Air Conditioners Tips

Friedrich X-Star XQ05L10 Thru-Wall/Window Air Conditioner Review Not Happy I have a large old house with no central AC. I buy a least one new window air conditioner every year with only...

Friedrich ZStar ZQ10A Thru-Wall/Window Air Conditioner Product MPNMPN:ZStar ZQ10A Other FeaturesMoisture Removal (Pt/h):3ENERGY STAR:Without ...

This over-sized monster came with the apartment we bought a couple of years ago. The seller seemed really proud of himself for having recently installed it. Considering his Friedrich a permanent feature of this upper-floor dwelling, he even installed a dedicated electric line and a custom, shortened window frame to fit the air conditioner properly. The latter turned out to be a serious problem.

Having bought the apartment in early spring, we never doubted the old guy’s choice - that is, until we turned it on at the beginning of June. Oh, boy! Was that a shock to the system (both ours and the electric one)!

Initially, we were only shocked over the level of noise our “library quiet” Quiet Master produced. I am still looking for a library that noisy, in fact. To substantiate my claim, I will only mention that watching TV (listening to music, talking - take your pick) and cooling down are incompatible activities in our apartment. No matter how loud you turn the TV on, the Quiet Master drowns out the sound. Not only that, but it also does not let you get used to the decibel level it produces, with the effect of a taking-off plane that suddenly becomes quieter at a certain altitude. But if the sound of a plane becomes just a background noise after take-off, our Friedrich does not shut up for long. As soon as you relax, it goes into orbit again - it’s an “energy-saver” model, after all.

Let’s dwell on that “energy-saver” bit now. I really find it difficult to understand how this energy-saver manages to use this much power. Yes, it turns off at a certain temperature, but only to start its menacing drone in a couple of minutes again. And even at half-strength, it just gobbles up kilowatts, like chocolates. And we do have to keep it at half strength, because even despite a dedicated line, the A/C regularly conks out, if you turn it on at more than half the potential. Which makes it pretty useless on a hot summer day.

Oh, don’t get me wrong: although it takes time, our Friedrich does cool off the space - but the price we are paying for this convenience just seems too high for comfort. Not only do we have to limit ourselves to sitting quietly in a corner with a book (or writing reviews as I am doing now) - we also have to be vigilant, listening for the ominous hysterical increase in whining from the air conditioner - a sign of coming overheating and eventual collapse.

At first, I thought that at 24,000 BTU, the monster was just too big for our living room. But no! I have used several calculators to double-check, and they all say that it is the right size for a 20×22 room with 11-foot ceilings and large windows. So the question is: if it was designed to be effective and quiet in large spaces, why isn’t it?!?

To solve the problem, we have had the unit serviced and cleaned - to no avail. Funny, but the technicians who came to do that thought we were really lucky to have an air conditioner this big and advanced. Maybe it is part of the whole “bigger is better” philosophy, which I don’t subscribe to anymore. We are also constantly changing filters and trying to please it with kind words - nothing going! So now we are thinking of getting a smaller and quieter European or Asian model, as our powerful marvel is never used at its full capacity, anyway. But the window - remember? - was cut to accomodate the Quiet Master. So to change a model, we have to change the window first.

I have high hopes for the change, however, because the LG and Mitsubishi units we bought for the bedrooms are working just fine. As opposed to our Friedrich, they are quiet and energy-efficient, as promised.

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