Feder's Air Conditioner And Appliance Distributors

This post should describe the differences between the two types of thru-the-wall room air conditioning units.

The first type of wall unit is necessary when there is not yet an air conditioner installed.  A wall unit that has a slide-out chassis should be installed.  These units should already come with their own sleeve for easy installation.  To install, the chassis (guts) should be slid-out of its sleeve, a hole should be cut approximately 1/4″ larger than the size of the unit’s sleeve in to the wall.  The sleeve should be screwed into a stud in the wall, then the guts should be slid into the sleeve.  This type of wall unit uses a sleeve for installation because if something goes wrong in the future, it can easily be removed from its sleeve for repair or maintenance.

Thru-The-Wall air conditioner with a slide-out chassis and sleeve

The second type of thru-the-wall air conditioner sold (more of a specialty item) comes into play if there is already an air conditioner installed in the wall (like the first type of unit discussed above) that needs to be replaced.  Although a little more expensive than the first type of wall unit on average, these air conditioners are much less expensive to install because a new hole does not need to be cut or an existing hole does not need to be altered.  Most relacement thru-the-wall air conditioners are smaller than 26″ wide and 16″ tall, since the old “standard” wall unit was about that size.  These thru-the-wall units are solid-sided and rear-vented so that they can slide into any existing sleeve without any trouble breathing which may result in a unit overheating.  Also, since these units are typically smaller than an existing wall air conditioner (often sized 24″ wide and 14 1/2″ tall), they come with a trim-kit that slides over the front of the air conditioner to fill most gaps between the unit and the existing sleeve.

Solid-sided, rear-vented thru-the-wall replacement air conditioner

Often times, the question comes up as to why the first type of wall air conditioner can’t be installed in to an existing sleeve.  Well, as discussed, these units have side-vents that allow the unit to breath, and more often than not, the side-vents in the unit will not match the side-vents in the existing sleeve and can cause the unit to overheat and damage its compressor, thereby rendering the unit inoperable, often times without any waranty coverage due to the fact that the unit being installed improperly.

Another distinguishing factor between these two types of air conditioners is that the first type of unit can usually also be installed in a double-hung window and often times comes with a side accordian sleeve (which can be removed for a wall installation).

Window air conditioner with accordian sleeve

The full flight didn’t allow for an upgrade, but we’ll take an on-time take-off and a tailwind that helped us arrive 1/2 hour earlier than expected any day.  In fact, it seemed like our flight from LAX to ORL was the shortest 4 1/2 hour flight ever.

Unfortunately, getting to The Hard Rock Hotel seemed to take longer than the flight because of a gps system from Enterprise RAC that was working on about a 3 mile delay.  But we made it to the room and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Palm in the lobby of the hotel.

Getting to the convention center on Monday morning from the hotel was uneventful and quick. Walking into the main hall reminded us of the last few shows, but it seemed like there was a good turnout of attendees and the convention center floor (approximately 354,000 square feet) was full of vendors.  In fact, there were slated to be about 40,000 attendees and 1,800 exhibitors.  About 200 of the vendors had not displayed before.

Many of the majors were there, LG, Gree, GE, Amana.  And there were so many parts dealers, it was hard to decipher one from another.

I don’t know how so many vendors can sell copper piping, ducts, vents, covers, and other small parts.  But they seemed to be busy.  It also seemed like everyone and their mothers who manufacture air conditioners were also selling portables and ductless mini-splits. Again, reminding me of the last few AHR shows.

However, most were involved heavily in the R410A way of life than the older R22 of old.  And the transition to it had been a large undertaking.

Missing from the show were a few major manufacturers like Trane and Fedders and the most impressive booths were Gree’s and LG’s.

Although a pretty standard setup, they were definitely showing a large variety of products.  Gree seems to manufacture product for about 25% of the industry (including Soleus and Hitachi) and LG seems to change their acronym every year (from Lucky Goldstar, to Life’s Good, to their current Life’s Green) to keep with the times.

GE had a small booth displaying a re-vamped ductless system, but their pricing is still too high for the economy we’ve been in for the past couple of years.  Amana had a small booth as well, but nothing on display to really write home about.

All in all, it didn’t seem like there where a whole lot of new products or innovations at this year’s AHR Expo.  Although solar has been talked about a lot as of late, I still feel that we’re at least 3-5 years away from truly solar-powered products that are small enough, powerful enough, and cheap enough to replace our standard energy-eating air conditioning and heating products.  In fact, one of the only solar products we saw, was a solar charging station pictured below.

There was some talk about the 7 companies with new innovations(Delphi, AIC Wireless, Danfoss, Daikan AC, Samsung, Muller Industries, AEC Design Group, and DuraSystems Barriers), but mostly they improved upon something as opposed to reinventing the wheel.  It’s time our industry really had a breakthrough product that uses very little to no energy, or is so cheap to manufacture, it’d turn the ac business on it’s head.

Unfortunately, those innovations haven’t come to fruition yet.

