Last night I wondered aloud on Twitter why window-based air conditioning units are so poorly designed, and why the technology seems so primitive. The average window unit, circa 2013, more or less resembles its forbears from decades ago: it’s still noisy, inelegant, heavy, and it looks like it was designed as a set dressing for “Logan’s Run.” It was sort of an idle tweet, but it garnered a surprisingly fervent response. There seems to be broad agreement not only that these machines seem hopelessly stranded in time, but also that that shouldn’t be the case. The fact that no James Dyson has reinvented the window unit is a surprise to nearly everyone. After all this is a market in the billions of dollars; if a crafty entrepreneur could create a product that successfully addresses even just a sliver of that, they’d be doing very well.The closest thing to innovation that the AC market seems to have produced is so-called ductless air conditioning, but those units don’t address the problem that most Westerners want to solve with window units: cool a room with a machine that costs less than US$1,000.

Ductless AC units are significantly more expensive to buy and considerably more difficult to install. And perhaps as a result, they are nowhere near as prevalent as window units. Anyway, when I wrote the tweet I felt like I’d been lamenting this situation for years. It also occurred to me that I might have blogged about it before. I realized that was in fact the case — I first wrote about this back in 2003. Ten years later, nothing has changed. If you’d have told me back then that that would be the case, that even by 2013, no one would come along and solve this problem or grab this opportunity, I wouldn’t have believed you. I guess it just goes to show you how our supposedly torrid pace of change is sometimes not so speedy after all.New York City has been breaking electricity usage records lately as a result of the extreme heat and humidity that can always be found in that part of the world in the middle of summer. Having just purchased a window air conditioner in the city myself, I thought I'd review some "best practices" for choosing an efficient room air conditioner.

First off, it's very important to get the right sized air conditioner. Air conditioner cooling capacity is measured in BTUs. Larger BTU units are made for larger volumes (i.e. larger rooms). The Energy Star site has an excellent guide to choosing the right sized room air conditioner based on the room size. Since larger AC units cost more and use more energy, you'll save both by following the guidelines in the link.Air conditioner efficiency is listed on the side off all units as a number called the EER (Energy Efficiency Rating). cleaner for ac unitsThe EER is a simple ratio of the BTUs of the unit to the amount of power it consumes in Watts. much does hvac service costThus an air conditioner with 10,000 BTU capacity and an EER of 10 consumes 1000 watts of power -- which is a lot.hvac not heating up

The government mandates that all window units have a EER of at least 9.0, but there are plenty of well-priced units out there today with ratings of 10.5-11 to be had with a little bit of looking. These more efficient units will also have an Energy Star label on them because they exceed the minimum standard (9.0 EER) by at least 15%.The more BTUs or the higher the EER, generally, the higher the price of the air conditioner. However, since most people buy over sized air conditioners (too many BTUs for their purpose) and often don't look at the EER rating, it's possible to both save money on the up front purchase and reduce your monthly electric bill by getting the appropriate sized unit with a high EER.And remember to keep the thermostat at something reasonable. You're not trying to turn your apartment into an icebox, you're just trying to take the edge off the heat and humidity. If your AC has a timer feature you can use it to cool your place before you get home, but remember that an appropriately sized air conditioner will cool a room pretty quickly.

If you live in drier climates, evaporative cooling may be an alternative (and more energy efficient) means of keeping cool worth looking in to.For a list of the most efficient window unit air conditioners see the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.When it becomes hot out the heat can no doubt become unbearable. Unfortunately most window air conditioners are not low cost items. With that said there is some units that are less costly than others. Since we review air conditioners including window mounted units the question inevitably comes up. What is a cheap low cost air conditioning unit? So this year we decided to answer this question with our pick for a good unit for those on a budget. Our Pick for Cheap Low Cost Window Air Conditioner 2016 We choose the Frigidaire FRA052XT7 5,000-BTU Mini Window Air Conditioner as the best low cost option. It is small (13.2 x 16 x 12 inches) but puts out 5,000-BTU which is rated to cool a space up-to 150 square feet.

It uses manual rotary controls so no remote control is included. This is good since a remote control would only add to the cost. Window air conditioner prices are always changing depending on the time of year and demand. Click Here to Check Current Prices. Frigidaire FRA052XT7 5,000-BTU Mini Window Air Conditioner….. The installation is easy enough and like any other window A/C unit needs to fit into a window. It weighs 35 pounds so get help lifting it if needed. A window needs to be large enough for its dimensions (13.2 x 16 x 12 inches) and it than sits on the window sill. A bar goes across the top of the unit which the window than prevents it from falling out. Small brackets hold the window in place. Side panels fill in any empty space to the side of the unit. The Frigidaire FRA052XT7 is a good unit for such a low price. There are other brands and models with a similar prices with brand names we haven’t heard of yet. The combination of a known name in window air conditioners and price make the Frigidaire FRA052XT7 our pick for 2016.