This is the story of how I lost $300 and got this bloody lip. This is the story of every New Yorker’s worst nightmare happening to me. This is the story of dropping my air conditioner out the window of my third-floor apartment. It is hot and it is also humid, and when I leave the windows open to my tiny studio apartment, the putrid smell of garbage seeps in from the outside, so I finally give in and go to P.C. Richard to buy an air conditioner. I want to get one that is less than $150 and I leave with one that costs $300, either because the salesperson, Brian, is super-good at his job or because I am terrible at saying no. I do manage to say no to installation, however, because it costs $50 and I am a feminist who can definitely install a 100-pound air conditioner herself. “Do you think I can carry this five blocks by myself?” He laughs in my face. “Maybe if you stop every block!” “I’m just trying to be an independent woman!” “Fine, but do it right!”

I snag a cab and manage to haul the AC up two flights of stairs to my apartment. It is so hot, and I am already developing a bruise in the well of my arm where the appliance’s weight pressed into me as I dragged it upstairs. I hate this air conditioner but I love it so much! Think of how much I will love it when it has turned my apartment into a comfortable icebox. As it turns out, I will never get to experience love like that. Also, I should’ve taken Brian’s advice. After installing the side panels, I hoist the air conditioner onto the window sill and attempt to get it locked in place. It teeters a little bit, which gives me a scare, but I manage to balance it and close the window. It’s not aligned right. I open the window again and attempt to rebalance it. Suddenly, everything is happening in slow motion. It is sliding, literally at about an inch a minute, out of my grasp and into midair. I blindly grasp at it, helplessly screaming, “No! My cat’s like, “What is wrong with her?”

The air conditioner slides out of my hands and takes a layer of skin with it. It plunks onto my downstairs neighbor’s patio, in a pool of standing water. It takes me about a full minute to realize I am bleeding from several places. I’m coated in sweat and I’ve started crying hysterically without really meaning to. My whole mouth is bleeding and my fingers are bleeding and I’m leaning out the window of my tiny gross studio apartment being like, Why did I decide to live alone? my home ac unit not working onWhy didn’t I just ask someone to help me? how long does window ac unit lastWhy is everything the worst?how to size a home ac unit Also, I haven’t eaten dinner yet, so I’m, like, real hangry. /Ecx0lfefMD— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) May 29, 2015

I run downstairs to the bodega beneath my building, whose owner acts like my surrogate dad. He sees my face and is like, “What’s wrong?” I tell him the saga and burst into tears. “At least it didn’t hit anybody?” he offers. My neighbor is in the bodega, and he asks me where I got the AC from because maybe they’ll take it back. “P.C. Richard,” I say. God, that’s, like, the worst place to get it from.” Tha I call P.C. Richard and ask for Brian. “Hi, it’s Jessica. I’ll give you one guess what just happened to the air conditioner.” “What?” he asks, stifling a laugh. “I dropped it out the window!” I’m “Are you crying?” Brian asks, totally weirded out. , like, upset! I’m guys won’t, like … refund me, right?” his head, I am positive he thinks, What is wrong with this crazy bitch? A lot of things, to be honest, but first and foremost what is wrong is that I dropped the $300 air conditioner out the window an hour after getting it.

“Let me talk to my manager,” Brian says. He puts me on hold for 30 seconds. “There’s nothing we can do,” he informs me. “It’s not our fault you dropped it.” Tough but fair, Bri. Tou Finally, I give in and call my landlord. I’m, get it together, Jess. "Hi, um, I live in 3 and I … dropped the air conditioner out the window," I say to my landlord, whom I’ve only spoken to maybe twice. “Did it fall through the roof of the store?” he asks, immediately making me question the structural integrity of my building. “Uh, no … but it’s in a puddle on the second-floor patio, and I need to get it.” He tells me the person who lives in that apartment, a member of his family, works nights, so we can’t retrieve it until tomorrow. “Everything will be okay,” he says. “We will fix it in the morning.” My beloved AC is still in that puddle. I do not know if it works. Somewhere, my old pal Bri is posting on Facebook about how stupid I am.

Air-conditioner accidents in New York are actually pretty rare. Last year, one fell out of a window on Lexington and hit a woman in the head, but she recovered. It’s been 25 years since anyone has been killed by a falling air conditioner, but alongside falling on the subway tracks or getting bedbugs, it still looms large in New Yorkers’ minds as one of their biggest urban fears. This is my story, and I hope you will read it and decide to just settle for a fucking fan.Why is My AC Unit Making a Squealing Noise? When transitioning from winter to spring weather, it could mean any number of things when your air conditioning unit needs some routine maintenance. With our last post, we walked you through necessary steps to take in preparing your outdoor AC unit for the more regular usage that the weather shift requires. Cleaning and maintaining is one thing, but what if after all that there is still a high-pitched squealing noise? It’s highly more likely that you’ll experience this in the spring, as your compressor/capacitor has been exposed to the winter elements for months at a time (including ice).

What could this sound mean and is there an easy way to fix it? If you’re experiencing this issue, it is likely one of three things: the bearings on your condenser fan’s motor, the belt connecting the motor to the blower has slipped, or it’s actually not a problem at all. Here are a few tips to help diagnose the problem and a pointer on how to fix your noisy AC unit. If it’s not a problem – Many units emit a slight squeal under normal operation. This is especially the case when, at this point in the year, it has been sitting for several months and just needs to work out its kinks. A good indication that this is in fact the case is the brevity of the noise. If it’s nothing to worry about then the noise will be slight and only last for a few minutes. If it’s any longer than a few moments and any louder than ‘slight,’ then you should investigate other causes (see below). If it’s the belt connecting the motor to the blower – Most newer units do away with the belt system.

If you have an older unit and happen to know that it is belt driven, then the issue is more than likely that the belts have been worn over the years and have slipped. You’ll hear this noise both outside and coming through the vents inside your home. If this is indeed the cause, your next step would be to replace the belt or call us. If it’s the bearings attached to your unit’s condenser fan – All newer units have direct-drive motors (meaning no belts). These sorts of units use a fan to draw air across the condenser coils located inside of your compressor. If you have a direct-drive motor then you will hear the squealing or grinding coming from your outside unit. This means that the bearings on the fan motor are shot and the motor will need to be replaced. We strongly urge you not to fix this on your own as it could increase the amount of damage to your compressor, resulting in a more costly fix. As you gear up for cold weather, do you experience a potent smell when you turn on your heater?