We have to buy a window unit for our house. We have Central AC but it’s not keeping up and we can’t afford to upsize it right now. So until then I’m researching which window units to buy. Any advice or anything to cut through all the marketing spam and AI copy that I have to wade thru?

  • 0x01@lemmy.ml
    0·
    23 hours ago

    We have one in an upstairs bedroom from midea, the window slides right between the front and back of the unit and it’s excellent. Our power consumption didn’t increase too terribly much and it’s actually decently quiet.

    Not gonna put the model here but just look for U shaped window units. It has little legs that go outside.

    Don’t get the inside standing units, they’re massive, loud, power hungry, and most of them are less effective than even the cheap window units.

    • Fermion@feddit.nl
      0·
      23 hours ago

      The U shaped units manufactured by midea were all recalled and are not currently available for sale.

      You might want to look up the recall and get the repair kit. They were recalled for excessive mold build up.

      • humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        19 hours ago

        It seems the recall for the mold was essentially forgetting to put a drain for excessesive condensate. I havnt gotten a response yet. Did you get a response from them? Sucks that unit is awesome. And quiet. I thought it was funny they didn’t leave condensate tap to run a drain. I kinda assumed they figured out how to evaporate it in away like a refrigerator. They are made really well otherwise and have great user controls. Even the mounting bracket are next level.

        • Fermion@feddit.nl
          0·
          18 hours ago

          I don’t have one of that type, so I haven’t contacted them. I was thinking about getting a unit like that, but then found out why they weren’t in stock anywhere.

          I think the lack of drain was intentional so that the water wiuld splash up on the condenser coil. An AC unit generates a lot more water than a refrigerator though, so I think any design with a condensate basin below the condenser coil will have mold problems. The other issue is they didn’t make the unit very serviceable, so opening it up to clean out mold sounds like a huge hassle. Draining the water away will mean the units won’t be as efficient as originally designed, but mold can be a major health hazard.

          • humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            0·
            16 hours ago

            Yes of course a fridge does not condensate nearly as much as a room A/C coil. Curious where you found information that says they purposefully designed it to not drain off. And how splashing water onto a coil would make it more efficient? Also, though I havnt done any deep search, from experience most window units are a hassle to access the coil for deep cleaning other than from through the filter. The midea unit is actually decent in accessing the entire face of the coil and fins can be cleaned by removing filter and with no tools opening up the entire face of the indoor unit (this would basically only be covered in dust) much better than older units I’ve tried to work on.

            • Fermion@feddit.nl
              0·
              16 hours ago

              I don’t have information specific to midea, so there is some speculation, but I do have a ge unit which does outright say that the water condensate is slung across the condenser coil to boost efficiency. And yes, my ge unit got really nasty and I ended up drilling a hole in the base of the condensate pan to drain all the water.

              https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=16758

              Heat pump efficiency is limited by the temperature delta across the compressor. The larger the temperature delta, the less efficient a heat pump is. Evaporating water off the condenser coil drops the refrigerant temperature compared to air only and gives a small boost to efficiency. I don’t think it’s a big difference, but it’s enough to be worthwhile doing if you can “get it for free.” Unfortunately, a constantly cool and wet pool is a great breeding ground for mold and pathogens that you don’t want airborne.

              As for cleaning ease, I based that off of comments (on reddit I think), recommending people push midea to pay for a technician to perform the fix because taking it apart for a thorough cleaning is a hassle. So I have no firsthand experience there and I’ll defer to your judgement.