Best Room Air Conditioners
Frigidaire's FFRA0511R1 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner is perfect for cooling a room up to 150 square feet. 5,000 BTU mini-compact air conditioner for window-mounted installation uses standard 115V electrical outlet (Window mounting kit included).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I can not sleep through and entire night with the unit set to High Cool and maximum setting of 7."
"Took only about 20 minutes to install, does a GREAT job of cooling my small bedroom."
"We live in Maine and central air isn't really a common thing up here, but I wanted our guest to have the option for AC while they stayed with us as we can have hot and humid days on occasion. Anyways, with that said, I am defiantly no pro on AC's, but I can say it did the job it was supposed to do and has exceeded my expectations and it kept my guest happy."
"This is about as bare bones an air conditioner you will find."
"per hour unit works very well in cooling my sister in laws home office. No single circuit wall socket required. Keep direct sunlight through the windows to a minimum on days with an outside temperature of 90 F. or higher. This unit is not made to cool an entire floor of a home, but does a great job in one room of a house."
"The a/c comes with instructions, a top bar secured with screws that keeps the a/c from falling out of the window, foam strips, screws, and accordion side pieces to fill in the spaces. For extra security, my husband put a narrow piece of wood into the window above the a/c to ensure no one could open the window further from the outside."
"If I put in on Low Cool and number 4 to 5 it keeps the room at a steedy 71 degrees all night!!"
"Not sure if that's intentional or not, but it cools my little 7x11 room on hot New York days well enough (we don't have air conditioning, so I needed something). Bottom line: inexpensive but effective air conditioner, good for cooling a smaller room."
Pioneer newest ways series wall mount mini split ductless Inverter air conditioning and heat pump system. Smart buyers choose pioneer brand Inverter split systems for their top quality, reliability and performance, available at extremely affordable prices. Ultra high efficiency Inverter+ Ductless mini split heat pump system.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I installed the main line, 12/2 UF cable, (14/2 would have worked too for those who will bring the wire size up), running it to a junction box just outside the house where I further branched to an A/C disconnect box and then on to the outside unit itself. Next came mounting the bracket to the wall for the inside unit and drilling the 2.5" hole through the wall for the line set to exit the house. Once the hole was drilled I then set out to connect the control cable to the inside unit so it could be ran outside the house with the refrigerant line set. First off, the color codes on the control wire and the diagrams on both the inside unit and outside unit were all completely different! For a few long minutes it was a head scratcher and then it dawned on me that the terminals on both the inside and outside unit had stickers on the wire terminal blocks, with the inside unit having the numbers 1-3 and the symbol for ground and the outside unit with numbers 1-3, L and N for Line and Neutral. The next problem I had was the control wire had pre-crimped connectors on both ends that would not fit the terminal block on the inside unit so I had to cut the connectors off in order to attach them to the terminal block on the inside unit. After that, most of the "grunt" work was done and I had a friend who is a recently retired HVAC guy help with the rest of the install which included leak checking and pulling a vacuum on the line set prior to release of the refrigerant. I purchased one of the line hide kits and it worked well just wish it came with a 90 degree adapter, due to the way I have the set up I was only able to use half of the hide (for the vertical run) and will probably do like many others and get a section of plastic gutter for the horizontal run of the line set."
"I researched every mini-split system on the market and based on reviews this Pioneer system seemed to be the clear winner. Also, buy a trim kit for the outside hoses and have it BEFORE you install it because if not you won't know where to hang the brackets between the trim pieces. I'm still figuring this issue out but I wish I would have ordered the trim kit at the same time as the system because the installer could have attached the hose trim pieces during installation."
"Sure I would have just hung the coils out of the wall and called it day but to make it nice you really need to do some bending and cutting, at least in my situation. What you will need is a pipe cutter, flaring tool, torque wrench (if you want to go by the book) and crows fittings for your lineset size, crescent wrenches, nylog (though it does come with lineset sealant I wanted the good stuff), some sort of mounting pad, cement blocks (to raise it off the mounting pad),pipe bender for sharp bends (we did ours slowly all by hand because I bought the wrong size), vacuum pump (go 5cfm or higher for longer length), manifold gauges, micrometer (for the sticklers I am told), nitrogen to pressure test and the regulator for it (I was going to skip this part but my brother-in-law brought it with him so we did it), all the electrical equipment like volt meter, conduit, breakers, wires, etc. Last thing, you need to raise it off the pad, as it comes its too low and the outside drain section hits the ground (used in heat mode), hence the cement bricks."
