The Best Way to Cool Your Space
With summer nearly here, continuing without an appropriate air conditioning system for your Toronto home or office is literally self-sacrifice. To escape the heat, sweat, and mental discomfort, not to mention the sweaty odours from everyone in the office, you need to adopt the right air conditioning system. It’s deemed to save you from seeing a couple of off-putting belly buttons for sure but more than that, it will create a comfortable working space for you and your counterparts. With a myriad of options when purchasing one, the process can be confusing for sure. This is why we have prepared the ultimate guide to buying the right AC system.
Before delving into the details, have in mind that picking the right system is really about size/power, which implies getting an air conditioner big and powerful enough to fan the entire space or different rooms altogether. It doesn’t always mean that getting the most powerful in the market is the best decision though, as your space may require a small AC, which means a large one will inflate your bill for nothing. You should, therefore, go for an AC that fits your space perfectly, one sure to cool effectively. This also saves you money.
You should also consider Energy efficiency which is represented as (EER) and shows the cooling systems performance capability in an environment where the outdoor temperature is at 95 degrees. When an air conditioner has a star label, by government standards, it is above required efficiency hence very high performance. High performing AC systems consume very little energy to properly cool a space, thus optimizing operational costs. They give you value for your money. It is important to ensure that your home, as well as an office or any other space you’re cooling, is sealed and well-insulated as AC workability depends on this.
When all is said and done, those are the two most critical aspects to help you narrow the list down to a few options. Here are some premium cooling systems, to offer further guidance on the best system for your home:
- CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING
It is definitely a renowned system in many parts of Canada, and with good reason. It is quiet, convenient, and design-friendly. In fact, about 40% of households in Canada use this system, Toronto being the big outlier.
As we all know, many of the buildings in Toronto were established before building technology had taken front in architecture, in the 1960s. As a result, the existing buildings were not fitted with air conditioning, and in a densely populated, highly built area like this, one can only imagine the heat levels especially during summer.
Installing a Central Air conditioning system basically involves installing a fan-and-coil system inside, a condenser outside the home, and ducts to distribute the cooled air to indoor spaces. This means that the system requires space not only in the apartment but outside, for the condenser. Toronto has been detached from the central air conditioning primarily for this reason. There is simply no space to accommodate the air conditioning fixtures’ installation. Most apartments are in fact quite small, and even if you’d be willing to give up space in your apartment for the system, building owners would never allow the installation of condensers on their outdoor facades and roofs. It creates a poor visual image, and in a city as popular as this, good architecture and building appearance translate to more tenants for the apartment.
The system is also quite expensive, so the cost of renovating old buildings then adding an additional cost for retrofitting an air conditioning system simply may not have made sense to real estate investors. The system could cost anywhere from $2,650 to as much as $15,000, according to a home improvement website, TrustedPros.ca.
Yet another reason why the system isn’t so popular in Toronto is the fact that it lacks room by room control options, meaning you have no option of turning on the conditioning in your kitchen and off in your bedroom. When cooling one room, you have to cool the rest as an ultimatum.
This system, however, is very design-friendly as it is concealed, therefore causes no ruin to your precious decor and interior design construction. This is because the ducts and all mechanical components are inbuilt, concealed within walls, floors, or the attic.
With this, if you’d rather procure the Central conditioning system, liaise with the Consumer Reports’ buying guide to ensure it is reliable and has a high EER during all seasons. It is also essential to procure a proficient expert in installation to identify the best plan for the ductwork and maintenance.
This system is suitable when you have space, are looking for a silent AC System, and when you would like to conceal the AC ductwork.
- DUCTLESS MINI-SPLIT AIR-CONDITIONER
This one as the name suggests is ductless and is usually mounted on a wall after which remote control is used for adjustments. It requires an outdoor compressor as well and works through tubing which interconnects the wall-mounted indoor unit and the outdoor compressor.
They have an advantage over the central air system in that they allow one room to be controlled differently from another and are cost-effective. The system according to TrustedPros.ca ranges from $1,800 to $7,000 depending on the number of wall mounts you’d like to adopt. They are highly efficient and equally need professional expertise for installation and maintenance. The downside, however, is that they are not as discreet as the Central AC systems.
- WINDOW UNITS
These are amongst the most popular options because they are inexpensive and easy to install. They range from $129 for smaller units which are suitable for a 150-square-foot room to $599 for the larger units which cool up to 1,600-square foot space, according to Lowe’s. All you need to do is calculate the room area, sun exposure, use of the room, and find cooling capacity needs from Energystar.gov then you’re good to go!