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AC window unit that really blows (without noise)?

luv2liv

luv2liv

Diamond Member
i thought i got the best AC unit for the window to cool down the office. it was great for 1 year. but this year, it is so noisy. i removed some of the front panels to reduce the rattling but im still going bonkers every time the compressor kicks in.

what is a good unit that's under $300?
would a portable AC unit be quiet? im told its efficiency is awful....but i dont care as long as it is quieter

thanks!
 
under $300 is a hard market. Just check Lowes/HD/etc for best reviews.

The best units are those like Mitsubishi with the compressor and the like separate and outside the living area.

I am getting ready to buy one since my large "Florida Room" was built with a non-insulated roof/ceiling and in summer heats up more than my central air can handle without making the rest of the house too cold.
 
Portable ACs are far from quiet (I would equate them to about the same sound level as a blow dryer) and expensive. I would only recommend them if you have windows that can't take a window unit (crank windows). Though you can make a portable unit more efficient by adding a secondary outside duct leading to the compressor/condenser intake.


alkemyst said:
under $300 is a hard market. Just check Lowes/HD/etc for best reviews.

The best units are those like Mitsubishi with the compressor and the like separate and outside the living area.

I am getting ready to buy one since my large "Florida Room" was built with a non-insulated roof/ceiling and in summer heats up more than my central air can handle without making the rest of the house too cold.
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I would probably insulate that first, or you'll just be throwing money through the roof, literally. R60 or bust. Hopefully there's a vapor barrier at least, that is hard to add after the fact.
 
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There's a reason why they call them window shakers. You're getting the noise from the blower and compressor As the others have said, the quietest I've seen are those ductless units where the compressor mounts on the outside of the wall. Depending on whether you own or rent, that may or may not be an option. They're expensive too. If it's a house and not an apartment, I'd probably look into central air.
 
Buy a ductless mini-split and DIY the install. They contain brushless DC motors and are super-quiet. Or hire someone from Craiglist to install the unit. Find a tech from a reputable dealer who takes cash on the side. I like Daikin and Fujitsu best.
 
mmntech said:
There's a reason why they call them window shakers. You're getting the noise from the blower and compressor As the others have said, the quietest I've seen are those ductless units where the compressor mounts on the outside of the wall. Depending on whether you own or rent, that may or may not be an option. They're expensive too. If it's a house and not an apartment, I'd probably look into central air.
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Yeah, ducted are superior to ductless for one main reason, superior dehumidification and filtration. Imagine a ducted system where the return and supplies are far from each other and plentiful vs. semi-ductless system with return and supply very close to one another.

A ducted system will simply come into contact with a way larger air volume. Any HVAC dealer who says otherwise is lying or ignorant and doesn't deserve your business.
 
yeah once you get into ductless mini split sysstems, unless you specifically need AC in that one room, it's probably best to spend a bit more and get central air.

Sometimes it's worth paying more to get more. I have a portable unit that's been getting me by for the past few summers but I would definitely like to get central air at some point as it is the best for humidity control since it's doing the whole house.
 
Red Squirrel said:
yeah once you get into ductless mini split sysstems, unless you specifically need AC in that one room, it's probably best to spend a bit more and get central air.

Sometimes it's worth paying more to get more. I have a portable unit that's been getting me by for the past few summers but I would definitely like to get central air at some point as it is the best for humidity control since it's doing the whole house.
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Where are you located in Canada RS, what's your primary heat source and energy cost per kWh? Because I bought a Carrier Greenspeed heatpump last year and it's absolutely amazing. It has well exceeded all of my very high expectations.
 
Is it possible to get a portable ducted unit where the unit sits outside?

I have a portable ducted unit where the unit sits inside but it is just as loud as a "window shaker".