3 Honeywell MN10CESWW MN Series 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Dehumidifier & Fan in White
The Honeywell MN10CESWW 10,000 BTU portable air conditioner has a sleek, modern design cooling and dehumidifying areas up to 350 square feet. 10,000 BTU portable air conditioner cools areas up to 350 sq.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought the AC last week after being hit with 90F weather in Southern California and because my 2nd floor bedroom facing the sun during the day makes sleeping at night unbearable. If you've ever been to Vegas, or other hotel rooms in hot climates, you know what AC's are like and I find the noise level pretty comparable and tolerable. The only thing I've done is vacuum the filter foam at the back of the AC from accumulated dust and cat hair (this is normal). I threw out the old weather stripping foam and just bought a new package for the summer because it would adhere better to my window and setting it up again wasn't too much of a hassle. My routine is to turn on the AC about 30 min before I plan to sleep just because my window faces the hot sun most of the day and it takes a little while to cool the room down."
"We don't have a window in our living room so my husband came up with a genious solution: letting the hot air vent blows into the fireplace (see picture) & it works great!"
"I have not had it in operation more than a few days, but it's working just fine in that short period of time. I'm using a Dryer Vent with a galvanized 5 to 4 inch coupler I found on Amazon for 10 bucks."
"UPDATED VIDEO demonstrating unit off with ambient noise of room, then turned on."
"If you are wondering what this unit will be like: how it will sound, the level of cold it produces, etc."
"Replaced an LG unit which no longer cools."
"Then they asked for pictures of the product number, the air conditioner itself, and to provide pictures of the ventilation. They then asked me to resend the product number picture, they said it was to blurry and they could not make out the number. I resent the product number.They wanted details of where the air conditioner was located."
"Bought 2 last year, both broke down within the same year, very cheap components."
Best Evaporative Coolers
An evaporative air cooler offers an energy efficient cooling option when the air is hot with low humidity, such as desert areas like the southwestern United States (recommended humidity level is 60% or less for maximum efficiency). Not just a Fan – Air Cooler reduces temperature through water evaporation.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It works best in the low humidity, but it's going to gradually increase the humidity in the room as it runs. It actually gets to the point where you need to shut it down from getting the room too cool, but not when it's running only on water. I've been using a 6 gallon plastic water bottle and a battery operated water pump. I don't believe this is from the actual unit, but from the water when it adds humidity to the air. However, it will add humidity to the air faster with the window closed, which can sometimes make the room more comfortable if it's typically dry."
"When you start to get a funny smell I drain, add distilled white vinegar and wash the media once per month. I put the media (filter) outside in the sun to "deodorize" to avoid odor. I had the ceiling fans running and place this in my living room allowing the air to be evenly distributed throughout my home. The pictures I included are the unit running solely on room temperature distilled water with no ice. I love how the level meter is "float" controlled by the water in the tank. This gives a more accurate reading since adding ice will add to the water level. It has water that runs over the ice to help melt it and it REALLY cools the air down very quickly."
