Kept forgeting to empty my A/C tank

I have one of those air conditioners that goes inside with only an exhaust hose that goes to the window, but I have a water tank to empty every few hours (from the condensate). I kept forgetting and when I got in it was like 85-90 degrees because it stops when the tank is full so it doesnt over flow.

So I got a "bilge pump" (whatever that is, it's just a submersible water pump) and used a small plastic container to use as a float, attached a stick to it and glued the other end to a push-sensor. I put a pipe from the pump to the window just below the huge exhaust hose, so now whenever the tank is over about 20% full it dumps the water outside :D

http://jetpaper.com/acpump.jpg

This may sound dumb, but why not just get a longer hose and run it straight out the window?

Huh? Water can't clim up from the floor to the window by itself, it needs a pump to get it up to the height of the window. My only other choice would have been to make a hole in the wall near the floor and install the optional drain hose that came with the AC, in that case it would go downwards and wouldn't need a pump, but it barely cost me $30 and an hour to make the pump/sensor thing, much better than making holes in the house.

So your AC is sitting on your floor instead of being mounted in the window? :confused:

As I said in my first sentence its the type that goes indoors with only an exhaust hose going to the window.

Did you just look at the picture without even reading the text? :D

hmmm , hadn't seen that type before
so is it sort of like a central air unit ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ClickHere2Surf.com

As I said in my first sentence its the type that goes indoors with only an exhaust hose going to the window.

Did you just look at the picture without even reading the text? :D

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LOL! You might want to go back and read it again cuz that's not what it says. You left out the word "indoor", tho even if you would have included it I still probably wouldn't understand what you're talking about. I've never seen one like that. Maybe you should post a pic of it.

So does it sit on the floor, is that what you're saying? Either way it's a pretty cool contraption you built.

Sorry I noticed I wrote "into" instead of "indoors", just corrected it, my bad :D

This is the one I have:

http://www.ajmadison.com/ajmadison/i...e/DPAC8399.jpg

Wow that's pretty cool looking. I didn't know they made anything like that. Where did you get it and about how much does one of those things cost?

How big is it ? and how many BTU is it ?



just looked it up
8300 btu

You must have easy place to cool then .

I got it at costco on special for $579 canadian, it's normally $800-900 canadian ($600-700 US). It's extremely expensive compared to a window unit, with a window unit, for less than half the price you can get triple the cooling capacity. But unfortunately I have crank windows and window ACs dont fit in those.

These inside ones have another big problem: The only send the exhaust air out, but dont take out side air back in. This results in negative pressure in the room forcing hot air from the rest of the house to rush in under the door, electrical switches and outlets, and any other hole. This means there's as much hot air getting in as the AC makes cool air, if the rest of your house is cool this isnt a problem since the air rushing in would be cool, but then you probably wouldn't need an AC.

Anyway, I realize when the tank is full and it stops that it does cool a lot, even though it's not quite as cool as I'd like (it runs 24/7 and never reaches my target temperature of 70-74*F), but its still cool enough, theres only on really hot days it's still hot in here with the AC blasting, we have central AC but my parents rarely want to put it on, and to get it high enough to cool my room means the rest of the house is a freezer.

It's 8300 BTUs, but read my post above, due to the "exhaust only" system it's nowhere near as efficient as a window 8300 BTU unit. They have models with 2 hoses online that are even cheaper, get one of those if you want one, I think they are made by "Soleus"

Thanks

Oh, about the size, it's not too big, about 80-90 pounds I think though. Look for DPAC8399 on google or froogle im sure some have the measurements, but as I recommended, get the 12 000 BTU soleus with dual hoses, I think they were smart enough to make it drip the condensate on the hot radiator to make the water evaporate as steam in the exhaust air (a lot of more expensive models have these features, but theres more expensive ones are still cheaper than mine if you look online).