Old A/C use more electricity than old A/C?

clue89 · 03-01-2007, 10:49 AM

Does an old air conditioner use more electricity than a new air conditioner with the same EER rating and watt usage? Do old window air conditioners spent most of it's coolent and uses more electricity as a result?

Clue89

jwhite · 03-01-2007, 07:03 PM

Due to advances in technology, newer air conditioners can have a greater cooling capacity for the same ammout of wattage. This means that they will not run the compressor as long, resulting in energy savings.

Also as a unit looses a bit of coolent over time, the unit will run longer to compensate for the loss of cooling capacity causing higher energy useage.

Newer units also do more to de-humidify the air, causing the feeling of comfort at a higher temperature, thus allowing you to keep the t-stat set one or two degrees higher.

Speedy Petey · 03-01-2007, 07:29 PM

Exactly.

I had an old 8500 BTU window unit that had a 12.5 amp draw. I replaced it with a new 10k BTU unit that has an 8.5 amp draw.
The 10k does a better job cooling at an almost 30% energy savings.

clue89 · 03-02-2007, 01:57 AM

Thanks for your replies. I have one more question

1)If a window A/C specs are:

Energy:
Energy Efficiency Rating
10.7 EER

Kilowatt Hrs. per Year
560

Energy Star Compliant

Power & Ratings:
Amps (Cooling)
5.2

Question: Does this mean the A/C will use 5.2 amps(520watts) all the time it's turned on? and what does the Kilowatts hrs per year 520 mean?

thanks

clue89

jwhite · 03-02-2007, 05:47 AM

the unit will use 5.2 amps when cooling and less when cycling and just running the fan.

The kwh/yr is an average. I am not sure the testing criteria so I do not know exactly how they came up with the numbers, but it is under test conditions so you can compare one unit to the next. Your actual cost will vary depeding on your usage.