One company that is slated to begin production on a DC solar-powered ductless mini-split unit later this year didn’t even take part in the show.  We expected to at least see their booth and get more information about their truly unique product, but unfortunately, there was none to be had.

We were invited to a private party hosted by Airwell Fedders on Monday night where they were showing their latest wares, but unfortunately, we were underwhelmed.  Yes, they had a builder model ac on display, another couple of wall units, an outdoor condenser and the usual portable unit, all complete with R410A.

But we weren’t blown away by anything we saw or Anything the reps discussed.  And for a company crawling out of the black cloud of bankruptcy and under new ownership, they definitely missed their mark for 2010.  At least, they should have shown their new CRAC System discussed here!

In the end, we realized we could have stayed home and just replayed the video of the past few years of AHR shows in our heads and wouldn’t have missed a thing.

Since it finally dropper below 70° here in Southern California, we thought it would be a good time to go over a few options to keep your home or apartment warm this winter.

SPACE HEATER
The easiest and most affordable way to keep your feet warm.  We have a small, 360 Degree Micrathermic Heater that can keep a small room fairly comfortable in cooler weather.  Cost is on $69.00!

GAS WALL OR DIRECT-VENT FURNACE
Do you need to replace an old or inoperable tall wall furnace or shorter direct vent heater for your apartment?  We carry units that are perfect for small, medium, or larger units.  25,000 BTU-50,000 BTU

WALL OR WINDOW UNIT
Replacement: If you’ve already got an existing unit inside a sleeve, more than likely Feder’s Distributors has a unit that will fit inside your existing sleeve.
Built with solid sides and vents on the back, these units come with trim kits that would cover additional space on the sides and top if your sleeve is larger than 24″ wide by 14 1/2″ tall. The heat-strip models are great as a secondary source of heating or primary source for smaller rooms.
New install: If you need to install a new unit in a wall or window, units with both a heat-strip or a heat-pump are available.  Heat-strips will cost you a little less money up-front, but end up providing less heating capacity compared to a heat pump.  Heat pumps are a little more expensive to purchase, but run a little more efficiently with more heating capacity. Just remember, if you need heat in your window or wall unit, anything 12,000 BTU or above typically run on 220V 20AMP circuits.

DUCTLESS MINI-SPLIT HEAT PUMPS
A bit more expensive to install than a wall air conditioner, but much sightlier, ductless mini splits are installed like a central air conditioner. The compressor, outside and the fan on an adjacent wall just under the ceiling.  It is about 20% of the cost of a central system and cools/heats only one room.  Please note, there are also options to run two, three, or even four indoor units off of one compressor, so please ask us about them!

Frigidaire FAH126S2T Thru-The-Wall Air Conditioner

Frigidaire 12,000 BTU Thru-The-Wall Replacement Air Conditioner, 220V with 264 CFM, 3 Cool/Fan Only Speeds, Auto Cool, Sleep Mode and Remote Control.

Performance:
* 12,000 / 11,700 BTU cooling capacity.
* Cools room sizes up to 450 sq. ft.
* Energy Efficiency Ratio: 9.0.

Features:
* 3 Fan Speeds.
* 4-Way Air Direction Control.
* Antimicrobial Mesh Air Filtration.
* Designed to Fit most Competitive Wall Sleeves.
* Full Function Electronic Controls.
* Full Function Remote Control with Thermostat in Remote.
* Included standard universal interior trim kit allows the unit to neatly fit into any existing sleeve.
* LVC Technology (Low Voltage Compensation) ensures proper operation of the unit when voltage fluctuates.
* Slide-out Filter Access.
* Universal Window Mounting Trim Kit. (Optional)

Multifamily apartment owners and managers in Southern California can now be twice as effective in our recovering economy. They can now avoid vacancies in this competitive rental market and keep their tenants happy and cool in our current heat wave by just providing a new air conditioner for their units.

Owners and managers can now benefit from late-season pricing on all air conditioners in the Feder’s Distributor’s inventory.

Many air conditioner dealers did not buy enough product this season due to a mild and very comfortable summer. Many even sent their supplies back to the manufacturer. They are now out of stock!

Feder’s Distributors has plenty of stock on all types of room air conditioners! We always anticipate our clients’ needs and have known the industry trends since 1966. We know that a few mild months of one summer does not mean it will never get hot again!

So while the rest of the Southern California air conditioning industry got caught sleeping during our current 100 plus degree hot spell, we bought truckloads of window air conditioner units, wall units, ductless mini-split systems and heat pumps, and portable air conditioner units. All still available at wholesale pricing!

Check out the Goldstar (LG) 10,000 BTU air conditioner with a slide-out chassis (for window or wall installation) now on sale for only $229, or the 8,000 BTU version for only $189! These are both equipped with three speeds and electronic controls with remote!

We are the one distributor that actually has these in stock!

No gimmicks! Just quality products and an expert staff, delivery team, and installation crew. Contact us today to help make your multifamily buildings more desirable for today’s tenant.