Would this work to cool my dorm room?
there are few ways to keep room cool , and they dont cost a lot. you can put a plastic "heat" film , on the window . its similar to the plastic food wrap. its sold in many stores, like "home depot" or online. its easy to install and remove, and you still have light going tru. you can also put a alum. foil on the window. you can also use one of those car shades, they sell everywhere. or hang up a blanket. the later also blocks out some of the outside noise as well. i used to use that,when i worked night shifts, and needed the room to be dark and quiet. you can also try the combination of "swamp" cooler and dehumidifier. you would need the later , if you dont like moist air. swamp cooler is not as efficient as AC , but it uses much less electricity , no more then a reg. fan. you may want that, instead of AC , if your dorm room is pretty old. if it is, it means it has an old, outdated el. wiring. an AC, + all the "college gadgets" --- laptops, mp3s and so on, plugged at the same time, would cause the fuse to trip. i know, because i live in an old apartment ,if i plug too many things at once, everything goes dark. if you live on top floor, you are out of luck. top floors, which are directly under the roof, would absorb more heat then lower floors. but thats better in the winter. if you live in 1st floor, and there is a water hose near by, you can water a bit outside, cooling the patio,sidewalk,yard, etc, that you have outside your window. it will help with radiating heat. if you live in a top floor, and there is no attic , just the roof, you can have them install a roof fan. they dont cost a lot , dont require electricity and are quiet.
Why can I not get the farthest room from the a/c unit to cool down?
I just had my air handler and my outside a/c unit replaced and they said it was big enough for my house. My room is the farthest away and is the hottest in the summer and coldest in the winter. How can I correct this without turning the thermostat too high or too low?
Why does my A/C spits out ice? It doesn't even cool my room very much.
The other answers from Mssrs. Cox and Novosielski, regarding blocked coils are correct. To those responses I would add that what can cause the ice to form is too-low an airflow rate in the first place.Most window air conditioners have one cooling capacity (‘on’, unless you count ‘off’ as an increment). The fan which moves air across the evaporator (aka cooling coil) may have several speeds.In humid climates, running the fan at low speed increases residence time as the air moves across the coil. The longer the residence time, the more moisture is removed. But if the airflow rate is too low compared to the evaporator’s cooling capacity, those moisture droplets can freeze and that is where the fun begins. A cycle of blocked fins, lower velocity, longer residence times, more deposited moisture to freeze.. It is madness I tell you!Instead, run the fan at a higher default speed which will bring down the temperature first and remove enough moisture to get you started. Once the room is cooler and a bit dryer, only then lower the fan speed for deeper dehumidification. It is a balance point specific to your conditions so experiment!
How long should it take a window a/c unit to cool down a room that is about 300sq ft?
That's a tricky question. I guess part of it depends on what your definition of "cool down" is. How cool do you want the room to be? If it's 80 degrees and you'd prefer 75, if the A/C unit is in good shape, you should notice a real difference within 30 to 45 minutes, if not sooner. As I recall, in our old house, it took a couple of hours for a small window unit to cool the bedroom upstairs, so your answer is probably somewhere in between. Wish I could be more specific, but this is the best I can do for now. Hope it helps!
Does keeping the bedroom door open affect the A/C?
No it doesn't affect the AC but bedroom will not cool soon. Your electricity bill will be high. But you can let outside air in while your air conditioner is running, leaving doors and windows open is a great way to reduce operating efficiency and undermine your HVAC system's ability to bring your home to a comfortable temperature. Whether you're letting hot air into your home during the day or bringing in cool air at night, your air conditioner has to fight even harder to pull the humidity out of the air and cool you down. When the air conditioning is on, keep all windows and doors closed.A closely related mistake is using exhaust fans in the kitchen or bathroom. These fans can push conditioned air out of your house, which needlessly increases the strain on your air conditioner. During the cooling season, use these fans as sparingly as possible.
House has no insulation, will A/C still cool the house?
Do you have an attic? If you do you can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy rolls of insulation.It is something you can install yourself.For the time being,you can buy small window units for about $100.00 at wal mart to get you through the next few months.Make sure your air condition filters are good and clean,that might help with the air flow. The above sounds expensive,but it's not nearly expensive as trying to cool a house without insulation.