In a perfect world, your air conditioning unit would quietly do its job and provide cool comfort to every part of your house efficiently and evenly to the prescribed temperature setting on your thermostat. However, many Phoenix-area homes experience uneven cooling from one part of the house to another, often throughout different periods of the day. Especially in August and September, when soaring temperatures consistently exceed 105 degrees.
Why Is One Room in My House Cool and Another Uncomfortably Warm?
Many factors go into uneven cooling. The position of your home relative to the sun, amount of shade trees alleviating direct sunlight hitting your house, the amount of insulation in your walls and roof, sun streaming through your windows (especially on the south and west-facing side of your home), unbalanced, improperly installed AC vents not delivering the cool air where it’s supposed to go and more. Uneven cooling, particularly in bedrooms, can be an unpleasant daily or nightly annoyance.
Is a Portable Air Conditioner the Solution to Uneven Cooling?
The reason we receive so many uneven cooling complaints in August and September is simple – it’s crunch time. This is the hottest part of summer. The shortcomings of your air conditioning system may have gone unnoticed when temperatures hovered in the low 90s. However, weeks of 105 to 110 degrees will test even the best AC systems. The first and most obvious solution is to schedule a service call, so we can inspect your system and see if there’s a problem such as low refrigerant, a malfunctioning fan or a disconnected vent.
If your AC system checks out, and you are still experiencing warm rooms, a portable AC unit, used during the hottest part of the year, maybe the answer. Here are a few points to keep in mind when considering a portable AC unit.
Portable Air Conditioners
Portable air conditioners are generally less than three feet tall, are equipped with casters for easy rolling from room to room and can be plugged into any electrical wall outlet. They are most effective cooling one room and will come with a BTU rating that will guide you as to the size of the area to be cooled.
What Are the Advantages to Using a Portable?
Some homes are designed in such a way that certain rooms say the Arizona room, an office, bedroom or master suite facing south and west (getting maximum sun) will always feel hotter than the rest of the house. A portable AC unit can help cool down the area of your house that is not being sufficiently cooled by the main unit. Many Phoenix residents will crank up the AC overall to deal with hotter parts of the house, however, this means you are paying extra for electricity.
What About Humidity in the Air?
In Phoenix, humidity is high during monsoon season. Portable air conditioners generally have a plastic receptacle located inside the unit to collect moisture. The options are to manually empty the reservoir when it is full or install a drain.
The Long, Hot Arizona Summer Is More Than Half-Way Through
In the seasonal rhythms of Arizona, it’s a sign that summer is more than half-way through when the kids go back to school. Hopefully, your AC system is working like a champ and will faithfully see you through August, September and the rest of the year without any problems. If you do require service, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to send a friendly service tech to restore your air conditioner to top form!