"First off, I will point out that this unit is a Swamp Cooler (also known as an Evaporative Air Cooler), ** NOT ** an Air Conditioner. I couldn't help but notice after reading through many Swamp Cooler reviews written by other customers that many people (1) simply don't know the difference between the two, and (2) don't know that Swamp Coolers will work well ONLY in DRY climates (where the relative humidity is 40% or less a good part of the day). Therefore, before I jump into the review on this product, I feel it's necessary to address: (1) the difference between a Swamp Cooler and an AC and (2) whether a Swamp Cooler will work in the climate in your area. If you're well-acquainted with Swamp Coolers, you may wish to skip the following sections titled "The Difference Between A Swamp Cooler and an AC" and "Will A Swamp Cooler Work For You?" Indoor Portable Evaporative Air Cooler." -----------------------------------------------. The Difference Between A Swamp Cooler and an AC. -----------------------------------------------. (i) AC: An AC cools air by using a refrigerant (older ACs/refrigerators use a CFC-based refrigerant called r-12, AKA "freon" while modern day counterparts use an HFC-based refrigerant called R-134A). (ii) Swamp Cooler: In a swamp cooler, outside air (dry air) is passed through a pad soaked in water. As opposed to an AC system, which can be a closed system (i.e. the expelled cooled air can be channeled back into the AC to be cooled again), an evaporative cooler needs to take in air from the OUTSIDE and the indoor air needs to be expelled outside (the expelled air, which has been humidified through the evaporative process, has to be directed away from the Swamp Cooler air intake to prevent it from being reintroduced into the swamp cooler). Let's get concrete: To show you EXACTLY how much cooling you expect a swamp cooler to deliver when it's used in your area, I have uploaded an Evaporative Cooler Chart from an almanac to the Customer Image section on the Product Page. For example, let's say the air temperature is 102 F. Using the chart, we can see that for a dry area where the relative humidity is 25%, a swamp cooler can bring the air temperature down to 77 F. If, however, the swamp cooler is used in an area with a relatively high humidity of 75%, a swamp cooler would only bring the air temperature down to 95 F! Indoor Portable Evaporative Air Cooler. Indoor Portable Evaporative Air Cooler. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------. The Honeywell is my second evaporative cooler. I've had another swamp cooler before -- one made by NewAir -- NewAir AF-330 Evaporative HEPA Swamp Cooler. You cannot expect this unit to work indoors in a closed environment because as the humidity builds up (the evaporative process needed for cooling introduces humidity into the air), the swamp cooler becomes less and less efficient."
Best Portable Air Conditioners
This unit can cool up to a 500 square feet space (ambient temperature and humidity may influence optimum performance). Remote control, carbon air filter, washable pre-filter, and product manual packaged inside exhaust hose.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've had experience with two other (different brand) 'portable' units and the main complaint with those is they didn't cool the space and the water tray needed emptying all the time. I waited one full season before writing a review as I really wanted to see how well it works. The units I've had in the past came with a sticky on one side foam strip to bridge the inevitable gap which allows air through. What you need it a shallow rimmed dish (The Ikea KALAS plate is PERFECT) and a smoothie straw (Bed Bath & Beyond) which is just wider diameter straw cut to desired length. When emptying you will need the shallow dish, a straw and a container to toss the water into so you're not dashing to the kitchen 5-10 times. With shallow dish and straw in place the larger in front person tips the unit towards the rear. The rear person says when to stop and will empty the shallow dish into the other container with out having to get up then tell the 'tipper' when to resume. What I did was to saw off a portion of the PVC slider (it was just going in the bin) and attach it like a wing between both outside holes. The same (filter) sheet I initially bought is still providing the material needed. Don't overthink it; any filter you can cut to size that's recommended for air filtration can be used."
"The window mounts that these units come with have two major issues: (1) the intake and exhaust vents are too close together, meaning that the intake will tend to suck in some of the hot air that the exhaust is pushing out, making the AC's job that much more difficult. This is especially true if you opt not to use the intake hose, because you will be pulling a vacuum on your room (air being pushed out, but not replaced with external air, meaning your room has a low pressure zone) which in turn pulls hot air in from the outside and makes it quite difficult to cool a room. The exhaust hose on these units gets super warm when the AC unit is in operation. I purchased the Reflectix DW1202504 Spiral Duct Wrap ($21 on amazon) and it was enough to do two exhaust hoses (1 for each of my AC units)."
