Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

Our master bedroom is about 400 square feet with three wall and roof exposures to the outdoors, which is why I chose a 12,000 BTU size. Based upon the Consumer Reports top rating of what is essentially the same model LW1214ER, I had an immediate need and bought this model at a local store at a price slightly higher than Amazon’s on May 31, 2015.

When I began installing this unit, the bedroom temperature was 90 degrees F and the humidity was oppressive. It took me about an hour to do the installation. By that time I was soaked with perspiration. Fortunately, I’m reasonably handy with mechanical installations because the illustrations in the manual were so small as to be virtually useless.

After I completed the installation and turned on the air conditioner, I was impressed with its quietness and lack of vibration when the compressor cycles, especially considering how much air this unit was moving. Within 90 minutes, this air conditioner lowered the room temperature from 90 degrees to 75 degrees. The tiny remote control, which is powered by a single included AAA cell, will control this air conditioner from at least 20 feet away. Since I’ve owned this unit for less than 24 hours, I cannot comment on its durability and longevity, but I am pleased with its performance thus far.

I purchased this from my local big box store. I’m not a big fan of installing these window units every summer, but they are so much better than the portable counterparts that I think it’s worth the hassle if you are up for some DIY or hiring somebody for an hour if you choose.

I’ll try to be concise:

Pros:
1) Very powerful 12k BTU’s cools down my main living room of my split level house. Definitely more than the rated sq. ft. amount. I don’t expect it it to cool to sub 70 degrees on a blazing hot day but should keep things noticeably cooler. So far, when it was 85 degrees it was keeping m living room 70. VERY satisfied with that.
2) Relatively low amp load vs the new portable unit I also have which is 12k BTU and 11.5 amps. Specs say 9.8 amps for this window unit. I have some not so great house wiring and choosing the correct outlet is very important as to not blow a breaker. I’ve learned the hard way so far…Even so, I still will break a 15A breaker that apparently shares a few other outlets that my PC is on, which will overload it pretty quickly. So choose wisely (see CONS below)
3) Slide-out chassis is hugely helpful for install. Being able to screw down the chassis without the heavy compressor is so much easier. I have this in a sliding left/right style window and was able to get everything pretty secure.
4) Drain works well- but see CON below.
5) Ability to run the fan only with fresh air being pulled from outside when AC is not needed.

CONS:
1) Even though amp load is fairly low for AC units, it still blows my 15A breaker since my house has some not so great wiring and that breaker has some other higher load appliances/devices on it as well. Plan accordingly!
2) Drain plug absolutely needs to be installed. Maybe I missed it in the instructions, but I ran this for 15 minutes with the rubber factory plug in the back, not thinking to remove it and quickly had condensate water getting sprayed everywhere by the fan in the back. I installed the drain that came in the box and all is well. The unit (installed in the Seattle area) pulls quite a bit of water from the air and constantly drains. You might also want to install a drain line if you have neighbors below you. In my case, it’s just watering my flower bed.
3) Wish it came with support brackets for the underside. That would save some DIY install and hassle.

Overall: Great unit. Powerful AC. Relatively low energy load. Not overly expensive.

*Dear LG, please make a casement slider style window AC for the modern world!*

The air conditioner works fine but came with a huge blow on the left side. I could not even make the front cover fit.