Window air conditioners can be a lifesaver in the middle of summer. Sure, I am writing this article in February but I can assure you ladies and gentlemen that I can remember the heat of July and August. You see, I am from Kansas and if you didn’t know it gets pretty darn hot here during the summer. On some of the more severe summers we get four, five, or even six weeks straight of one-hundred degree temperatures. Don’t worry though, at night it falls down to a balmy eighty-five degrees.
Here in Kansas, and I can imagine elsewhere, there is a huge market for air conditioning. I don’t care if it’s in your car, your office, your home, or even your tractor. (Yes, they have that in tractors.) The need for air conditioning is crucial but what do you do if you move into a new home or a apartment that does not support air conditioning? What if the home is so old that there are no central ducts routed in the walls? How do you stay cool then? Well in this particular scenario you have two choices and almost everyone chooses option B.
A) Pay a contractor to retrofit your entire home so that it can handle a central air conditioning system. This involves not only installing inbound ducts but also outbound. They tear apart your walls and make one hell of a mess.
B) The other option is window air conditioners. They’re simple and most of the time they’re cheap, at least when compared to the big central air systems out there. All you have to do is buy the unit, pop it in your window, secure it, plug it in, and presto! You now have cold air and relief from the summer’s sun.
Window or a Portable Air Conditioner
Before you make your decision on rather or not you will be buying a portable air conditioner or a window air conditioner you should first consider the differences between the two types of products. What product are you leaning towards? Which one should you actually get? To be honest folks, these products are really very similar and there are only a few key differences that you will need to think about before making your buying decision. Let’s take a look:
Window Units
- Window air conditioners have to be mounted either through your window or through a make-shift hole in your wall. Once mounted correctly they provide a stable and reliable cooling source. Some people may struggle mounting these units, especially if it is a higher BTU model and is a heavier unit. Depending on the size a proper mounting job may require two people.
- Generally, window units are more efficient then a portable unit. That means that you get more cooling power per BTU and also save on energy bills when compared to portable air conditioners.
- Another benefit to them is that you don’t have to worry about where to vent the exhaust. Window units are designed to be halfway in and out of your house so that there is a space for the exhaust to go right away. The downside here, which I’ll mention further below, is that mounted window units are sometimes seen as an eyesore and depending on where you live you may get complaints.
- If you have decided on a window unit then check out RefrigerantHQ’s guide on ‘What are the Best Window Air Conditioners,’ by clicking here.
Portable Units
- Portable air conditioners are just that, portable. That means they are easy to move around your home or to even pack in your truck and take somewhere else. The versatility of this adds a lot of favor to the portable air conditioner side of things.
- A portable air conditioner is much much easier to install. There is no mounting required, no support brackets, none of the hassle that comes with installing a window unit into your home, garage, or office. These units are all about the ‘easy’ button.
- While portable air conditioners are easy to install they also prevent any potential squabble with your home owner’s association. Most HOAs do not allow a window unit hanging out of a home. They see it as an eye sore and will tolerate it. A portable air conditioner can give you a work around as the worst anyone is going to see is a small exhaust tube.
- For RefrigerantHQ’s guide on ‘What are the Best Portable Air Conditioners,’ by clicking here.
Considerations
Now when you decide to buy a window unit and you begin looking at the different brands and sizes out there you may begin to feel overwhelmed. There are SO many choices out there. How can you be sure that you pick the right one?
I’m not going to get into every little consideration to make when buying a window unit in this article. Instead, I wrote a window air conditioner buyer’s guide that takes you through the steps of what to look for and how to prepare to buy a window air conditioner. This buyer’s guide can be found by clicking here. This guide should answer any question that you would have on air conditioner.
Best 18,000 BTU Window Air Conditioners
The 16,000-18,000 BTU window units are designed to cool seven-hundred square feet all the way up to one-thousand square feet. Again, this is your apartment/condominium living solution. This could also give you a great solution to cooling an entire floor of your home. As an example, if you had the first floor remain uncooled during the summer but you wanted the bedrooms, which were located upstairs, to stay nice and cool for sleeping then this would be a good fit.
Our Good, Better, Best picks for this BTU range are as follows:
- Good – Frigidaire FFRE1833Q2 18,000 BTU
- Frigidaire’s FFRE1833Q2 is our pick for the good category. This unit comes with all of the features that we are very familiar with such as digital temperature display, remote control, and a clean air ionizer. This unit will cool one-thousand square feet without a problem. Please be warned that this unit requires a two-hundred and thirty volt outlet.
- Better – Frigidaire FFRH1822R2 18500 BTU
- The Frigidaire FFRH1822R2 is fairly similar to the previous model we just viewed. However, a few things stand out from this unit that made me put it in the better category. The first is that we have an extra 500 BTUs with this unit. That means more power and more ability to cool. The next thing is that this unit has a built in heater that comes with 16,000 BTUs of power. (It is worth noting that this heater will only work with temperatures at or above forty-five degrees.) The point here folks is that you get all of the features as the previous model along with the extra BTUs and the heat function. Like before, this unit requires a two-hundred and thirty volt outlet to operate.
Friedrich EP18G33B 18000 BTU
- The Frigidaire FFRH1822R2 is fairly similar to the previous model we just viewed. However, a few things stand out from this unit that made me put it in the better category. The first is that we have an extra 500 BTUs with this unit. That means more power and more ability to cool. The next thing is that this unit has a built in heater that comes with 16,000 BTUs of power. (It is worth noting that this heater will only work with temperatures at or above forty-five degrees.) The point here folks is that you get all of the features as the previous model along with the extra BTUs and the heat function. Like before, this unit requires a two-hundred and thirty volt outlet to operate.
- Best – Friedrich EP18G33B 18000 BTU
- Again folks we are looking at the Friedrich brand name for our best pick. This time it is the EP18G33B model. Like the previous model this unit comes with a built in electric heater. What I really like about this unit is that once you program a set temperature the unit will cool OR heat to get you to that desired temperature. That means it is literally a set and forget temperature. I am a big fan of the easy button and this product does just that. You also get the great Friedrich brand name and quality that comes with the name. Like all of the other models out there this unit takes a two-hundred and thirty volt outlet.
Conclusion
If you find that the 18,000 BTU size isn’t the right size for you then I would highly suggest you visit our latest article titled, “What Are The Best Window Air Conditioners.” This article is similar to the one you are reading now except that it shows suggestions and input for all window air conditioner sizes. Yes, that includes 5,000 BTUs all the way up to 24,000 BTUs. By reading through this article you will get a feel for exactly what sized air conditioner you need.
I hope this article was helpful and thanks for reading folks. Remember to stay cool!