Best Split-System Air Conditioners
Pioneer newest ways series wall mount mini split ductless Inverter air conditioning and heat pump system. Smart buyers choose pioneer brand Inverter split systems for their top quality, reliability and performance, available at extremely affordable prices. Ultra high efficiency Inverter+ Ductless mini split heat pump system.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I installed the main line, 12/2 UF cable, (14/2 would have worked too for those who will bring the wire size up), running it to a junction box just outside the house where I further branched to an A/C disconnect box and then on to the outside unit itself. Next came mounting the bracket to the wall for the inside unit and drilling the 2.5" hole through the wall for the line set to exit the house. Once the hole was drilled I then set out to connect the control cable to the inside unit so it could be ran outside the house with the refrigerant line set. First off, the color codes on the control wire and the diagrams on both the inside unit and outside unit were all completely different! For a few long minutes it was a head scratcher and then it dawned on me that the terminals on both the inside and outside unit had stickers on the wire terminal blocks, with the inside unit having the numbers 1-3 and the symbol for ground and the outside unit with numbers 1-3, L and N for Line and Neutral. The next problem I had was the control wire had pre-crimped connectors on both ends that would not fit the terminal block on the inside unit so I had to cut the connectors off in order to attach them to the terminal block on the inside unit. After that, most of the "grunt" work was done and I had a friend who is a recently retired HVAC guy help with the rest of the install which included leak checking and pulling a vacuum on the line set prior to release of the refrigerant. I purchased one of the line hide kits and it worked well just wish it came with a 90 degree adapter, due to the way I have the set up I was only able to use half of the hide (for the vertical run) and will probably do like many others and get a section of plastic gutter for the horizontal run of the line set."
"I researched every mini-split system on the market and based on reviews this Pioneer system seemed to be the clear winner. Also, buy a trim kit for the outside hoses and have it BEFORE you install it because if not you won't know where to hang the brackets between the trim pieces. I'm still figuring this issue out but I wish I would have ordered the trim kit at the same time as the system because the installer could have attached the hose trim pieces during installation."
"Sure I would have just hung the coils out of the wall and called it day but to make it nice you really need to do some bending and cutting, at least in my situation. What you will need is a pipe cutter, flaring tool, torque wrench (if you want to go by the book) and crows fittings for your lineset size, crescent wrenches, nylog (though it does come with lineset sealant I wanted the good stuff), some sort of mounting pad, cement blocks (to raise it off the mounting pad),pipe bender for sharp bends (we did ours slowly all by hand because I bought the wrong size), vacuum pump (go 5cfm or higher for longer length), manifold gauges, micrometer (for the sticklers I am told), nitrogen to pressure test and the regulator for it (I was going to skip this part but my brother-in-law brought it with him so we did it), all the electrical equipment like volt meter, conduit, breakers, wires, etc. Last thing, you need to raise it off the pad, as it comes its too low and the outside drain section hits the ground (used in heat mode), hence the cement bricks."
Best Through-the-Wall Air Conditioners
Place AC Unit on floor and secure Top Rail to top of unit Install Accordion Panels; gently pull back from center of each Panel to widen slightly Place AC Unit and Panels into window opening and use Level to straighten position; when straight, close window opening behind Top Rail, then extend Panels out against window frame Install Support Brackets to secure AC Unit into window, using Level again to straighten position. BEST PERSONAL OR RV AIR CONDITIONER - 5000 BTU window AC unit for 110V/120V electric outlets measures 16 inches long x 12 inches high x 15.4 inches deep - ideal for window length between 23” - 36” with minimum window height 13”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My central Air does not cool my bedroom and this is perfect for my 12X15 foot room."
"Great smaller air conditioner for a wonderful price."
"This little cooler unit is the perfect size for our bedroom!"
"If you live in a really hot area, then run it all through the night and it will cool off a pretty big room into the next day."
"I purchased this hOme air conditioner unit right after lighting took out my central air at home."
"We have a three story home and the top level gets unbearably hot in the summer even though we have central air conditioning."
"The only thing I wish is that it had vertical up and down wind control in addition to the horizontal (left and right) wind control which the unit has."
"During the cold months I simply remove and place it back in its box for storage until it gets warm again."
Best Window Air Conditioners
Frigidaire's FFRA0511R1 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner is perfect for cooling a room up to 150 square feet. 5,000 BTU mini-compact air conditioner for window-mounted installation uses standard 115V electrical outlet (Window mounting kit included).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I can not sleep through and entire night with the unit set to High Cool and maximum setting of 7."
