Window Air Conditioners and You

So, the weather is warming up and thoughts are shifting from snow angels to sand castles.  With the rising temperatures, though, comes the problem of cooling a specific space in your home or office.   Enter the lovely world of window air conditioners.  But, as with everything wonderful, it’s never just as simple as picking one out and going with it.  You have to consider the size of your window, the size of the room you are trying to cool, the voltage, cool only or heat and cool, and of course, window or through the wall.  Here are a few examples of some of our window air conditioners to help make choosing a little simpler:

Heat and Cool

I am a big fan of heat and cool window air conditioners, mainly because of their versatility.  A heat and cool unit can be used year round, and a good one will eliminate the need for a separate space heater.  When choosing a heat and cool window ac, pick one that has a heat strip as opposed to a heat pump.  Though the heat pump will be a little more energy efficient, a model with a heat strip will warm your area much better and will operate in frigid temperatures.  A heat pump model stops being as effective when the temperature dips below 40 degrees.

Now, of the heat and cool units, my favorite by far is the LG LW7010HR.  This unit will give you 7000 BTU’s of cooling and 3850 BTU’s of heat, which is enough to cover a small room like a bedroom or home office.  Though it is not energy star rated, it is still pretty energy efficient and it comes with one of the best warranties in the industry: 5 years parts, labor and compressor.  Plus, it has that all important heat strip, so you don’t have to worry about it heating on a cold winter’s night.  Finally, it plugs into a standard 115V outlet, which is a regular 3 prong household plug, so no special wiring needed.

Cool Only

Now, sometimes, you just need to cool a space, as you already have the heat taken care of.  The cool only window air conditioner is a great option.  Because these do not have a heating option, they tend to be more energy efficient than their heat and cool counterparts.  Many are energy star rated, including my favorite, the Frigidaire FRA186MT2, 18,000 BTU window ac.  This powerful unit will cool spaces over 1600 square feet, so with the proper air flow, you can cool multiple rooms at once with this unit.  Keep in mind though, that this is a 220V unit, so you will need to make sure you have a plug for it (like the one for an electric oven or a dryer).

Through the Wall

Sometimes, you just don’t have a window available for an air conditioner.  A through the wall unit may be a solution for you.  Basically, you install it in a hole in your wall and it vents to the outside.  As with standard window air conditioners, these come in heat and cool or cool only, and also come in either 115V (standard plug) or 220V (special plug).

My recommendation in this category is the Airwell Fedders AZ7T10W2B.  This 10,000 BTU unit is great for rooms up to 450 square feet, and boasts many features including an auto restart feature and slide out chassis.  Keep in mind, when you get a through the wall air conditioner, you have to get a sleeve to go with it!

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If you have any other questions about window air conditioners, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll get back to you!