My wife has so far refused a ductless unit for that room. It is a bedroom over the garage and the airflow from the central AC isn't the greatest. Plus the room has huge windows and probably not great insulation in the cathedral ceiling.
 
bradley said:
Where are you located in Canada RS, what's your primary heat source and energy cost per kWh? Because I bought a Carrier Greenspeed heatpump last year and it's absolutely amazing. It has well exceeded all of my very high expectations.
Click to expand...

Northern Ontario, got a forced air gas furnace, I don't think heat pumps would work well here, except for maybe this time of year where the mornings are cool but overall still above freezing. Eventually I want to get central air though, but it's one of those things where it's a big expense for 2 months of the year but it's still nice to have during that time especially for that 1 week of 25C-30C+ we get.

Eug said:
Is it possible to get a portable ducted unit where the unit sits outside?

I have a portable ducted unit where the unit sits inside but it is just as loud as a "window shaker".

My wife has so far refused a ductless unit for that room. It is a bedroom over the garage and the airflow from the central AC isn't the greatest. Plus the room has huge windows and probably not great insulation in the cathedral ceiling.
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You could possibly mod one of those to be outside, though you'd probably want it to be enclosed (other than the hot side venting) to protect it from the elements, and in winter you'd want to bring it in or any residual water in the condensate pan/lines would freeze. You could probably get away with having a supply from the cold side going into the room through the wall and the intake elsewhere in the room. Though that sounds like a good situation for a mini split, which would involve less holes in the wall. You need to show her the 5 inch hole saw bit that you'd need to use to make a hole through the wall and she might freak out and let you go with the mini split. 😛
 
I was thinking of running a portable ducted model outside with the duct going through the window, not through the wall... if such an outside model existed. No point in building an enclosure for a modded indoor one, because the reason my wife doesn't want the ductless is she doesn't want anything permanent there.

BTW, for ductless, are there 120 V models? Mind you either way I'd probably have to run a new line from the breaker box, which fortunately isn't all that far away if I can run the line on the outside of the house.

EDIT:

BTW, the room in question is only 185 square feet, so even a 9000 BTU ductless unit is overkill.
 
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OP, you could consider the biggest size window unit (IIRC they so to 12K BTU before you need 220V connection) then run that on the "low" fan setting, other than that you need some type of split system..
 
BUTCH1 said:
OP, you could consider the biggest size window unit (IIRC they so to 12K BTU before you need 220V connection) then run that on the "low" fan setting, other than that you need some type of split system..
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That's a decent idea. My AC at my workplace actually isn't painfully loud in the low setting. It's still loud, but at least it's tolerable.

BTW, my outdoor AC unit was very loud (outside) until I had my HVAC guy install a noise blanket over the compressor, and after that it was much quieter. I wonder how much that would work for a window model, and if it does work, why they don't do that.
 
Eug said:
That's a decent idea. My AC at my workplace actually isn't painfully loud in the low setting. It's still loud, but at least it's tolerable.

BTW, my outdoor AC unit was very loud (outside) until I had my HVAC guy install a noise blanket over the compressor, and after that it was much quieter. I wonder how much that would work for a window model, and if it does work, why they don't do that.
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Well I'm not knowledgeable enough to question the opinion of a pro but what comes to mind is compressors do a lot of work and get very warm doing so, I would wonder if the "blanket" would potentially decrease it's lifespan, maybe the blanket they use is designed with the ability for ventilation..

EDIT:..I found this from a blanket mfgr's website, it seems that the blankets won't harm a compressor,..

"
Will a Sound Blanket overheat my compressor or air conditioner?
Usually when you put an insulation blanket around a motor it will overheat and cause damage to the motor. However, the compressor motor in your air conditioner is internally cooled by a refrigerant so it will never overheat when insulated. Our lab tests show that the internal temperature of the compressor only increases by 2%, which is negligible.

