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Room air conditioners have become standard appliances in areas where summer temperatures rise to uncomfortable levels. Whether you are looking to cool a small bedroom, a living room or a spacious loft apartment there is a room air conditioner for you.

Some concerns when buying an air conditioner is whether it will cool your room properly, how to install it, and what all the functions do. Browse through this guide for some quick and informative answers to all your air conditioning needs. Once your ready to make a decision, shop JR.com for a wide selection of name brand units from manufactures like Panasonic, Sharp, Airtemp, Carrier, Friedrich, Continental, and Delonghi.

An air conditioner works to cool and, in many cases, remove moisture from the air inside a room or an area. It removes the warmth from air and sends it outdoors. We offer a large selection window and wall mount air conditioners. We also carry several portable models.

Though many window mount air conditioners claim that you can install them yourself, you should take care to caulk and seal any areas where air could leak through your windows. Air leaks can reduce the cooling power of your air conditioner by as much as 50%. Unless you're really handy with insulation, we suggest that you contact a professional installer.

Most home air conditioners are designed to cool a single room and require installation in a window. This allows for an easy exchange of air. Cool, dry air goes into the room. Hot air and moisture go outdoors. Some air conditioners may also be mounted through a wall. It's important to make sure that no warm external air leaks into the room because this will undermine the efficiency of the air conditioner. Window/Wall models can range from about 5,000 BTU to over 30,000 BTU in cooling power.

While some people remove their window/wall air conditioner units after the summer, most keep it inside the window because they're large and heavy and want to preserve the integrity of air seals.

A relatively new version of air conditioners have become available - The Portable Air Conditioner. You don't have to install a portable into a window. The typical portable unit is about 28 inches high and 18 inches wide and 15 inches deep. Each model has 4 wheels so you can easily move it from one room to another. During winter months, it can easily be stored inside a closet. Portable models tend to range from 6,000 BTU to about 10,000 BTU.

Though portable models stand within the room, they do have a hose and panel that can fit into a window to allow air exchange. The removal of humidity is usually done internally - there may be a pan inside the unit that fills with water that is removed from the air. This may need to be emptied on a regular basis, how frequently depends on use.

People are often shocked to discover that the air conditioner in their car may be around 20,000 BTU in cooling power. It seems like a lot of power for such a small space. Consider, however, how many windows there are and how much warm sunlight goes them. Remember that your car is made from metal and that metal becomes hot easily. On a very hot, sunny day, the sealed interior of your car can become an oven. It takes a great deal of power to cool that little area

There are several factors that go into calculating how many BTUs you will need your air conditioner to be. The dimensions of your room is what primarily determines what capacity air conditioner you need (bigger is not necessarily better). Too large an air conditioner not only costs more than you need to spend, it will cool too quickly, cycling on and off every few minutes. Too small an air conditioner will run constantly, without cooling the room effectively. So how do you find out which air conditioner is just right for your room? It's easy, by determining how many BTUs you'll need.

BTU
BTU stands for British Thermal Units and has become a standard for measuring air conditioner capacity. BTU is a number derived from multiplying the area of the room to be air conditioned in square feet by 30. So for example if your room measures 15 feet by 12 feet, you would need an air conditioner with about 5400 BTUs to cool the room. However, 5400 may not be enough when you factor other aspects into how well your rooms will cool, like direct sunlight, high ceilings, and leaks under doors and in cracks. Direct sunlight can warm up any given space. More BTUs are needed to cool rooms with sunlight hitting a good area of it or the air conditioner. Also, if there are lots of cracks underneath doors and in corners, this means cool air will escape and your cooling unit will need yet more BTUs to cool. It may be safe to add about 2000 BTUs to any given room for maximum efficiency.

Remember:
Length of Room x Width of Room = Area
(Area of Room x 30) + 2000 = BTUs you need

Electric bills could get pretty brutal all over the country during summer months. Besides the fact that rates per kilo watt-hour may go up, consumption definitely increases with the use of an air conditioner. By buying an air conditioner with a high EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio), you can save on your electric bill. EER ratings measure the amount of cooling provided by an air conditioning unit against the size of, and energy used by, that unit. The higher the rating, the more efficient the unit, and the more you'll end up saving on your energy bill. Most EER ratings fall between 8.0 and 11.0.

Room air conditioners, depending on model, can be installed in a window or a wall. Window installations are less expensive. The choice depends on whether you have an available window in the room you wish to cool. If you prefer having access to your window (perhaps it's the only window in your room) you may want to choose an in-wall unit. Window installation usually is easiest and least expensive. For larger air conditioners, it's recommended that you have it installed professionally.

A thermostat is a temperature-sensitive switch that controls the air conditioner (other types located in homes control furnaces). Almost all air conditioners have one. Thermostats on cooling units may be analog or digital (Sharp and Panasonic have digital thermostat models). An analog thermostat usually comes in the form of a knob from 0-10, that you can adjust manually. On a digital thermostat, you enter the desired temperature of any room. When the indoor temperature drops below or rises above the thermostat setting your air conditioner runs to warm or cool the house air to the setting you selected for your family's comfort. A thermostat, in its simplest form, must be manually adjusted to change the indoor air temperature.

Many air conditioners today come with this function. When a unit is placed on an energy saving mode, it works along with a built-in thermostat. The unit automatically detects when a room has been cooled enough (when it reaches a certain temperature) and then lowers the power mode. If the room's temperature gets too hot, the energy saver mode also allows for the air conditioner to run until the room reaches a comfortable temperature.

The fan in any air conditioner is the part of the unit that determines how fast or slow the air flows in a room. Most have at least 2 fan speeds. Placing an air conditioner on "High Speed" will use the maximum speed to get air flowing through the room. When the room is just about the right temperature, you can use other fan settings to adjust the speed of air flow. On most air conditioners, there are several fan speeds. Though it may look a little confusing there may be separate fan speeds, one for the air conditioner, and one for a simple fan function. Most air conditioners can also operate like fans under a "fan-only" function, when the vent bringing air in from outdoors is open. The more speeds available, the better an air conditioner can accommodate varying needs.

All air conditioners have some kind of a filter to help prevent dust particles from getting into the air you breathe. Older model air conditioners use a foam filter that can be replaced when it collects too much dirt. More modern models have plastic filters that easily slide in and out and do not need to be replaced too often.

Many digital models come with built-in timers. A timer lets you to set the air conditioner to begin cooling at any time, whether you are home or not.

Some air conditioners with a digital thermostat can be operated using a remote control.