At 09:55 PM 6/9/2010, Rowan Tipton wrote:
>That is a really good point.  I don't think I've ever seen a db rating
>for a window a/c like I have on generators.  My Honda generator is
>rated at 53-59 db.  I wonder how loud my cheapy a/c is... I bet it's
>louder than my generator.  I've looked for window a/c ratings and
>never found much.  It would be really nice to be able to find good
>stats on them.  Things like noise level, starting amps, running amps,
>etc.  Has anyone had any luck finding such?

Dear Greg,

This is all stuff that AHAM (American Heating & Air-conditioning Mfrs
Association?) would rather you didn't inquire into too closely.  The
nameplate amperage ratings are based on a test protocol that is quite
lenient (moderate temp, low humidity).  However they were forced a
while ago to publish EER which is the ratio of BTU/hr to watts (under
what test conditions I don't know).  Remember that in AC circuits
inductive loads like motors draw a good deal more current than they
consume in watts.  Ratio of Volt-amps to watts is called Power
Factor, and if you're bigger than a residential customer the power
company will make a power-factor surcharge because although power
factor doesn't matter much to you, it matters a great deal to them --
they have to absorb the cost of resistive (I^2R) losses in their
lines even if you're effectively consuming zero power.

Two major factors in power consumption are high humidity and low line voltage.

CU rates air conditioners from time to time, can be helpful.  IIRC
Panasonic units tend to be quite quiet -- although I have to say that
most modern 5000 BTU/hr units are quite remarkably quiet from
outside, at least in a residential setting.

Two good friends of yours would be a Kill-a-Watt EZ integrating
wattmeter (available as little as USD24, possibly from your power
company) and a Radio Shack audiometer 33-2050.  No point I can see in
the digital version -- disadvantage if anything.  The A weighting
rolls off response to low frequencies; C weighting is more or less flat.

Yours,
David