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Assuming it's an old place and that's why you have window A/C then probably no. Like working outside, you get used to the heat though. Like another poster said, best to cool down overnight and plunge the temp down. Bonus points if the place has a whole house fan.
Not when it’s 110° F. SMUD also recommends setting your thermostat to 78° F during peak hours.
The best move is to cool down your place overnight and in the morning during off peak hours and then ride that through the hottest parts of the day.
Been in a 100 yr old flat downtown and a window a/c works in the room you plan on living in during the summer…close up all the extra rooms and get nice darkening curtains and you’ll be fine. Luckily, the breeze kicks in at night which helps if you open your windows —of course always be safe with that situation —especially if you’re on a first floor. Upstairs, open up and enjoy natures a/c.
I personally can't handle wall a/c, I get way too hot. In my experience unless your apartment is super shady all day like someone else mentioned, youre lucky to get 78 with it running consistently.Â
And only the room that has the unit will be comfortable.Â
Thermal curtains etc help, but I don't like having my curtains shut all day when I work from home, it affects my mental health.Â
Simply no, unfortunately. I was in a 1bd in midtown with wall ac. First year I pulled my mattress out to the living room to be right in front of it and was still miserable. Next year I shelled out the $300 for the stand alone coolers that just have the tube go out the window lol.
So if you’re willing to buy more ac units and pay the smud bill, it could work. And def utilize blackout curtains
If chilled air is the goal, go with a modern apartment with a new central AC system. There are ton's of units with just window AC's and they are pretty comfortable (particularly if you are willing to position yourself directly in front of the AC), but they aren't "office building" chilled and you won't get whole house climate control to the low 70's as you desire. Some people aren't willing to be warm, and that's OK, but you probably can't achieve those cool temps in an older building built to breath when there was just shade and the delta breeze to keep you cool (ie even when you put in a window unit they lack the insulation and seal to maintain the cold).
People's windows go up and down out here?
Every place ive been to since I moved out here the windows go side to side and its an absolute pain to install a window unit and keep it efficient.
Generally if you're in a building older than 1950s, the windows go up and down, unless they were later remodeled with slider windows. There are window units designed to fit into sliders but it's a bit more of a pain, yah (I put a window A/C into a new slider window in a garage & had to build a whole big insulated frame for it)
Yea Ive heard its something with building codes and their easier to get out of during a fire
I still never or very very rarely seen side opening windows before moving west.
Window AC kind of sucks, it definitely does not keep the place particularly cool.
You could buy portable AC units for the bedrooms if you have the funds. Would be like $800 up-front for 2 bedrooms and that way at least when sleeping it will be cool.
do they keep your place cool-like low 70’s?
Old place + window A/C = no.
Look for new construction or gutted/remodeled units. Those will have up-to-date insulation and central A/C. They will also have higher rents. That's the price for comfortable summer living in Sac downtown/midtown.
Highly unlikely. In addition to the variables everyone else mentioned, you also have to consider how old and/or non existent the insulation is in your building. Mine is non-existent and it gets exposure from all sides, all day. When its 100 out, I can run the wall AC long enough to get it down to 76 or so, but it barely takes five minutes for it be well over 80 again.
I use blackout curtains and I have a window fan for the bedroom so I sleep fine, but Just Say No if you have a choice.
It depends on how much shade the apartment gets. When I lived in a 1,300 SF third floor apartment with full southern exposure, the window unit running full time could not keep that place under 100 degrees in the summer. We had better luck using window fans at night and then sealing the place up with thermal curtains, etc., all day. Now that we have a house (that does have central air) we rarely use our air conditioning at all because we have a ton of shade on the south side of our house.
But we are also only trying to cool it down to a more realistic upper 70s/low 80s; low 70s is completely unrealistic for Sac in the summer unless you have central air and a big budget.