Question:

What part of Central Flroida are you in, I might be able to help. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks to Barry and Kevin for their reasoned responses.  Two more questions: Is there a good way to pick an electrician out of the yellow pages? Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any word of mouth recommendations.  I’m in Central Florida if anybody actually knows one. Also, what should the plug conversion and the dedicated line cost? Your BEST bet is to hire an electrician to run a dedicated 20 amp, 3-wire (2 wire + ground) appliance circuit for you. You can probably "get by" on the circuit you have IF NOTHING ELSE IS RUNNING ON IT. Air conditioners are very high draw – especially at start up – I had a window unit that refused to share a 15 amp circuit even with a television (I’m assuming the current circuit is 15 amp – you should confirm this at your panel). You’ll also need to confirm that the air conditioner you have in mind will A) run on 110v, and B) run on a 15 amp circuit (again with the assuming) – this is going to limit you to the 5000-8000 (maybe 10,000 depending on the unit) BTU range. If you find a suitable unit, and you’re comfortable with a screwdriver and comfortable with shutting off a circuit so you don’t get killed, you can replace the 2-prong outlet with a GFCI 3-prong outlet – the key word being GFCI. Absolutely, positively do not use a standard 3-prong outlet – and yes I know the GFCI is 10 times the cost – but we’re talking $4 here. The other important thing is you can NOT hook it up backwards. I haven’t installed one in several years, but I understand they’re idiot-proof nowadays and will trip if installed backwards. You can double check this with your hardware store associate. Under no circumstances use an "adapter" to run the air conditioner. I thought I’d be slick once and use one on a small (7500-ish) unit "just for a little while" until I got a new line run – unplugged it after about a week and the adapter was FUSED to the power cord – completely melted. If you’re in Atlanta, I’ll make you a deal on a window unit – I’m switching from 7 window units to central HVAC as part of a total remodel and can’t WAIT to fire that puppy up. Just today I was putting patch-n-skim over where all the floor furnaces used to be ; Good Luck and stay cool, Kevin I’m going to buy a room air conditioner for a bedroom.  The two I saw at Wal-Mart required a 115 volt three prong outlet.  My bedroom has the two prong outlets.  Is this a DIY job or should I consult an electrician. Also, do they make room air-conditioners that run on two-prong 110 volt.

Response:

B.S. Find the BIGGEST ad you can, the LARGEST contractor that takes only huge jobs. Don’t call Friday afternoon, or Monday morning, call mid-week in the middle of the day, about 1pm, and tell them you want a bedroom A/C outlet installed real quick. They won’t do it BUT they’ll have someone come over for you and do it for cash on the side, after work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Response:

If a 2-prong outlet, then your wiring is probably 50 years old.   An A/C unit puts a pretty good peak load on the wiring.  One of the first changes I made was to put in a dedicated 15A circuit and outlet near each BR window.  This way, nothing else is affected when the AC cycles. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m going to buy a room air conditioner for a bedroom.  The two I saw at Wal-Mart required a 115 volt three prong outlet.  My bedroom has the two prong outlets.  Is this a DIY job or should I consult an electrician. Also, do they make room air-conditioners that run on two-prong 110 volt.

Response:

Thanks to Barry and Kevin for their reasoned responses.  Two more questions: Is there a good way to pick an electrician out of the yellow pages? Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any word of mouth recommendations.  I’m in Central Florida if anybody actually knows one. Also, what should the plug conversion and the dedicated line cost?

   Go for somebody local, and with a small-medium ad, even a little    box around that number is fine.  The extremes of Yellow Pages    advertising can indicate little or no commitment to the business    or a huge chunk of your bill going to help pay for that full page    color ad.  Cost is likely going to be based mainly on the time it    takes to get the actual wire in place.  If the location is 10′    away from the breaker box and on the first floor, it would be far    less than running it all the way across the basement and fishing    it down from the 2nd floor, etc.    TP —    Nightmare of the 00’s:  Your daughter goes south for spring break,    and ends up being the star of the next "Girls Gone Wild" video.

