How to Buy a Window Air Conditioner

So, you've had enough of the sweltering heat. You can't bear the feeble yet valiant cooling attempts of your ceiling fan and have finally decided to give in to the temptation and buy your room a brand new window air conditioner. But before you waltz into the appliance store and pick out an air conditioner, wouldn't you like to know something about the basics of air conditioner buying? I thought so. And I'm not talking about the different brands and the different features that each of them offers. Then what? Well, you'll just have to proceed further into this Buzzle article to know what are the major pointers you should be looking for in an air conditioner, when you set out to buy one.

The cooling capacity of an air conditioner is measured using a unit called a British Thermal Unit or a BTU/hour. Needless to say that if the BTU of a unit is high, its cooling capacity will be higher. However, this is not always the answer to your cooling requirements. A unit with a very high BTU often requires more maintenance because it gets worn out faster. So choose the one that is moderate and serves the purpose.

Most air conditioners these days come with thermostats and even timers that can be modified as per the requirements of the person. So, you can program the air conditioner to a certain temperature for a particular time of the day. While buying an air conditioner, you need to check if it has such features, and if it does, how accurate it is to the actual setting that it has been programmed to be in. How close is it to the temperature that it is expected to be at? Keep these points in mind while buying it.

Crystal Sugar workers reject contract

American Crystal Sugar said Sunday it would proceed with a lockout after union workers at five plants rejected the Minnesota-based cooperative's contract offer.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the rejection by the 1,300 employees at five plants in the Red River Valley Saturday was overwhelming.

The farmer-owned cooperative is the largest beet sugar producer in the United States.

American Crystal Vice President Brian Ingulsrud said the employee lockout would begin at midnight Sunday. The company has said it would bring in replacement workers, the Star Tribune said.

The contract offer that was turned down by members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 167A would have provided workers with a 13 percent pay hike over five years plus a $2,000 signing bonus.

Union President John Riskey said in a statement 96 percent of the union members voted against it.

Pay, he said, is not the key issue.

"The company's offer still has major loopholes allowing non-union contractors to replace union workers and makes health insurance unaffordable," he said. "Any raise is meaningless if our healthcare costs increase even more or if management can eliminate our jobs and replace us at will."

Ingulsrud said American Sugar would have to meet certain criteria before it could hire non-union workers and could not lay off union employees if it did.

The company said health costs would go up an average of about $1,000 per employee, which is significantly less than their pay increase.