Red_Dragon wrote:
Which side of the house is the room on? Can you do anything to shade the exterior, especially the windows?

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
The window unit will drain outside, it's more a matter of if there is enough volume past the coils to get the condensate to drip off instead of just sitting there and re-evaporating back into the room, or sitting there and corroding out the joints on the coil.   You're probably just fine, these are all valid considerations, but within the parameters of what you want to do and spend it sounds like you are pretty much there. 

Other random thoughts to get bogged down with - insulate the room? what's the roof like? can you make it white to reduce the solar impact? How about just calling it a sauna and declaring it a feature - you're in trumpland after all!

 islander wrote: 
Less than 400cf of air - not including all the stuff in the room taking up space.

The only affordable options I see on line are free-standing units that take up space that we don't have; the room is pretty cramped already. The smallest window unit I can find is 5k btu, probably more than the area needs, but the walls/windows are not terribly energy efficient. Hopefully the unit has provision for draining condensate outside.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Okay, couple more points - sorry, you asked a room full of engineers and tinkerers (Do you want engineers? this is how you get engineers).  The fan is probably not nearly enough volume to make a difference in heat, it is also set up to pull from the other room, not push into the room you are trying to evacuate. It's just the wrong tool for the job, you'll have static pressure issues and more. 

You don't have to use a window unit. There are some nice portable units in a variety of sizes.  

Next, you really do want to do a basic load calculation. You'll need Square/cubic feet of the room and design parameters like outside air and inside air. You don't want a massively oversized unit for A/C - it won't be efficient at low loads, and will have problems with dehumidification and moisture buildup in the unit. This will impact the sensible heat in the room and just generally be a pain. 

 cc_rider wrote: 
Newer window units are quieter than they used to be (though still audible) and I guess it won't matter as much in a laundry room - it should be quieter than the washer and dryer.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Yeah, the splits are $$. Depends a lot if you're planning any remodeling/expansion. Other thing is window units are pretty loud, but may not matter in the laundry room.

 islander wrote: 
The room is maybe 50sf; probably a bit less. There is no attic space above it, and it has four windows and an exterior door. The bathroom window (which used to be on the back of the house) opens into the room and we have a small window fan in that for evacuating the humidity from the bathroom after a shower. I tried running this fan during the summer to try and move some cool air into the laundry room, but it didn't seem to help much. Yes, the unit I'm considering is 5k btu.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Most window units are 5K BTU, that Split is probably 12K or better. It will be more expensive for a split, but they are more efficient and have options like running another air handler in a different zone. You can also run them 'backwards' for heat in the winter.

How many BTU do you need?  A rough rule of thumb is 40 BTU per square foot. So if this is a 100 Ft^2 room, then a window unit would probably bee fine. If it's 200 Ft^2, a window unit will struggle to cool it and you'll be running it a full tilt all the time (and your energy bill will reflect the poor sizing decision).  

How is the room set up? Is there and attic space above that gets hot? Can you vent that, or provide a powered fan to vent it (where will the make up air come from)?

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
That seems like an easy enough decision, though the heat pump does come with a free allen wrench.

 cc_rider wrote: 
Window unit a/c - $135

Split-system heat pump - $1,200

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Funny, we have the same problem with our old (1922) house.

If the laundry room is pretty small, a window unit would be fine, but they are not very efficient compared with  larger units. Better would be a 'ductless mini-split', a self-contained unit similar to a window unit, but permanently installed (not in a window). They are pretty slick, designed and built much better than window units. They cost more up front, but are more efficient than window units.  I will probably install one in our new house, in the garage/workshop.
c.

 aflanigan wrote: 
Thermostat is pretty much in the center of the house in the dining room.

In the hottest part of the summer, I'd imagine the temperature difference to be 15-20 degrees.

Yup,, probably will.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Where is the thermostat for the space pac unit located?

What's the temperature difference between the laundry room and the room(s) it abuts on a typical hot day, and how much if any insulation is there in the wall separating them?

You may need to run a new circuit to the ad hoc laundry room to power the window unit. 

Our home was built in 1927. It still has the original craftsman-style, single-pane windows and no insulation in the walls. I've insulated about 1/2 to 2/3 of the attic with R-30, and that has helped some. At some point someone added a laundry room onto the back of the house. There is no HVAC to this room, the rest of the house is heated and cooled by a "package unit" with duct work in the crawlspace. In summer, the laundry room gets damned uncomfortably warm. I'm considering a tiny window unit a/c back there. My theory is that the laundry room hot spot probably makes it more difficult for the central air to keep the whole house comfortable and the window unit will do enough good to make it worth the electricity it will consume.

Thoughts?

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote: 
Mine might have been if a tornado hadn't blown the house away. 

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
I've been through a divorce like that.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Our washer only connects to cold water and heats its own. Not a bad idea - 50% lower chance of flooding the house. 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
I can ask here if you like. What is the serial number and model?  

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
That could do it with the water level thing causing the what ever is normal in the tube to change by letting the captured water to escape when tipped..  Its a lot like a mercury filled barometer, got to be filled 'just so'.  But again the hot vs cold doesn't make any sense.  Maybe a loose wire or one that fell off with vibrations somewhere on one of the sensors.