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10 Popular Air Conditioner Types And

Price Ranges [With Pictures]
14th March 2020 by LearnMetrics

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You will rarely find a home that doesn’t need an air conditioner in the summer. In
fact, more than 2/3 of homes in the US have some sort of residential type of air
conditioner.
Obviously, there are more than 10 types of air conditioners you can choose
from. The choice of a particular AC unit depends on how large your home or
apartment is if you need central air or a simpler portable air conditioner and so
on.
We’ll go through all types of air conditioners for you to see which one would be
best for you. We’ll see the average sizes (in BTU) and you’ll also get a price
range for different types of AC units.
When deciding which type of air conditioner is the best for your
house/flat/room, keep in mind the energy consumption. The strongest 30,000
BTU AC unit can skyrocket your energy bill and the weakest 4,000 BTU unit can
leave you sweating in the middle of the summer.
From all the different types of AC units, you want to choose the one that fits your
needs the most.

Table of Contents

Two Types Of Air Conditioners

The basic principle of an air conditioner is fairly simple to understand.

You have two sets of metal coils; the first one collects the heat from your house
and the second one disperses the heat outside. The key part here is
the refrigerant; this is a liquid mixture that transfers heat between the two sets of
coils.
Based on this, we have two large groups of air conditioner types:

1. Stand-Alone AC units (1 device). Examples: Portable air conditioners,

window air conditioners, floor mounted air conditioners. 
2. Split-System AC units (2 devices). Examples: Central air conditioners, wall
mounted air conditioners, ceiling air conditioners.
Stand-Alone AC Units (5 Different Types)
In stand-alone AC units, both coils are inside one device (usually located inside
the house).

These types of AC units are:

 Easier to install and move around (especially portable AC units).

 Cheaper to buy.
 Can be noisier (compressor is located inside the house).
 Compared to split-system AC units, they have lower capacity.
 Always need an air vent that goes outside of a window or sliding door. The
hot air has to go out somehow.
The stand-alone units are, above all else, convenient.

There are five different types of these monoblock air conditioners:

#1 Portable Air Conditioners (Price Range: $200 – $800)
Most Popular, Especially For Single-Room Cooling
Portable air conditioners are the most popular AC units you can find. It’s easy to
see why; if you need some cooling, you need it quick, cheap and without a lot of
fuss, the portable AC units are just what you want.

You don’t have to mount them or install them in a particular room. They are very
mobile, always have wheels and you can move them around as easily as a
vacuum cleaner.

They are quite small as well. The capacity ranges from 5.000 BTU to 15.000 BTU.
To put in perspective: 10.000 BTU air conditioner, for example, is enough to
properly cool a 400-450 square feet space (according to EnergyStar BTU chart).
The drawback is that you can move the AC unit around but you’ll always need to
move the air pipe as well. The hot air has to go outside the house. For that
purpose, every portable AC unit comes with an air hose (4” to 6” diameter) that
can be up to 10 feet long.
A portable air conditioner is a stand-alone AC unit with an air vent for the release
of hot air. It comes on wheels and you can move it around freely.
When you “park” the portable AC in a room, you have to attach the hose to the
device and put the other end out of the window or a sliding door.

All in all, you have quite a bit of option when it comes to choosing the right type
of portable air conditioner. You can get a really good one for less than $500. It’s
the most versatile kind of air conditioner.

You can check out our top picks for the best portable air conditioner in 2020; we
use specifications to determine which portable AC unit is the best.
#2 Window Air Conditioners (Price Range: $100 – $600)
The ‘Through-The-Wall’ European Air Conditioners
In Europe, these are quite popular. The whole unit is encapsulated in a single
shell and this shell is built-in a window or through the wall.

That’s quite an ingenious move if you think about it: one part of the AC unit is
facing the indoors while the other part is facing the outdoors. You don’t need
two devices or a single device with an air vent; the window air conditioner is quite
unique in this way.

A window air conditioner faces the indoors on one side and the outdoors on the
opposite side. It can be installed through a window or a wall.
Obviously, it’s not all roses even with the window AC units. If you want to build it
in the wall, the wall must not be thicker than 9”.  The thick walls usually prevent
airflow and the window AC unit becomes energy inefficient compared to other
types of AC units.
Compared to split-system devices, window air conditioners are more affordable
and easier to install. Some advances models also offer heating in addition to the
cooling effect. You can usually find one with remote control as well. You can
check the current 2020 list of the best window air conditioner here.
#3 Wall-Mounted AC Units (Price Range: $300 – $1000)
Best For Older Building Without External Unit Permit
Wall-mounted air conditioners are quite a niche cooling devices. They are perfect
for people who live in older buildings that become very hot during the summer
months.

The perfect type of AC unit to use here would be a powerful split-system device
but these older buildings are usually a part of heritage. As a consequence, you
are not allowed to put any kind of AC shell on the outside wall.

