07-25-2006, 10:18 PM
Economy of scale; they sell many, many times more of the standard units.
If you have slider windows you probably don't need an expensive vertical (called casement) air conditioner unless you have unusually narrow windows. Most standard window ACs in the 5000-8000 BTU range are only 18-22" wide. As long as the slider window opening is a couple inches wider than the AC chassis you can mount it.
You will need to fill the window space above the AC. I prefer plexiglass (because your window is still a window and lets in light) but you could also use plywood or whatever. In one room I went a step farther and made a custom screen. When it's not that hot, I can still have the window open. When I want to run the AC, I just put the plexiglass over the screen (it fits in the window's tracks and is held in at the bottom by the AC's top mounting rail).
Not only will a casement AC cost about 2.5X more, but you'll still have to fill the open window space above the AC, and it seems most casement units don't come with an adequate kit for that. You'll still have to resort to plexiglass or plywood or else order a $30 fill kit.
BTW, don't buy that Royal Sovereign from Costco. It's pretty cheap for a portable but it's also very inefficient. They conveniently don't list the EER but if you divide the BTUs (9000) by the power consumption (1050 watts) you get an EER of about 8.5 which is pretty awful. It's not hard to find an Energy Star rated unit with an EER of 10.7 or better. That would save more than 20% on energy costs.
If you have slider windows you probably don't need an expensive vertical (called casement) air conditioner unless you have unusually narrow windows. Most standard window ACs in the 5000-8000 BTU range are only 18-22" wide. As long as the slider window opening is a couple inches wider than the AC chassis you can mount it.
You will need to fill the window space above the AC. I prefer plexiglass (because your window is still a window and lets in light) but you could also use plywood or whatever. In one room I went a step farther and made a custom screen. When it's not that hot, I can still have the window open. When I want to run the AC, I just put the plexiglass over the screen (it fits in the window's tracks and is held in at the bottom by the AC's top mounting rail).
Not only will a casement AC cost about 2.5X more, but you'll still have to fill the open window space above the AC, and it seems most casement units don't come with an adequate kit for that. You'll still have to resort to plexiglass or plywood or else order a $30 fill kit.
BTW, don't buy that Royal Sovereign from Costco. It's pretty cheap for a portable but it's also very inefficient. They conveniently don't list the EER but if you divide the BTUs (9000) by the power consumption (1050 watts) you get an EER of about 8.5 which is pretty awful. It's not hard to find an Energy Star rated unit with an EER of 10.7 or better. That would save more than 20% on energy costs.