, in fact it is noisier than refrigerated in my experience.

Wiltsgran have you thought about having ceiling fans in the bedrooms? We find our cooling gets too cold of a night and the air flow is too strong. Ceiling fans are more controllable in their speed.. They don't necessarily cool as well as air con or evap cooling but shift the air around enough to make sleeping comfortable.

CafeAuLait Sat 12-Jun-21 02:14:53

Spice101

CafeAuLait

What about looking into evaporative cooling? That's very quiet.

Evaporative cooling as I know it (living in Australia) is not quiet, in fact it is noisier than refrigerated in my experience.

Wiltsgran have you thought about having ceiling fans in the bedrooms? We find our cooling gets too cold of a night and the air flow is too strong. Ceiling fans are more controllable in their speed.. They don't necessarily cool as well as air con or evap cooling but shift the air around enough to make sleeping comfortable.

Mine was only noisy before it blew up and I had to replace it. Now it's quiet.

NotSpaghetti Sat 12-Jun-21 08:41:22

Surely you can check the external decibel level of models before you buy?