What you can do is mount the AC unit on the wall.

With strong supporters, you can hang these types of air conditioner on the wall
(the higher the better). Additionally, you have to install 2 air pipes through the
wall behind the AC unit for the hot air to be released outdoors. Obviously, you
will need professional help with the installation.
 A
wall-mounted AC unit is installed up against a wall. Two pipes go through the
wall in order to release the hot air outdoor.
The wall-mounted air conditioners are usually a bit bigger. Also, if you run them
continuously on 100%, the wall behind them can become quite hot. The two air
pipes dispersing the heat outdoor can warm up quite a bit if you’re not careful.

The window-mounted air conditioner type with an in-built heater can be more
expensive but will provide a source of heating in the winter as well as a source of
cooling in the summer.

#4 Floor Mounted Air Conditioners (Price Range: $200 – $800)

Becoming Obsolete With Portable Air Conditioners But Can Also Be Used As
Heaters
Floor mounted AC units are quite similar to the wall-mounted air conditioners.
Pretty much the only difference between them is, you’ve guessed it, that the floor
ones are mounted on the floor instead of the wall.

This type of air conditioner also has two metal pipes going through the wall to
release the heated air. However, we see less and less of them. This might be
unusual given how energy effective they are.
Nonetheless, they do take up a lot of space and cannot be tucked away during
the summer months like portable air conditioners. They can come built-in in
older buildings but, honestly, no decent architect with incorporate them in his
designs in the 21st century.

#5 Spot Coolers For Boats, Ships (Price Range: $1000 – $4000)

Big Industrial Mobile AC Units (Speciality Use)
These big ones are useful only for guys who own a boat, ship or even an airplane.
The ‘Spot coolers’ usually have more than 30,000 BTU capacity; which such
capability, you can cool down a mid-sized boat.

A ‘Spot Cooler’
air conditioner is big and used to cool down whole boats. The two pipes take
care of the exchange of hot and cold air.
We mention them because they are quite unique as far as where they are
positioned. Spot coolers are mobile and are “parked” on the outside of the boat
(the warm side).

Most types of air conditioners are placed inside the room (the cold side). Spot
coolers have two or more pipes that go inside the boat and suck the warm air out
while at the same time blow the cold air in.

Split-System AC Units (5 Different Types)

Split-system air conditioners are comprised of two shells. Inside the house is a
smaller (sexy) quiet shell and the bigger noisier (uglier) one is outside.

That means that the cooling coil is inside your house and the heating coil that
dispenses heat and compressor are outside your house. There are several
advantages these types of air conditioners have:

 They are very quiet (compressor is outside, remember?).

 They have a big capacity and can cool your house quickly and efficiently.
 The inside shell is usually smaller and is better looking.
 There is no need for air vents as with monoblock AC units.
Obviously, the two drawbacks are a higher price, not a piece-of-cake installation
and you have to attach the outside unit somewhere on or near your house.

The split-system air conditioners are, above all, exceptionally capable of cooling
down your entire house.

Here are several types of split-system air conditioners:

#1 Central Air Conditioners (Price Range: $500-$8000)

A Wholesome Solution For Every Home (Most Popular)
More than 50% of houses in the US have ‘central air’. As you probably know it
already, it is a system of ducted air pipes that can spread to any room in your
house or apartment. It’s safe to say that central air conditioning is the most
complex to install but easiest to operate.

This duct-mounted air conditioner system usually comes pre-installed into your
home. If you are looking for a replacement to your current AC unit, the central air
conditioner would be great but the installation process alone is bothersome and
can cost you upwards of $10,000 due to all the ceiling you have to break and all
the walls to be penetrated.

Central air conditioner (sometimes referred to as ‘channel air conditioners’) use a

combination of the indoor and outdoor air, cools it down and makes everything
look easy. The powerhouse of the whole unit is a central AC unit shell that is
located outside, usually attached to the house or in the yard.
The powerhouse of a central air conditioner is the outside unit that can be
attached to the house or located in the middle of the yard.
Obviously, you need an expert engineer to install the ducked air conditioner
piping in your house. If you have an existing central AC unit, you can also call in
an expert for air conditioner replacement to help you out. Central air just isn’t a
simple DIY project.

#2 And #3: Wall Mounted And Floor Mounted Air Conditioners (Price Range:
$400 – $3000)
Same As Stand-Alone AC Units But With A Quieter And Stronger Split-
System Installation
The AC units mounted on the wall or on the floor can be a stand-alone system or
a split-system installation.

Obviously, the split-system principle is the more natural choice; you have one coil
inside that gathers heat indoors and the other coil outside the house/apartment
where the heat from inside is dissipated outside.

