There are many types of air conditioning systems that can be used to cool your home.
The two most popular are; central air conditioning and room air conditioning.
Central air conditioning cools your whole house by circulating air through ducts that are installed within your home. The hot air from your home is pulled through these ducts in order to be transformed into cold air. Once the air is cold it is then pumped back down the ducts and cools your home. The duct system is based on a system of supply and return. Air continues to be circulated through the system in order to reach the desired temperature intended for your whole home. Considering the fact that your home will be one solid temperature, the central air system will work at a solid pace in order to cool your home.
Room air conditioning, better known as window or wall air conditioners, can only cool a certain amount of space. The unit is mounted into the wall or window of a specific room. The plus size to window air conditioning is that unless it is not a large unit it does not need its own, most of the air conditioners will plug right into a power outlet in your home. Window air conditioners are single, self sustaining units that exhaust heat and humidity from the specific room to the outside. Similar to how a car’s air conditioning works, the single unit will only be able to cool a certain square footage. For example; if you buy a unit in order to cool the downstairs of your home, depending on how big the space is, the whole downstairs could be cooled. But if you were to close doors only one area would be cool and the other areas that were cooled off would be sweltering hot. Same goes for the second story of your home. Hot air rises so all that hot air that was once in your house is now upstairs. Window or wall air conditioners do not take out any hot air from your home in order to recirculate it and turn it into cool air. This kind of air conditioning takes the hot air from outside and turns it into cool air in order to be circulated into your home.
Of course there are advantages and disadvantages to each:
Central Air Conditioning
ADVANTAGES
Cools your whole house; operates with the use of one thermostat
Air quality is improved and can be controlled. The many filters will be able to take pollutants out of the air; certain features are also available to stop pollutants from entering your home
Central air conditioning systems are essentially very easy to operate
Does not take up any space in your home or block anything from your view of your yard or inside your home
Central air conditioning units are more efficient and will save you energy and money
Central air conditioning is very quiet
You do not have to do any repairs. New installs come with warranties on parts and services. All you have to do is call up a technician.
DISADVANTAGES
If you do not have your system maintained you could be breathing in harmful pollutants
To install a system could take up to a few hours and can cost you thousands of dollars, depending on how big your system needs to be in order to cool your home
The outside unit can could potentially be destroyed by any serious weather conditions. Also any overgrown trees or shrubs can negatively affect the efficiency of your system and can also cause damage
If your system breaks or is not working, it is up to you to fix it or replace it and this can consume a lot of time as well as money
Window/Wall Air Conditioning
ADVANTAGES
You may only need one unit for the whole downstairs
Window/wall air conditioners are easy to install; and can also be easily removed and stored away
Inexpensive and more practical for those who have to watch their spending
DISADVANTAGES
If you shut doors to certain rooms, they will be sweltering hot. Hot air also rises, so if you are heading upstairs be ready to sweat. This could also imply that you may need other units in other rooms meaning that more energy is being used to power more than 1 machine and you could see an increase in your electricity bill
Once they are installed they can not be easily relocated to another part of the house.
If they are in a window they will block the view from inside and outside of the home
If you have multiple units in your home, it could put a hole in your pocket when the electricity bill comes; you may have to monitor the use of each system more carefully
When choosing an air conditioning for your home, you need to keep in mind how much you would want to spend and how much you can afford to spend. Central Air Conditioning is a bigger investment than a window/wall air conditioning but keep in mind there are more advantages to having central air than disadvantages. Although window/wall units seem like a good idea they are putting a band-aid over a cut that should be getting stitches.
Central air conditioning is the way to go!