Helpful Hints: July 2010

Household tips will make your home a more comfortable and safer place to live. Monthly additions to this section include tips for removing stubborn stains, ways you can protect your home from indoor and outdoor hazards, techniques that will help you organize your home, and how to clean and care for household pets. For the chores too big for you to handle, please call us.

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We are fortunate to live near the Bay and Ocean . . . most of the time we don't need air conditioning. However, during late summer, when it does heat up, consider a ventless portable air conditioner, particularly to be comfortable at night when trying to sleep as the temperature rises.

A ventless portable air conditioner has the advantage of being placed where you most need it at home or in your office . . . they come in many sizes and prizes and can fit into small or cramped spaces. Portable air conditioners are available at most hardware stores, some office supply stores, and even electronic shops. Visit a few to review features and prices, which seem to average in the $350 range. As about the cooling area as it differs dramatically even in the same price range, i.e. a $329 Danby cools up to 250 square feet and a $349 Frigidaire cools 425 square feet.

We think you will be surprised at how well they work.

Because they are ventless, you do not need to connect it to an outside compressor; this translates to savings because no special hookups are needed and it uses less energy. Surprisingly, due to its size and horsepower, when compared to traditional air conditioning units, the ventless portable air conditioning unit is less expensive to operation and repairs are far less expensive.