Wall-mounted air conditioner setup: The outdoor part is the noisy, ugly ventilator
and compressor part. The inside part is a quiet, beautiful cooling part. You can
easily adjust the temperature with remote control.
Most of the time, we have to look (and hear) the inside shell of the wall-mounted
or floor-mounted air conditioner. The split-system shells are usually smaller, nice
looking and, above all, quiet.

That’s because of the compressor – the thing in an AC unit that generates the
most noise – is located in the shell on the outside of the house.

Hence it’s not unusual to have a 15,000 BTU wall-mounted split-system air
conditioner that is quieter than a 6,000 portable air conditioner.

Here is how the floor-mounted air conditioner looks like when installed:
Floor-mounted air conditioner: You can even mount 2 or 3 internal AC units on
the same external AC shell.
One advantage of this type of air conditioner is that you can connect 2 or 3 AC
units like this one to a single outside AC shell (generator with ventilator and
compressor).
In practice this means you can have 3 units, let’s say 9,000 BTU, 12,000 BTU and
15,000 BTU units inside the house. Outside the house, you would have a bigger,
noisier generator. Such a system has a 38,000 BTU capacity which is quite
impossible for any stand-alone type of air conditioner to achieve.

You can check out the best ductless mini split AC units with the highest SEER
ratings here.
#4 Ceiling Type Of Air Conditioner (Price Range: $1000 – $10000)
Aesthetic High Capacity Units Perfect For Offices
This type of cassette-like air conditioner is most appropriate for office spaces. The
air conditioner is installed on the ceiling (or even suspended from the ceiling) and
is effectively attached to the invisible air pipes that go throughout the building.

The main advantage of ceiling air conditioners is aesthetics and power.

In short, they usually have a modern-looking design, don’t ‘stick out’ of a wall or
from the floor and look expensive (actually, they are expensive, to be honest). The
only thing that ‘sticks out’ of the ceiling are the 4 outlet louvers.
Ceiling air conditioner: It is both elegant-looking and powerful. Perfect for offices.
The other part is sheer power. Because the airflow is attached to central airflow,
one of these cassette types of air conditioners can replace up to 5 window air
conditioners and up to 7 portable air conditioners.

Given their position, the direction of cooling air is vertical instead of horizontal.
Most of the air conditioners are mounted on the wall and produce ‘sideway
breeze’. Because the cassette air conditioners are installed on the ceiling, you will
experience a ‘downward breeze’ when standing under the AC unit.

#5 Split-System Portable Air Conditioners (Price Range: $300 -$1000)

More Powerful Kind Of Portable AC Units
Obviously, portable air conditioners are taking over the HVAC industry. They are
both mobile and cheap while also reasonably powerful.
The split-system portable air conditioners, in comparison with stand-alone
portable air conditioners, are more powerful and produce less noise.

That’s because of the generator being located outside the house. The compressor
is therefore not located within the inner shell of the portable air conditioner.

As a general rule, the split-system AC units are more powerful but they tend to
be more complex and pricier. The price hike from a stand-alone to split-system
portable air conditioner is a few $100 dollars but with that, you can almost
double the AC capacity.

Pick The Kind Of Air Conditioner That Fits Your Needs

When choosing the right type of air conditioner, there is no better advice than
this:

“Pick the type you need.”

Some people invest $10,000 for a central air conditioner where a simple 6,000
BTU portable air conditioner might suffice.

Others are buying a simple 6,000 BTU portable air conditioner to cool down a
5,000 sq ft house in Texas.

The integral part of picking the type of air conditioner that is best for you is to be
realistic about how much power (BTU) you need. Next up is to decide if you’re
prepared to drill holes in your walls, have an outdoor AC shell or how quiet you
want your air conditioner to be.

In all cases, being realistic will spare you a whole lot of troubles (sweat + money)
when a summer hot is near the corner.
CategoriesAir ConditionersPost navigation
BTU To kW Air Conditioning Calculator [Quick + Easy Converter]
4 thoughts on “10 Popular Air Conditioner Types And Price Ranges
[With Pictures]”
1.
Janet Sauser
22nd July 2020 at 6:18 pm
Under entry #1 Central Air Conditioners, paragraph two, you start with the
sentence,
“This duck mounted air conditioner system…”. I believe you mean ” duct
mounted…”

Reply


LearnMetrics
22nd July 2020 at 7:28 pm
Hello Janet, you’re completely correct, air conditioner systems are not
mounted on ducks. Fixed it, thank you for the heads up.

Reply

2.
Frank
11th August 2020 at 8:10 pm
You say that type #1 can be installed “without a lot of fuzz”. It”s definitely a plus
to be fuzz free, but I think you mean ‘fuss’. Looking at the other comment,

definitely time to fire your proof reader. 

Reply


LearnMetrics
12th August 2020 at 10:38 am
Hello Frank, thank you for pointing that out; we’ll fix it ASAP. It’s true that our
expertise lies in HVAC and thermodynamics; a proofreader would be most
welcome.

Reply
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