Commercial wall mount air conditioner versus window units

[71713]

I specify HVAC equipment for utility buildings; they range in size from about 10 ft square to 15 ft X 30 ft with a 10 ft ceiling. The buildings may contain switchgear, pump motors, VFDs, and controls or sometimes nothing m0re than a pump and motor.

I typically specify wall mount equipment manufactured by companies such as Bard or Marvair. I figure if they are good enough to be used throughout the telecom industry where reliability is paramount, they are good enough for me. However, I have colleagues that say our customer is better served by installing window air conditioners and unit heaters. Inital cost is less and if the air conditioner goes bad, the customer can go to the local discount house and buy a replacement.

Has anyone out there had a similar discussion? Have I been wasting money all these years?

 

[IRstuff]

Not necessarily. Certainly, cost is a factor, but so are esthetics, noise, preservation of window functionality and utility, etc.

You can certainly make such a comparison list and allow your future clients to decide.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[MikeHalloran]

Chinese window units are incredibly cheap, and will last a couple of years. They also seem to keep shrinking, so fitting a non- identical replacement usually involves shims and no cutting... and replacements will not be identical because they keep shrinking in size and price.

Be sure to specify mechanical controls.

Current electronic controls, with temperature setpoint readout and more recently remote controls too, help to move them out of the store... but the controls don't store one important bit of information; that they were 'on' when the power was interrupted. Not ideal for unattended use.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Compositepro]

Its simply a trade-off between intial cost and life-cycle cost and reliability. New consumer units are very inexpenive but they will only last a season or two without regular cleaning, which is not easy. The heat exchangers are very thin metal and the fins are closely spaced. They work well when new and clean but a little corrosion or algae build-up make them non-functional. Consumer air conditioners are one third the size and weight they were 20 years ago but they don't last nearly as long as they used to.

 

[cjw81]

I think you have the right idea all along. I inherited some rooms such as you describe and they were equipped with window Ac's. The units tended to freeze up with the onset of low fall temps and the air distribution is much more generous and effective with design units.Important alarms can also be easily spec'd with these systems also.

 

[willard3]

Split systems can have low ambient start and I have never seen a window unit that does.

If you are cooling most of the year in a cold climate, you will want low ambient start.