Why are older air coditioners so much better?

Question

i have my grandmothers ac. its about 22 years old. i also have anewer model which i bought about 3 years ago. i find that the older model is so much more cooler. i thought it might have something to do with the freon. i have also had a few other acs which i bought a few years back but had to throw out because they werent even blowing out cold air anymore. they were fairly cheap(100 bucks). are the older models colder for a reason? my girlfriend also has an older ac built into her wall which is much cooler than the newer ones i have had. as well. anyone know the deal?

Answer 1

They have figured out that it's better to put cool air out longer than to put a blast of cold air out for a short time.  It's more efficient and actually feels better because the A/C gets a chance to draw more moisture from the air by circulating for a longer time.  The fan isn't the big energy draw -- it's the compressor.  So, if you run the fan a lot and the compressor a little, you actually save energy.

As long as the air is cooled below the temp setting (like to 62 deg or so), it will eventually cool the place down and eliminate a lot of the humidity by passing the humid air over the cooling coils more.  The old ones get the air cold fast, but by not circulating as much, the air is still humid, so it's now cold and humid instead of cold and dry.

New central forced air heaters are the same way.  The old ones used to put out a blast of hot air; the new ones put out warm air for a longer period.  Similarly, heating the air is the big energy draw, not the fan, so as long as the air is warm to the touch (90 deg or so) it will eventually warm up the place.

It makes sense when you think about it, but it isn't obvious at first...