Categories of Seasonal Appliances

Seasonal appliances provide necessary comfort during those hot and cold days.
The choice of air conditioner or a heater may be difficult unless you know basic facts.
The necessity of seasonal appliances depends on climate. In hotter parts of the world these units maybe as important as home or kitchen appliances.

There are a lot of seasonal appliances on the market. We discuss and review the following products:

• Air conditioners,
• Air purifiers,
• Dehumidifiers,
• Humidifiers,
• Fans,
• Heaters

Air Conditioners Features

Air conditioners are primarily energy for climate converters. Therefore, the most important feature is energy rating. Generally, 125 watts per square meter is sufficient for living rooms. 80 watts per square meter is needed for bedrooms.

The figure is rough and depends on the insulation of your house, climate, position of windows etc. For best results you should contact authorised air conditioning installer. Efficient air conditioner should not cost you more than $70/year. This is based on assumption that you cool your house 720 hours in a year.

How much air conditioner should cost? 2200W Split inverter (without reverse cycle) should cost less then $950. The price assumes high efficiency of this appliance. Therefore, air conditioner is all about power per square meter and efficiency. Brands are not important. But Fujitsu will offer mostly what you need.

Air Purifiers Features

For asthma allergies air purifier is not a cure. However, this seasonal appliance does make life easier and enjoyable. What features should I look for air purifier? The most expensive ones clean air in larger areas.

You should check dimensions of your place and buy accordingly. This WILL SAVE you money on air purifier. On average, air purifier should purify 55 meter square.
This appliance should:

• Use a true HEPA filter with pre-filter and carbon filter for odors
• Annual replacement filter should cost less than $100
• Preferably life time guarantee (why not? - it is not a complex mechanism)

The price for above should be +/-$400. You can get a cheaper unit but your running costs of changing filter will hit you back. We recommend Alen A350. It does have all the above features and the filter costs only $80. Popular air purifier brands: Airpura, Alen, IQAir.

Electric Fans Features

Electric fans are the most crude and inefficient way to cool down the surrounding. However, they are portable, light and easy to operate. Electric fan will cool proportionally to its power. Basically, electric fan should have minimum of 3 settings. Some, not necessarily expensive ones, come with 2 hour timer.

Please do not try to spend more than $35. Most electric fans will do the job for as little as $30 (or less). Brands are not that important. This seasonal appliance is cheap and not complex - so reliability is not an issue.

Heaters Review

Heaters come in all sizes and shapes. But their performance depends on application. Heaters generally use a resistive element. Current passes through that resistive coil and heat is generated.

You should use convection space heaters or radiant heaters for warming the surrounding room. Convection space heater warms surroundings equally while radiant heater warms space in front of itself. These are safe, quiet and self regulated heaters. For very small rooms/office a fan heater will suffice. Be aware that heater use a lot of electricity. Fan heater is cheaper to use and cheaper to buy.

However, convection heaters are necessity for larger spaces. Here, the fan heater may actually cost more to heat the same area. Fan heaters come between $30-$50. Convection heaters and radiant heaters are usually above $75 mark.

You should not pay more than $200 for convection heaters unless the shop can justify it.