Choose any random residential street, and you will certainly see plenty of window air conditioning units. Those clunky, cumbersome boxes secured in open windows are supposed to be a complete system to cool down a chosen room in your home.
And this is your first issue, because they work only in a room, and not your whole house.
Some choose to deal with this issue by using several window air conditioners as a workaround. And this is where we ask you: are you sure this is your best possible solution?
What if you had access to a system that is cost-efficient, easily programmable, unobtrusive, and also increases the value of your home?
These are all the benefits you get when you install a central AC.
Next, we will go into the details of the battle between central ACs and window units. You will quickly realize that a central AC system always wins the duel when you compare them in terms of cost reduction and energy efficiency.
1. Cost-Efficiency
During the past 10 to 15 years, the central AC systems certified by Energy Star became 30 to 40% more efficient. That alone means big monthly savings for your budget!
A central AC system uses from 3,000 to 5,000 W per hour. While the number sounds big, keep in mind that it will cool down your entire home.
Having multiple window AC units end up drawing the same amount of electricity, while also being less efficient. Their window position isn’t airtight, so cold air escapes continually to outside your home. Why would you keep paying for that?
2. Quieter
Central ACs were designed to bring more comfort to you, the end-user. That has also included noise levels. The machinery is located outside your home, which reduces the indoor noise levels when you are trying to get focused on your tasks or relaxing to sleep.
Window ACs, on the other hand, are very noisy, right there in the room where you are. This becomes irritating after a short period of time.
3. Safer
A window AC represents a constant vulnerability to your home. It becomes much easier to suffer a break-in, especially for window units located on the ground floor.
On the other hand, central ACs do not create these vulnerabilities in your home. In other words, you can leave your home and fully lock it up, without a constant concern about trading off a cool home for home safety.
4. Simple Operation
If you ever installed a window AC, you know how big of a pain they are. Windows units are 80-lb heavy, or even more. It is a cumbersome job to be done alone.
And within 4 or 5 months, it comes time to uninstall it and put it in storage somewhere.
Central ACs are installed once. Then, all that remains is the operation via a programmable thermostat, and you are free to move on with your life.
Advanced thermostats allow you to set different temperatures for different times of the day, so your central AC system is always used in an efficient way. This way, you will stay cool and can simply forget about messing with an 80-lb metal box.
5. Air Quality Control
If you or someone in your family has allergies, or you are simply concerned about the presence of air contaminants indoors, a central AC system offers you an extra layer of protection because it is connected to the air handler in your furnace. In short, all the air that circulates in your home gets pumped through an air filter, so all your indoor air is cooled, filtered, and freshened.
Window units, on the other hand, don’t filter air the way they should. They also let warm air get in your home, as well as pollen, dust, and anything else that slips through the cracks.
6. Increase In Home Value
While it is easy to understand that a central AC system represents a big upfront investment, like all good investments, a central air conditioner adds value to your property.
If you decide to sell your home in the future, you can list among the features that you have a central air conditioning system that is well taken care of and very energy efficient.
Homebuyers are always interested in features that simplify their lives. A central AC has got to be as good as possible.
Central Air Wins All-Around
This is not to say that window units are worthless. They can represent an alternative to renters and people who live in small apartments. But when you are talking about a house, you need a solution that can solve your entire problem at once, instead of one room at a time.