Sound blankets are a conventional form of air conditioner noise reduction, and many air conditioner manufacturers install sound blankets as the first step in solving noise problems. Sound blankets will not affect your compressor's life expectancy or performance. In fact, they have a beneficial effect in that theyinsulate the compressor and maintain a more consistent crankcase temperature. This provides for easier starting and prolongs the life of the bearings. The sound blanket also stops condensate from forming on the compressor on hot humid days."
 
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The reason sound blankets aren't often used is because of price. Too bad because the world would be a better place with less noisy window ACs. I'm sure people would be willing to pay extra given the option.

More importantly you leave yourself open to theft with a window AC vs. a mini-split or central AC. Last year, I overheard a conversation between a Home Depot associate and customer shopping for a central AC. Apparently not only did his house get robbed, but they also took his burglar-proofed window AC... after using it as their entry point. 🙁
 
bradley said:
The reason sound blankets aren't often used is because of price. Too bad because the world would be a better place with less noisy window ACs. I'm sure people would be willing to pay extra given the option.

More importantly you leave yourself open to theft with a window AC vs. a mini-split or central AC. Last year, I overheard a conversation between a Home Depot associate and customer shopping for a central AC. Apparently not only did his house get robbed, but they also took his burglar-proofed window AC... after using it as their entry point. 🙁
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A window unit could not just be wrapped up in a sound blanket, it needs to be able to expel heat via the condensing coils at the rear of the unit. When they install a blanket in a central AC system they remove the cover and put the blanket on the compressor only, it's not possible to cover an entire unit as it would block airflow.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Northern Ontario, got a forced air gas furnace, I don't think heat pumps would work well here, except for maybe this time of year where the mornings are cool but overall still above freezing. Eventually I want to get central air though, but it's one of those things where it's a big expense for 2 months of the year but it's still nice to have during that time especially for that 1 week of 25C-30C+ we get.
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I was just messing around the Carrier calculator for Northern Ontario. Not knowing your exact location, I picked North Bay.

http://www.tools.carrier.com/greenspeed/

Let's say your home is 2000sf and has a heating load of 45,000btu: a 3-ton Greenspeed heatpump would maintain linear 105F/40C degree heat at your vents down to outdoor temps of 15F/-10C, the 4-ton down to 3F/-16C.

In fact the 4-ton would still be producing 20,000btu down to -12F/-21C. Very impressive for that region. 🙂
 
BUTCH1 said:
A window unit could not just be wrapped up in a sound blanket, it needs to be able to expel heat via the condensing coils at the rear of the unit. When they install a blanket in a central AC system they remove the cover and put the blanket on the compressor only, it's not possible to cover an entire unit as it would block airflow.
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Not only can it be done, I have done it on older units. Obviously a recent window AC would require manufacturer modification as today's units are way more confined. Sound blankets are only placed on compressors, btw.
 
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North Bay is still 4 hours south of me, I'm in Timmins. We get -50C's here. 😛 Though I'm sure North Bay gets pretty cold too at times. Though I did not figure they worked that well even at -20. When I look for central air I may look at heat pump too, could set it up as the first stage of heat and then the gas furnace as second stage. I just need a secondary relay for my thermostat system.
 
Red Squirrel said:
North Bay is still 4 hours south of me, I'm in Timmins. We get -50C's here. 😛 Though I'm sure North Bay gets pretty cold too at times. Though I did not figure they worked that well even at -20. When I look for central air I may look at heat pump too, could set it up as the first stage of heat and then the gas furnace as second stage. I just need a secondary relay for my thermostat system.
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Nope, you guys are definitely colder according to the calculator. lol Ontario is absolutely beautiful, yet don't know if I could survive with those temps. 🙂

The Greenspeed would still work great for Timmins, but there would be a definite need for your gas furnace as a backup or heat strips. According to the calculator, a 4-ton would still be producing 12,000btu at -20C/-4F in Timmons. Would ultimately make more/less sense based on your utility rates.

These systems are incredible, the hardest part is finding an installer who understands them... as they are still so new.
 
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