Inexpensive A/C units for chinnies :) - Paw Talk

Chinchilla_Girl · #1 07-07-2004, 10:42 PM

Well, it's been so darn hot lately that our Central Air has been having trouble keeping up. We bought an inexpensive ($74.85) window unit for the chin room a while back from Sam's Club and boy has THAT thing saved our chinnies! Today, it got up to 85 degrees in the rest of the house, but the chins stayed nice and cool in a whopping 68 degree chin room!

Can you guess where I spent most of MY day?

So, if anyone had been considering those smaller units for their chinnies, it is SO worth the money! Today was the first day we had to kick it up from low to medium and it worked like a charm. It kicks out 5200 BTU's and is recommended for 100 to 150 square foot room...since the chin room is 9' by 10' it is perfect! Just wanted to let you all know how well it actually works

***Jade*** · #2 07-07-2004, 10:58 PM

I wish our complex allowed them - we keep it set at 71 in the whole apt. for the chinnies.

Chinchilla_Girl · #3 07-07-2004, 11:43 PM

I wish my central A/C could keep it at 71 throughout the house, but alas...it's just not that efficient

About midnight-2AM it will sometimes get down to that! But the insulation in this house is terrible! There isn't any!

DirtySouthChins · #4 07-08-2004, 03:28 AM

Wow that is awesome, Hubby almost brought one back from Lowes when in Texas, however it being a 110 volt, and we are using 220 volt it would of meant us getting a large enough transformer box to support the wattage of the a/c unit, which would of resulted in more power being used.......UGH!! Not to mention our little portable a/c unit that housing gives out went out on Monday so for 4 hours we had every fan in the house (4) on the chinnies while we were out trying to find another unit.... We found one and although it costs $600 (they aren't cheap here for a/c's) we thought what the heck because we knew we would use it, so we get it, and the darn thing is said to be 7000 BTU and it couldn't even keep our bedroom cool, sure it worked from keeping the room blistering hot but that was it, so a guy that works with Darren gave his that he got from housing ( big no no) and now we have that one in the foyer/front room area and Darren got the other one replaced which is now in our bedroom where the chinnies are so they stay nice and cool

and the $600 piece of garbage goes back to the store tomorrow

sorry I just rambled on there.......

Denise · #5 07-08-2004, 01:13 PM

Mandie, I agree.

I recently purchased a 5,000 BTU for the chinnie room and it cools the room off perfectly.

It also has a 9.7 efficiency rating which is excellent. I have it going almost everyday now.

Chinchilla_Girl · #6 07-08-2004, 01:18 PM

Yup! Mine is 5200 BTU's and the efficency rating is 9.8...I think the tag from the box says it estimates $35.00 per year to operate. At first I thought with the cheap price it wouldn't be that good and some off brand, but it's a GE and I couldn't ask for it to work any better!

It's crazy too because when you open the chin room door and just stand there, you can feel the breeze blowing your hair

I'm sure the ceiling fan on low helps to circulate it but, boy does it kick out some air!

Denise · #7 07-08-2004, 01:36 PM

We bought a Haier air conditioner never heard of the brand but it got good ratings and it was on sale for $80 which isn't bad. I was going to buy the digital version but opted to go for the basic ac. I have always had good luck with that type of ac and don't know how durable the digital ac's are.

cheshirechin · #8 07-08-2004, 01:57 PM

You know your chins are spoiled when they have their own AC and heater. When I lived in Baton Rouge, I had no central heat or AC, so I feel you pain. Their room was a perfect 72 in summer and so was my bedroom. It was nice in that all the rooms had doors that shut, so those two rooms were cool and the rest of the place soared into the 90s.

I am also glad that I am missing the summer in Fayetteville. We had noproblem keeping the house on Audrey Ct. at around 71, but then we had a new central air unit.

Currently, the chins are in a workroom with separate temp control than everyone else, so I can keep our house at 78 and their room at 71. I have to make special trips to see them, but it isn't hard to do that.

As for those of you who can't get AC, my friend in WI did it for several years. It can get super hot in WI, but it cools down at night. With some TLC, lots of water, and a cooler nights, her chins did pretty well.

Patti