Frigidaire FFRE0533S1 5,000 BTU Window Air Conditioner
It’s another hot one today folks. Over here in Kansas City the temperatures reached over ninety degrees. It was over one-hundred degrees if you were walking through a parking lot. The heat made my walk from the office to my car uncomfortable, but once I had my car on and the air conditioner going I was fine for the drive home. When I got home and stepped out of my car to walk to my front door I was blasted again with the heat.
For those of you who don’t live in a hotter climate let me describe it for you. You open your door and step outside and it feels like you’ve stepped into an oven and that’s not even factoring in the humidity. I swear there are times where it feels like you can swim through the air. I’m serious folks. It is not fun and the worst of the summer hasn’t even hit Kansas yet. We still have July and August slowly creeping up on us. I’m already anxious for Fall to get here.
Most of us deal with this heat through our car’s air conditioner and through our home air conditioner. The majority of homes nowadays come with a built in central air system. These are your standard split units that sit outside of your home and route through your duct work. (You know, the units that you barely realize are there until something goes wrong with it!) The problem though is that these wonderful central air conditioning systems just aren’t affordable for some people, or these peole may be living in an apartment with no air conditioning available. Over here in Kansas the thing I see the most are the old farmhouses that have no duct work routed at all. It’s too expensive to retrofit the home with duct work. These folks can’t go the traditional route. So, what does that leave them with?
Well, they have a few choices. Some of these alternative options are portable air conditioners and window air conditioners. Now, I’m not going to get into every one of these options and their features at least not in this article. No, instead in this post we’re going to focus our attention on one of these products: Frigidaire’s FFRE0533S1 5,000 BTU Window Air Conditioner. In this review we are going to take an in-depth look at the FFRE0533S1 and make the determination if this product is really right for you or if you should be looking for something else. Without further adieu, let’s dive in and take a look!
Frigidaire
Now before I began really looking at a product and all of the features that it offers I always like to take a look at the brand and company behind the product. I don’t do this for everything, but if I find that the product is going to be over one-hundred dollars or more I find that it makes sense to investigate and to do your research. After all, a brand name can be a very powerful thing. Don’t believe me? Just think of the most famous brands out there today. Would you rather have a Lexus or a Ford? I know, if I had the choice I would choose the Lexus. Sure, the Ford is great, but everyone knows that when they hear Lexus they think quality. That is directly because of the brand name and the recognition that has been built with it over the years. Lexus is a premium brand.
The Frigidaire company is behind the FFRE0533S1 and this is great news. Why you may ask? Well folks the Frigidaire company is by far one of the best and the brightest companies when it comes to appliances manufacturing. In fact, I bet that if you were to go into your kitchen right now that you would find at least one appliance from the Frigidaire company. It could be your oven, dishwasher, microwave, toaster, or even your refrigerator.
Speaking of refrigerators, did you know that the Frigidaire company was one of the very first inventors of the self-contained refrigerator? Not only did they invent it but they were also one of the first ones to commercially sell a refrigerator. All of this was done over one-hundred years ago in 1916. Ever since that date Frigidaire has been growing, innovating, and inventing. I can safely say that their window air conditioners are of top quality and upon purchasing one you get the quality Frigidaire brand name as well.
Product Features
The first thing that needs to be taken into consideration when purchasing a window air conditioner is the size of the unit. For those of you who do not know window air conditioners are measured by the amount of BTUs, or British Thermal Units, that they contain. An entry level BTU unit would be around five-thousand BTUs whereas a very large unit would be over twenty-four thousand BTUs. BTUs are the standard way of measuring the cooling capacity of your air conditioner. The more BTUs, the more power that you will have. Don’t be fooled though, more power isn’t always better. No, instead you want to find the perfect fitted unit for the room or area that you want to cool.
If you find yourself going to a much larger unit then necessary then you will be running up your electrical bills and you may also end up running into hot and cold spots due to the size of the air conditioner. On the inverse if you purchase a unit that is too small then the product will be running constantly. This will raise your energy bills and your room won’t even be fully cooled. To find the perfect sized unit the rule of thumb that most people use is the thirty BTUs per square foot of room. So, let’s say we have a twelve by twelve foot bedroom that we want to cool. Twelve times twelve equals out to one-hundred and forty-four square feet. In this example the five-thousand BTU would be rated to cool rooms around one-hundred and forty to one-hundred and sixty square feet. So, this Frigidaire unit would be perfect for bedrooms or small offices. If you find yourself needing a larger unit feel free to check out our window air conditioner buyer’s guide by clicking here.
While this Frigidaire unit is considered an introductory unit due to it’s BTU size I will have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of features and display options that this product has. Most of the time when you see a five-thousand BTU unit you see the typical turn-dial knobs with no real temperature control. Instead you just turn the knobs from high to low. This is not the case with the FFRE0533S1. With this product you get a digital temperature display that can be adjusted up and down by hand or with the fully functional remote control. Along with that you get extra features like sleep mode, energy saver mode, and a twenty-four hour on/off timer that allows you to program your unit to cool while you are home or while you are sleeping. (This is my favorite feature just for the customization. I like the idea of setting a colder temperature for sleeping and a warmer temperature through out the day.)
