First off, the CP14N10 is made in China. This is disappointing, because part of Friedrich’s legendary reputation is that they are a Texas-based American company. I believe some of their expensive models (and they are incredibly expensive — often over 1,000 for a window/wall unit) are at least assembled in the USA.
Second, the CP14N10 is expensive when compared to other China-manufactured window AC’s. I live in the Boston area and paid $440 before tax and before $45 in rebates (always, always, always check for rebates — from Friedrich, from the store you buy from, from the US Gov Energy Star programs, from your utility company. Rebates tend to increase at the beginning and end of the cooling season (in the NorthEast)). At Costco and national chains, AC’s of similar BTU’s (i.e., 12,000-14,000) by the likes of Sharp, LG, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, and Amana can be found for 250-350.
I have owned and installed many window AC’s of different brands. This season (07) I purchased a 12,000 BTU Sharp for $240 from Costco and returned it because it was simply terrible. The fan motor was unbelievably loud — as in could-this-be-detrimental-to-my-hearing loud. The majority of the AC was cheap styrofoam. The chassis did not slide out. Although the unit looked nice and shiny, was very compact, and had a nifty remote, the air louvers were cheap and rattled almost instantly (the AC was installed correctly), and on particularly hot days water build-up inside the unit was incredbly loud as well — the cheap styrofoam amplified the noise. This was a far cry from Sharp’s former, and far better, “Library Quiet” models.
In comparison, the Friedrich CP14N10 is sturdy and feels well made. It’s slide-out chassis design makes installation easy and allows for easier maintenance (I’ve found that as a rule, slide-out chassis designs connote higher over-all quality). Looking over the components, the compressor was manufactured by Samsung, the fan blade and motor looked well-balanced, and the coils in both the back and front of the heavy unit were of a much higher density than those in models like the Sharp described above. Although there is styrofoam in the Friedrich — this seems to be unavoidable in almost any AC these days — there’s a heck of a lot less of it than in the Sharp, and, unlike the Sharp, sunlight does not penetrate through it during the day.
The overall look and feel of the CP14N10 was one of quality. Is there some plastic? Yep. Is the front grille mounted onto the unit with cheap plastic hooks that could easily break, if not instantly, soon in the future? Yep. But overall, even these plastic elements have a nice sleek design.
Particularly nice is the little press-open door on the front of the unit that conceals the controls. This door closes, but has a window that allows the digital temp. read-out to be displayed, but dimmed (if light bothers you, this is a very nice solution). The remote is simple and cheap. While other models in this line have LCD read-outs on the remote itself, the CP14N10 (and the two larger, non-regular-outlet models) do not. Where the LCD panel should be there is an absurd plastic piece that proclaims “air conditioner.”
The accordian window vents are of slightly higher quality than average, but still leave an occasional gap where they meet the side of the unit.
This unit — and the two larger units in the CP series — has a large vertical vent where the cooled air comes out. In other words, unlike most AC’s that have a horizontal vent on the top of the unit, this one has a large, rectangle-on-its-side vent on the right side of the unit.
I actually prefer this set-up, as I have found that AC’s made like this tend to be quieter, handle their water better, and don’t rattle as much as the others. In my particular house, this set up also allows the air to be directed with much more precision.
The louvers in the vent can be set to automatically “swing” — two plastic panels inside the vent move silently from side to side, and the air is directed back and forth across the room. This works surprisingly well and is a very nice touch. I suspect it also keeps down on rattling. You can also turn off the swing at any point to direct the air where you want. And there are sturdy, rattle-free horizontal louvers that allow for direction of the air up or down.
I chose this model not only because of the Friedrich name, but also because it was 14,000 BTU but still connected to a normal three-prong outlet. The two larger models in this line-up require a more powerful outlet that must be installed by an electrician. They, in turn, offer much more power.
The unit cools very well. The air swing works nicely. And the fan noise is reasonable — far far quieter than the horrible Sharp and other cheapies.
When the compressor kicks in, there is a cheap-sounding “click,” but the rest of the compressor noise is nicely muffled. With one big exception. Beneath the soothing white noise of the fan, there is a high-pitched howling noise. It’s not a steady noise, but one that pulsates. It is not so loud that it is even immediately identifiable, but once you hear it, you can’t not hear it. It is incredibly annoying if you’re at all sensitive to noise. Quietness is part of the Friedrich brand and price. They pride themselves on their sound dampening technology. For them to release an AC with this obvious sound flaw is extremely disappointing.
The manual and website reference this flaw obliquely. They call it a “high pitch hum” or a “pulsating noise” and blame it on “today’s modern high-efficiency compressors.” Obviously there have been questions and complaints. They’ve done such a good job muffling most other noise that it’s a shame they wouldn’t spend a little more to muffle this problem.
The best AC’s I’ve ever owned are Panasonics. This Friedrich has many similarities to the Panasonics (which now, unfortunately, are no longer made.) In fact, part of why I bought this unit was because of how reminiscent it is to the three Panasonics I have: the vertical louvers, the exactly-the-same named “Air Swing,” and a similar quality look and feel. I have noticed extremely similar styling on certain General Electric models, but they are not readily available in my area (they are almost certainly cheaper than Freidrich, though I’m not sure if the components are exactly the same or if the two companies merely use the same parts suppliers.)
The Panasonics were cheaper than this line of Friedrichs, and none of them have the annoying high-pitched howl. They are even quieter, and their entire compressor cycle is better muffled.
Nevertheless, the coils and some of the components in the Freidrich seem superior to those in the Panasonic. The principal flaw in this unit is the high pitch howl.
This unit is not Energy Star. It’s EER is 9.8, which is middling. It wasn’t an issue for me, becausde I’ve found that sometimes manufacturers try to increase efficiency by allowing more and more water to spray around inside the unit — and this creates a racket even more annoying than the “Friedrich Howl.”
Overall, if the howl problem were fixed and the price lowered to $375, this unit would dominate the market.
After the death of Panasonic AC’s, I’ve yet to find anything better.
Tags:
Amana,
EMI,
Friedrich,
Frigidaire,
General Electric,
LG,
Panasonic,
Samsung,
Sharp,
Whirlpool
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