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Reviewed.com / Kevin Oliver
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You'll barely hear this AC unit as it quickly and efficiently cools your room. It also features smartphone and smart speaker compatibility. Read More
A unique, N-shaped design allows this smart A/C to sit more deeply along a window’s sill. It performs well and works best for small spaces. Read More
This unit cools a room without putting up much of a sweat. Like other newer LG units, it also features smartphone and smart speaker compatibility. Read More
This design focus of this air conditioner doesn't detract from its incredible performance which beats out many of its competitors with higher BTUs. Read More
Midea's AC unit can cool a room quickly. It also has features the big names offer at a higher price, like smartphone and smart speaker compatibility. Read More
While most window air conditioners look the same, their ability to help you survive the summer heat can vary greatly. The best window air conditioners can cool a room quickly and quietly—without skyrocketing your monthly power bill.
We’ve tested dozens of window air conditioners. While most of the window AC units in our latest round of testing are 8,000-Btu air conditioners, that doesn’t mean they’re equally as good at cooling a room.
There’s also more to a good air conditioner than cooling abilities. When testing the best window air conditioners, our rankings factor in ease of installation, noise during operation, energy efficiency, and more.
After evaluating the best window air conditioners in our climate-controlled testing labs and in real-world settings, the GE Profile Series PHC08LY (available at Amazon for $320.43) is our favorite because it offers an agreeable balance of cooling performance, energy efficiency, modern tech integration, and stylish design.
This reliable, feature-packed air conditioner from GE earned our top honors during testing.
The A/C in our testing setup. More than half of its height hangs below the window’s sill.
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Design centric
Powerful performance
Easy to install
Variety of styles and options when ordering
None that we could find
Cools a room quickly
Smartphone and smart speaker compatible
Easy to install and weather-proof
None that we could find
Quiet
Easy to install
Smart Features
Not the most attractive design
Also has heating
Intuitive controls
Easy installation
Sleek design
Quiet
Effective cooling
Difficult installation
Cools rooms quickly
Smartphone and smart speaker compatible
Energy efficient
Heavy and cumbersome
Requires two people for installation
Hot, muggy weather in the summer may have people without central air searching for ways to cool off. While a portable air conditioner is easier to store and typically less expensive than window ACs, these bigger AC units are more efficient in dealing with hot air.
Here are some things to consider when buying a window air conditioner.
Btu, a measure of an air conditioner's cooling strength, stands for British thermal unit. A Btu is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. The higher an air conditioner’s Btu rating, the more heat it can remove from the air.
The square footage of the room you’re trying to cool should be considered when choosing a window air conditioner. The Energy Star website provides a helpful chart that shows how many Btu per hour are needed to cool rooms of different square footage.
For example, according to Energy Star, an 8,000-Btu window air conditioner would have enough capacity to cool a room between 300 and 350 square feet while a 5,000-Btu unit would be able to cool a room that’s 100 to 150 square feet.
Most of the AC units included in this roundup are Energy Star certified. A more prestigious honor is Energy Star’s Most Efficient list.
Another thing to consider is CEER, or Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio. The higher the CEER, the more efficient a window air conditioner is. An efficient window air conditioner will save you more money on your electric bill than an inefficient model.
Based on the units we tested, the average window air conditioner puts out around 52 decibels. At this level, most air conditioners emit a low hum similar to a running refrigerator, which isn’t too noticeable. However, you may prefer something quieter if you are sensitive to sound or will be sitting close to the AC unit when it’s in use.
As the name implies, window air conditioners are designed to fit most windows. However, measuring the size of your window opening will ensure it. Also, if you have casement windows or sliders, consider an AC unit designed for those openings.
Also consider the weight of the window air conditioners. These heavy, boxy appliances have to be installed by hand. In general, you install a window AC unit by first opening the window, resting the unit on the window sill, and lowering the window down to trap the unit in place. You can then secure the unit with an included kit or a spare L-bracket.
As air conditioners have evolved, many are Wi-Fi enabled so you can control the AC with an app, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or some other smart technology. Other features include quiet and sleep modes, timers, and a remote control.
Btu stands for British thermal unit. Technically speaking, one Btu is the amount of energy it takes to raise one pound of water one degree at sea level. In practical terms, though, Btu measures an air conditioner’s ability to remove heat from the air.
While an air conditioner with a higher Btu rating cools more air, it doesn’t make the AC unit “better.” When evaluating what AC to purchase, there are other factors that should be considered, such as energy efficiency, noise of operation, and installation. That’s why we included these factors in our rankings.
How an air conditioner works is a frequently asked question about these devices.
An air conditioner is a machine for moving heat around. It takes heat from the air in your home and dumps it outdoors.
The window air conditioner has four major components—a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. These have refrigerant circulating through them. The air conditioner uses these components and some fairly simple physics to move heat out of your home.
A series of basic steps keep the heat moving in the right direction. First, the compressor pressurizes the refrigerant. Raising the pressure heats up the refrigerant and pushes it through the condenser coil. The hot condenser sits outside the window, where it sheds heat outdoors, cooling the refrigerant.
Once the cooled high-pressure refrigerant hits the expansion valve, its pressure drops. The refrigerant quickly expands and changes from liquid to gas, making it even colder. The cold refrigerant moves through the expansion coils housed in the indoor part of the window AC unit. A fan pushes warm room air across these cold expansion coils, transferring heat from the air to the refrigerant. The cooled air circulates back indoors, while the warmer refrigerant returns to the compressor and condenser, where the heat is dumped outdoors.
This refrigeration cycle continues until the room air is cool enough for the thermostat to switch off the compressor.
We have a detailed breakdown on how to clean your AC, but it starts with unplugging the AC unit to avoid getting shocked.
Additionally, you will need to remove and clean the filter, remove the outer casing to mop up any moisture, dust off the fans, and wipe down the condenser coils.
We used a variety of temperature, humidity, and electrical usage sensors to test the air conditioners in this guide.
To ensure we were fair in our evaluation, we put the window air conditioners (ranging from 5,000 to 14,500 Btu) through their paces in the same testing chamber—a custom-built, airtight room with its own window brace. We also take into account the expected rate of cooling for each unit.
We install each window air conditioner in the climate-controlled room with the temperature as close to 80°F as possible, before turning the AC unit on at full max. Using temperature and humidity sensors we hang throughout the room, we see how long it takes the room to cool down to 70°F—both while empty and with someone in the room.
A noisy unit can be a deal-breaker for bedroom use, so we measure the noise level at the center of the room using a decibel meter while the window units are running.
The decibel meter is set to the dBA weighting, a corrected form of decibel measurement in which low, often imperceivable frequencies are reduced, making it a more accurate measurement of what the human ear perceives as loudness.
In addition to collecting hard data, we evaluate the window air conditioners subjectively, including how easy it is to install, replace air filters, and understand the manual. We also account for heft, general awkwardness, ease of storage, and portability of each unit. Since no one wants an AC unit that excessively ratchets up their power bill, we also measure power consumption.
Kevin Oliver is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.
Lindsey writes about sleep, lifestyle, and more for Reviewed. In her waking hours, she likes to spend time outside, read, cook, and bake. She holds a master’s in journalism from Boston University and bachelors' degrees in English Literature and Anthropology from the University of Utah.
Dr. Dave Ellerby
Chief Scientist
Dave Ellerby has a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds and a B.Sc. from the University of Manchester. He has 25+ years of experience designing tests and analyzing data.
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