I remember as a teenager laying irrigation piping for my dad’s landscaping business. It was tough work. Something he always always always said was to ‘measure twice, cut once.’ (He didn’t want to waste any of that piping, it was expensive!) Now, I know this isn’t some wisdom that just my father came up with. I’m sure you’ve heard this expression before but my point still stands and still applies to window air conditioners. What are you measuring you may ask? Well, it’s your window! Before you purchase anything you need to make sure that your window is going to be big enough, or not too big, to support the air conditioner. The absolute worst thing you can do is to purchase the unit and then go to install only to realize that your window is too small. Luckily, we’re here to help! This Frigidaire unit can fit in windows with a width between twenty-three inches to thirty-six inches. That’s a pretty wide range but just make sure that you fall into it. Another measurement, which isn’t as important, is the height. Most of the time your window will be tall enough but just to be sure you will need an opening of thirteen inches.
This next feature may not even be seen as a feature but I would be amiss if I didn’t mention it. This Frigidaire product comes with a one-hundred and fifteen volt plug-in. This type of plug-in is your standard outlet that you can find all over your house. I only mention this as some of the medium or larger window air conditioners comes with a two-hundred and twenty volt plug-in instead of your traditional one-hundred and fifteen. An example two-hundred and twenty volt plug in your home is most likely your clothes dryer or your oven plug-ins. In this case with this Frigidaire product there is nothing to worry about, but I wanted to make sure you were informed in case you decide on a different air conditioner. Lastly on this section, the cord for this unit extends to six and a half feet. That should be more then enough to reach the nearest outlet.
The FFRE0533S1 comes with the HydroFluroCarbon R-410A refrigerant. 410A, or Puron, is one of the most commonly used refrigerants within the United States. Today it is used widely in residential and commercial cooling rather they be window units or traditional split systems. The good news here though is that because this refrigerant is so common the price is fairly low so if you need a recharge down the road you won’t be out too much money.
The last thing to mention in Product Features is the overall weight and size of this unit. As we mentioned above this is a smaller overall window air conditioner and with a smaller unit comes a smaller weight. Some of the bigger air conditioners out there can weigh as much or over one-hundred pounds. These heavier units can be very difficult to install as you have to not only insert the unit into your window, hold it in place, and then try to screw in the supports to ensure it is stable. Try doing that by yourself with a heavier unit! The good news here is that this Frigidaire unit only weighs forty-two pounds. While you may still want some help installing the overall install will be much easier with a lighter weight unit.
Pros
The biggest and most obvious Pro with this Frigidaire product is the price. Yes, I realize that this unit is only rated at five-thousand BTUs but the price point is worth taking a second glance at. It is not very often that you can find relief from the heat for around this price. (The exact price may vary, click here to get the latest price from Amazon.com.) Don’t forget that you also get the digital displays, extra features like sleep/energy saver, and a remote control to go along with it.
Also, please remember that this product is only rated to cool rooms or areas up to one-hundred and fifty square feet, so if you have a room bigger then that you may consider going up a size.
Something that I always look for when doing air conditioner reviews is if the product is Energy Star Certified with the Environmental Protection Agency. An Energy Star machine means that the product has gone through the EPA’s rigorous approval process and has come out on top. The EPA measures most units based off of their Energy Efficiency Ratio, or EER. The higher the EER the more efficient a machine is and the less it will cost you in energy cost. In order to qualify for Energy Star the unit must be at or exceed 10.0 EER. The Frigidaire FFRE0533S1 has an EER of 12.2. That is a HUGE number and greatly exceeds the EPA’s required 10.0. This unit is only rated to cost you around thirty-seven dollars a year. That’s just over three dollars a month for a nice cool room to sleep in. I’d pay that much for comfort, what about you?
The last point that I’ll make before moving onto the Cons section is the warranty. This product comes with a one year manufacturer warranty from the Frigidaire company. While one year isn’t an extraordinary amount of time it is still a very nice benefit to insure you that in case your unit does fail you can get your money back or your unit replaced.
Cons
There aren’t a lot of cons on this product but there are a few points that I want to cover and emphasize again before you purchase. The first is that the Frigidaire FFRE0533S1 is rated at five-thousand BTUs and can only cool rooms up to one-hundred and sixty square feet. If your room is larger then that then it will make sense to increase your BTUs to accommodate the larger space. If you’re not sure exactly what size of unit to get please check out our window air conditioner buyer’s guide by clicking here. This guide will walk you through the selection process ensuring you get the exact right unit for you.
When you purchase something online there is always the risk of it arriving to your home damaged. That risk increases with the bigger and heavier the package. On top of that, the risk increases even more when dealing with a machine like an air conditioner. Now, I’m not going to lie to you here. The chances of your unit arriving damaged is rare, but there is a chance folks. The good news though is that if this does happen you can always file a claim with Amazon.com and they will take care of the return process. Something that you’ll notice is that some of the ‘bad reviews,’ on this product are a direct result of the product arriving damaged to the consumer’s home. This is not Frigidaire’s fault and frankly shouldn’t be attributed to them.
The last Con to mention before we move onto our Conclusion is that in some cases after extended use the air conditioner’s fan can become loosened. While this doesn’t affect performance or overall safety of the unit it can lead to an increase noise or volume when the air conditioner is running. If it was me, I probably wouldn’t notice it, but there are others out there who are very sensitive to noise and may find that the extra noise of the fan slightly moving around can drive them crazy. Just be aware of this. It doesn’t happen to every unit so it may not even happen to you. These noise complaints made up the last of the negative reviews.
Conclusion
Well folks that about covers it for Frigidaire’s FFRE0533S1. I’m hoping that this review was able to answer any and all questions that you may have had. My goal here was to provide a step by step review showing you each and every feature imaginable. The question now though is will you be buying this product from Frigidaire? If so, then I recommend visiting our Amazon.com partner by clicking here.