Did you know the modern air conditioner is over 100 years old? The original AC was first built back in 1902 by inventor Willis Carrier. There have been some improvements over the last century; an air conditioner in 1902 was bigger than a minivan is today!
Thankfully, a lot has changed. With modern technology, you can cool much larger areas for a fraction of the price. Today’s wall-mounted air conditioners can easily outperform antique models.
However, can a wall AC cool the whole house? Let’s look closer at wall-mounted ACs and identify their strengths, weaknesses, and considerations. The perfect air conditioner for this next Illinois summer could be much closer and smaller than you think.
How Do Wall Air Conditioners Work?
On a foundational level, most air conditioners keep rooms cool by cycling out hot air, cooling it down, and pumping cold air back inside. This is usually done by blowing through a set of metal coils circulating a coolant gas. Nonstandard models, such as room fans or swamp coolers, use air circulation or humidity to cool the air, respectively.
Wall air conditioners, sometimes called ‘through-the-wall ACs,’ are climate control systems that sit inside a carefully proportioned hole in the wall.
This gives them some efficiency advantages over interior or centralized air conditioners but also includes some extra considerations. Since a wall AC is partially outside, hot air doesn’t have to travel far to leave the house. However, this means that they can only be mounted in specific areas.
What Types of Wall ACs Are Good for La Grange, IL?
So can a wall AC cool the whole house? Maybe, but mot all wall air conditioners are created equal. Several factors can impact the needs and performance of an AC. Some of the most common ones include:
Fixed vs. Slide-Out Wall ACs
Wall ACs that can cool the whole house are fitted with a metal containment sleeve to create an airtight seal. This sleeve both holds the unit in place and protects it from the outside weather. A fixed-sleeve air conditioner is exactly what it sounds like: the metal sleeve is directly bolted into the unit and can’t be removed. This is more likely to be your wall AC unit for the entire home.
Meanwhile, a slide-out sleeve AC can be removed from its metal sleeve for cleaning and maintenance. If a sleeve is removable, it’s sometimes possible to mount these AC units in open windows or window wells.
120 Volt vs. 220 Volt ACs
If an air conditioner plugs into a wall socket, it’s designed to run on the household standard 120 volts. Most air conditioners available for purchase today are 120 volts.
However, some units will require a more significant 220-volt connection. Most of the time, this will require upgrading your electrical wiring. However, more electricity equals more power, and larger machines can cool more effectively. Going larger can get you closer to cooling the entire house with a wall AC.
Single Vs. Variable Speed ACs
Some wall ACs advertise variable speeds as a selling point. This means that the unit has several different fan settings it can rotate through to cool a room more effectively. These tend to work faster and be more energy efficient than their fixed-speed cousins but expect to pay more, too.
What Are the Benefits of a Wall AC?
Choosing the right wall AC has plenty of benefits, especially if you’re trying to prioritize specific rooms or shop on a budget. Wall ACs offer many of the same benefits as window-mounted ACs but have several other advantages that work well in Illinois’ cloudy summers and windy winters.
- A wall AC’s compact size can make it especially attractive for units with limited cooling space. They’re a lot smaller than a central air conditioning setup.
- These air conditioners are also relatively quiet when operating, especially compared to larger units.
- When appropriately installed, a wall air conditioner is pretty energy efficient versus a larger model. After all, the air doesn’t have to travel very far!
- Plenty of homeowners appreciate that wall ACs are a permanent installation, too. No more hassle from removing and resetting the window AC!
- Wall ACs also form an airtight and weathertight seal with the wall, perfect for keeping the Illinois rain and wind out.
How Do I Choose the Right Wall Air Conditioner?
Choosing the right wall air conditioner means finding the unit with the best value and coverage for your needs. Given how much the right air conditioner can impact your air quality (and, by extension, health), it’s a good idea to be tactical.
While it can always be tempting to start at the biggest, fanciest unit, you’ll get more value out of your wall AC if it is adequately sized for the space you want to fill. Getting that wonderful whole-house cooling with a wall AC is a lot easier when you’re properly sized.
If you don’t know how to size AC coverage independently, don’t worry; your local professionals can help you. Contact your local expert air conditioner repair service in La Grange for help with sizing and installation. Plus, you’ll have someone on hand to install the unit or to help with inevitable maintenance down the line.
From there, you’ll want to pick a unit rated well for your desired temperature ranges. Once again, your local HVAC repair professionals can help.
All that’s left from there is installing it. Surprise; your local AC repair experts can help with that, too!
With all that in mind, let’s return to our question from earlier.
So, can a wall AC cool the whole house?
Usually, not on its own. However, if you’re tactical about which rooms to cool during the day, you can effectively get a house’s coverage with just a few compact units.
Expert Air Conditioner Repair in La Grange, IL
Keeping your house cool can be a team effort. If you’re interested in using a wall AC to cool a whole house, we’ve got you covered. For wall-mounted AC estimations, installations, and AC maintenance, call JC Heating & Cooling at 708-350-6765 for an appointment in La Grange, Illinois.
