The hiss of summer lawns. It is that time again, and I have a friend who wants an air conditioner and asked my advice. Although they are horrible things, in New York City you tend to need one in order to sleep well at night, and so I try to fit them in as innocuously as possible. Since she has two really nice windows in the room in question, my first bid was for a portable AC that would only require a white hose to run out the bottom of one of the windows. My research discovered that portables tend to be expensive and dont have the same cooling ability as a window unit, and so I have backed away from that solution. I had a DeLonghi Penguino years ago that worked perfectly well in my small apartment, but it did require some work and only cooled one room.
I decided, therefore on the window unit, and this is what I found:
How does it work?
Go to www.howstuffworks.com
What to look for?
A good energy star rating!
What is good site for reviews and research?
www.consumerreports.org (but you must be a member)
www.epinions.com
www.consumersearch.com
www.aceee.org
www.dulley.com
www.manhattanusersguide.com
What is the best?
LG
Kenmore (Sears)
Friedrich
Carrier
How big do you need?
You need approximately 35 BTUs per square foot to cool a room with a normal ceiling (8-10). So find your square footage and multiply by 35. If your room is 10 by 15 = 150 sq. ft. you multiply by 35 = 5250 approximately a 5000 BTU machine.
How much will it cost?
Air conditioners are very competitively priced. For a very good machine, you should expect to pay around $250 for a small AC (5000 BTU), $450 for a medium AC (8000 BTU), and $800 for a big one (up to 24000 BTU). There is a wide range of prices, part of which depends on features which include timers and remotes. Installation should run you about $100.
Where do I buy?
Top choices:
Gringer & Sons at 29 First Ave. (212.475.0600)
Elgot at 937 Lexington (212.879.1200)
PC Richard which can be found all over town
And I have heard good things about:
Hamilton Air at 262 West 38 Street (212.682.2710)
Air Wave (212.545.1122)
NOTE: IF ANYONE ELSE HAS GOOD INFO, THIS IS THE PLACE TO COMMENT ON IT!!
I bought my AC's on craigslist. Come summer there are a MILLION of them listed. I bought a 5000 BTU one used for $100, but it wasn't enough for my apartment, so I sold it (also for $100), and promptly got a nice 8000 BTU unit with a remote for the same $100! Factor in cabs, though, and the total cost was closer to $140. Still not bad for what I ended up with!
One brand I'd like to recommend is Panasonic...their 11500 BTU unit ran me $500 but it's silent as a mouse and wicked efficient. Well worth it.
Finding the AC is the easy part. Finding someone to install it is next to impossible. What's a single gal to do? Calling a Mr. Fix It seems a little risky.
Amy,
Installation can be difficult, but if you buy an ac unit from most stores, they will install it for you for a nominal fee of @ $50.
Give a few stores a try and let us know what you find.
lokking for aotomatic shut offs for airconditioner
when door open air shuts down
Air Wave is a must-avoid. Overpriced, rude, obnoxious (once October rolls around, expect 7 a.m. "reminder" phone calls about their winter storage option at least once a week)...
... absolute worst experience we've ever had.
Very good info. Thanks
Thanks so much !! I am new in the city and was having a hard time looking for a place that sold affordable air conditioners!!
The site is extremely helpful and I will definitely continue reading all the articles!!
gracias
view Maritza's profile
I had a bad experience with Hamilton Air this summer installing five new units in my apartment. I would not recommend them at all! They did not install the units properly and never came back to fix the problem. They didn't return phone calls-it was a nightmare. I had to get other people in to fix their poor work. Even though Hamilton was cheaper to start, it ended up costing a lot more to get the work done.
I have renovated three apartments over the last 12 years and these guys were the abosolute worst to deal with.
view mattlamb's profile