It's not perfect but it's cheap and efficient.
A large brick and mortar store sells these exclusively at very low prices and Consumer Reports had many nice things to say about them so I bought three of them. Oh yes three.
I remember when air conditioners weighed minimally sixty pounds. These weigh about forty pounds and that makes them much easier to carry place on a window sill and move while positioning for the season.
They also draw slightly less than 15 amps and have a fuse breaker built into the plug which may or may not slightly mitigate tripped circuits or blown fuses in your home. It also starts with the compressor off for the first three minutes so the amperage draw isn't high enough to trip a circuit. This is particularly consumer-friendly engineering.
The remote control is very nice and actually quite helpful for the kids' rooms; I can change settings without trying to creep past them at night in case the rooms gets too cold or hot.
The units are quiet and do a very good job of colling down a room even a 16x10 south-facing second-floor room with three windows. There are two or three issues you need to accept.
One the energy efficient mode is probably very efficient but somewhat intrusive. It will cycle the fan off and be perfectly quiet then kick back on with air or cooled air as it needs it. In theory this is not a bad idea but if it cycles every two minutes it might keep you awake at night with noise/quiet/noise/quiet.
Two the condensation pan does not have outlet holes so you will be retaining a half-inch or so of water for the summer season. I do not like this at all and removing a unit from a window means understanding this and attempting to drain it in some clever way before bringing it indoors. There should be outlet holes period.
Three the screw-type air deflectors are sort of hit and miss with directional quality. In general no air conditioner manufacturer really does this right. The directional vents should be modeled after automobile air vents with focused airflow and very generous coverage arcs.
The units are very efficient (10.7) and inexpensive and Frigidaire will stand behind them for five years. I liked them enough to buy three and would probably buy them again. A final note the 8000 BTU version is too loud for a bedroom. I had to return it and get a 6000 BTU unit which was fine.
-Fred
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