Response:

Thanks to Barry and Kevin for their reasoned responses.  Two more questions: Is there a good way to pick an electrician out of the yellow pages? Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any word of mouth recommendations.  I’m in Central Florida if anybody actually knows one. Also, what should the plug conversion and the dedicated line cost?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Your BEST bet is to hire an electrician to run a dedicated 20 amp, 3-wire (2 wire + ground) appliance circuit for you. You can probably "get by" on the circuit you have IF NOTHING ELSE IS RUNNING ON IT. Air conditioners are very high draw – especially at start up – I had a window unit that refused to share a 15 amp circuit even with a television (I’m assuming the current circuit is 15 amp – you should confirm this at your panel). You’ll also need to confirm that the air conditioner you have in mind will A) run on 110v, and B) run on a 15 amp circuit (again with the assuming) – this is going to limit you to the 5000-8000 (maybe 10,000 depending on the unit) BTU range. If you find a suitable unit, and you’re comfortable with a screwdriver and comfortable with shutting off a circuit so you don’t get killed, you can replace the 2-prong outlet with a GFCI 3-prong outlet – the key word being GFCI. Absolutely, positively do not use a standard 3-prong outlet – and yes I know the GFCI is 10 times the cost – but we’re talking $4 here. The other important thing is you can NOT hook it up backwards. I haven’t installed one in several years, but I understand they’re idiot-proof nowadays and will trip if installed backwards. You can double check this with your hardware store associate. Under no circumstances use an "adapter" to run the air conditioner. I thought I’d be slick once and use one on a small (7500-ish) unit "just for a little while" until I got a new line run – unplugged it after about a week and the adapter was FUSED to the power cord – completely melted. If you’re in Atlanta, I’ll make you a deal on a window unit – I’m switching from 7 window units to central HVAC as part of a total remodel and can’t WAIT to fire that puppy up. Just today I was putting patch-n-skim over where all the floor furnaces used to be ; Good Luck and stay cool, Kevin I’m going to buy a room air conditioner for a bedroom.  The two I saw at Wal-Mart required a 115 volt three prong outlet.  My bedroom has the two prong outlets.  Is this a DIY job or should I consult an electrician. Also, do they make room air-conditioners that run on two-prong 110 volt.

Response:

I’m going to buy a room air conditioner for a bedroom.  The two I saw at Wal-Mart required a 115 volt three prong outlet.  My bedroom has the two prong outlets.  Is this a DIY job or should I consult an electrician. Also, do they make room air-conditioners that run on two-prong 110 volt.

Response:

Your BEST bet is to hire an electrician to run a dedicated 20 amp, 3-wire (2 wire + ground) appliance circuit for you. You can probably "get by" on the circuit you have IF NOTHING ELSE IS RUNNING ON IT. Air conditioners are very high draw – especially at start up – I had a window unit that refused to share a 15 amp circuit even with a television (I’m assuming the current circuit is 15 amp – you should confirm this at your panel). You’ll also need to confirm that the air conditioner you have in mind will A) run on 110v, and B) run on a 15 amp circuit (again with the assuming) – this is going to limit you to the 5000-8000 (maybe 10,000 depending on the unit) BTU range. If you find a suitable unit, and you’re comfortable with a screwdriver and comfortable with shutting off a circuit so you don’t get killed, you can replace the 2-prong outlet with a GFCI 3-prong outlet – the key word being GFCI. Absolutely, positively do not use a standard 3-prong outlet – and yes I know the GFCI is 10 times the cost – but we’re talking $4 here. The other important thing is you can NOT hook it up backwards. I haven’t installed one in several years, but I understand they’re idiot-proof nowadays and will trip if installed backwards. You can double check this with your hardware store associate. Under no circumstances use an "adapter" to run the air conditioner. I thought I’d be slick once and use one on a small (7500-ish) unit "just for a little while" until I got a new line run – unplugged it after about a week and the adapter was FUSED to the power cord – completely melted. If you’re in Atlanta, I’ll make you a deal on a window unit – I’m switching from 7 window units to central HVAC as part of a total remodel and can’t WAIT to fire that puppy up. Just today I was putting patch-n-skim over where all the floor furnaces used to be ; Good Luck and stay cool, Kevin – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m going to buy a room air conditioner for a bedroom.  The two I saw at Wal-Mart required a 115 volt three prong outlet.  My bedroom has the two prong outlets.  Is this a DIY job or should I consult an electrician. Also, do they make room air-conditioners that run on two-prong 110 volt.

Response: