Heating & Cooling

Here's how to go "AC hopping" this summer, according to summer heat haters.

Customize your ideal A/C aesthetic.

It sliced my bill nearly in half!

A mini air conditioner was the perfect solution for my sweaty, sleepless nights.

The covers have been designed in collaboration with celeb-loved furniture designer Sophie Collé.

I'll be using it all year round.

Keep the winter chill out for good.

Just plug it in and prepare for warm and toasty vibes.

According to an expert.

They fight mold, reduce allergens, and can help you get through that heatwave.

Stay cool — no matter where you are.

Last month we asked how much readers spent buying and installing a new water heater in their home. And you told us! We hope this information gives a basic sense of how much this new appliance costs, and how much you can expect to pay when hiring someone. Keep in mind, this is general and prices most likely vary in cities versus more rural locations, etc…Although this gives you a rough idea, you should always seek multiple quotes for any work done in your home.

Here’s the unfortunate truth about 99% of all living spaces: every house and apartment—large or small—likely has something that’s weird, oddly placed, or just plain ugly. These persistent little problems (cords, vents, pipes, outlets) might drive you nuts, but stay they must, especially if you are a renter. The only solution is to get creative…. Here are ten common household eyesores, and DIY projects and ideas to help you disguise them: 1.

Designed by the people behind Away luggage.

Here's a short list of checks that home maintenance experts think you should run through before the first big chill hits where you live.

Rant over.

If the idea of constantly heating your water in a big tank sitting in your basement sounds mighty inefficient and wasteful to you, then a tankless water heater may be the right option for you. I’ve researched some of the advantages of a tankless water heater system, alongside some of the compromises that come with the compact, more energy efficient option. There are many advantages to going with a tankless water heater.

While you may be grateful for it in the middle of a cold winter, an ugly heater can be an eyesore that you get tired of having to decorate around. Peeling or chipping paint, the wrong color or shape, or an awkward location can all make a radiator your least favorite piece of your home. Even if you don’t have a problem with how it looks, it may just be taking up valuable real estate that could be put to better use. But, don’t despair!

When I moved into a sprawling old Victorian in Louisville, Kentucky three years ago, my neighbors terrified me with their tales of four-digit utility bills. I’d swapped an under-900-square-foot bungalow for the three-story, 1890 behemoth, and was so scared of the bill the first year, I chose to freeze rather than turn up the thermostat.

A while ago, I wrote a post about how to ventilate a kitchen when you don’t have a range hood or vent. A number of Kitchn readers recommended installing a reversible window fan which, when put on the exhaust setting, can effectively draw smells, steam, and smoke out of your kitchen. I don’t have a hood in my rental kitchen, and for a long time I just ran the ceiling fans in other rooms when I cooked something particularly smelly or smoky. It worked okay, but wasn’t ideal.

I don’t know about you, but on hot summer nights I don’t want anything remotely close to me, unless it’s the frigid, steady breeze from the AC unit. I’ve been known to draw an invisible boundary line down the center of our bed (not unlike the line that separated my sibling and me in the back of our parents’ car on long trips when we were kids), restricting my husband to “his side” so his body heat stays as far away from me as possible.

Some things are just plain old hard to remember, especially when it comes to ongoing home maintenance. I’m not talking about doing the dishes or laundry regularly, but the stuff that only needs doing every once in awhile, like cleaning your ceiling fan blades or washing windows. Which is why I love the idea of an air filter that tells you exactly when it’s time to swap it out. My air filter gets a workout.

If you’re on the East Coast of the United States, chances are you’re currently being pummeled by what meteorologists are (horrifically) calling a bomb cyclone. Basically, it’s a blizzard on steroids (aka low barometric pressure). If you’re safe and sound at home but could use a little more oomph from your radiator, here’s a handy tip that uses something you probably have in your kitchen drawer.

The temperatures are starting to drop, and if your home is a bit drafty, chances are there’s a space heater making its seasonal return from the depths of the closet. Though before you plug it in, one fire department has an important reminder on how to safely operate the units. “The weather is getting colder, and people are pulling out their space heaters,” the fire department shared in a Facebook post.

While they’re absolute LIFE SAVERS in the summer months (or, if you live in the South like me, 11 months out of the year), A/C window units are pretty much hideous. But, cooler temperatures bring the opportunity to hide or disguise that window A/C during the winter, and it’s a small tweak that will dramatically upgrade a room’s look.

On those unbearably hot days I really need to turn on our apartment’s window air conditioner I’m certainly thankful I installed it. But for the majority of the year the air conditioner is an unsightly presence, blocking a third of the view looking outside our windows and keeping desirable light from entering…A Brooklyn designer decided it was time to give eyesore window air conditioners a visual makeover.

During this post-Labor Day week, I can sense autumn creeping into the picture. While I’m sad to see summer come to a close, there is one advantage to the impending change of season. It will soon be time to remove the air conditioners and reclaim the windows! Here are a few tips for storing an air conditioner in the off season: After removing your air conditioner, take the time to clean it before you stick it in storage. Remove the filter and clean it in warm, soapy water.

Being a writer by trade—with more than a few writer friends—we’ll often get caught in discussions about semantics. Things like whether it’s proper to say “done” or “finished,” for example. But recently we got caught up in an Unplggd-worthy battle of meaning: When you want it to be cooler, do you turn the air conditioner “up” or turn it “down?”You say po-TAY-to, I say po-TAH-to. You say turn it up, I say turn it down.

Yesterday, we featured 5 Tips for Annual Air Conditioner Maintenance. It was a helpful article for anyone with central A/C, but Unplggd reader Amanda H pointed out that we completely neglected many small, cool dwellers with window or free-standing air conditioning units.Just like any other appliance in your place, the window A/C also needs tender love and care. Make sure to give it a thorough cleaning at least once a year:1. Wash the filter.