"Took only about 20 minutes to install, does a GREAT job of cooling my small bedroom."
"We live in Maine and central air isn't really a common thing up here, but I wanted our guest to have the option for AC while they stayed with us as we can have hot and humid days on occasion. Anyways, with that said, I am defiantly no pro on AC's, but I can say it did the job it was supposed to do and has exceeded my expectations and it kept my guest happy."
"This is about as bare bones an air conditioner you will find."
"per hour unit works very well in cooling my sister in laws home office. No single circuit wall socket required. Keep direct sunlight through the windows to a minimum on days with an outside temperature of 90 F. or higher. This unit is not made to cool an entire floor of a home, but does a great job in one room of a house."
"The a/c comes with instructions, a top bar secured with screws that keeps the a/c from falling out of the window, foam strips, screws, and accordion side pieces to fill in the spaces. For extra security, my husband put a narrow piece of wood into the window above the a/c to ensure no one could open the window further from the outside."
"If I put in on Low Cool and number 4 to 5 it keeps the room at a steedy 71 degrees all night!!"
"Not sure if that's intentional or not, but it cools my little 7x11 room on hot New York days well enough (we don't have air conditioning, so I needed something). Bottom line: inexpensive but effective air conditioner, good for cooling a smaller room."
Best Air Conditioner Accessories
No matter if you're protecting your new central air unit or trying to prolong the life of your old one, our CoverMates Elite central air covers offer the ultimate in convenience and features. Elite polyester offers an exceptional barrier between the elements and your air conditioner unit. FEATURES: Covered mesh vents – Elastic hem around bottom for snug fit.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"We purchased it to protect our new outdoor Carrier air conditioner (A/C) during the harsh NY winters. Constructed of Polyester, it offers a more robust material that should hold up well to the outdoor elements. The price was a bit rich for what we budgeted to spend, so we chose the Elite cover over the Ultima. Opening it, the material felt thick and solid enough to withstand the weight of a foot of snow, which will probably pile up on the A/C unit during the heart of winter. My wife and I stretched it out to wrap over the A/C unit and were very pleased to see its height and size were a perfect fit. If I find this product is anything less than five stars or I experience anything that should be added to this review, I'll update it immediately."
"Of course, I cannot do a comparison and since this has only been on a short time I cannot comment on the durability of the fabric, at this time."
"After hunting around in the local big box stores and not finding a cover that fit my unit, I searched Amazon and found what I hoped would be an adequate cover. In short, well made, easy to install, well worth the price."
"Size does matter here for the perfect fit!"
"It’s a nice cover, easy to put on/take off (because weather in the Midwest occasionally dictates the use of the a/c in November)."
"That along with the elastic at the bottom, velcro opening to allow for hardware & fittings, and two air vents makes this the perfect cover."
"This cover went from the box to on the ac in just 10 minutes."
"I’m pretty impressed with the build quality and fit and finish, if it lasts a while I will update and give it 5 stars."
Best Air Conditioner Parts & Accessories
That means it makes the air in your home fresh and healthy so your family can breathe easy. Genuine Aprilaire Air Filter Replacement.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So far, I've been pleased with the time that I get relative to the old pleated / high MERV rating filters I used in the old furnace. We also have one system with one poorly located return in a long constricted hallway that tends to collect dust / pet hair. I would get about 2 months out of that. 2) It's easy to install, and I've never seen any issues with the glue separating and causing the filter to drop. So, either we have ductwork cleaning needs or we suck (pun intended) at vacuuming up pet hair and dusting. No, you will NOT get the life out of it you expected unless your home is cleaned by Martha Stewart and/or you have an efficiently engineered HVAC return."
"I have had an Aprilaire filter on my furnace unit since 2011."
"The replacement filter "Aprilaire Model No."
"I have 2 pets that leave hair, fuzz balls and include household smells."
"These filters are always expensive, but they work great and are easy to install in the media filter."
"Bought this as a replacement for ones purchased last year."
"MUCH easier to replace since I did the upgrade from the original version (20 years old installation)."
"Great price for these filters."