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Man. A lot to learn before thinking of going this route. The info is much appreciated.

03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:39 pm We do HVAC installs/replacement/repairs. It is very likely that a zoning damper system could be installed that would correct your problem. We don't do Houston but there are many companies out that way who could put in a damper system for you. You don't have to change any of your HVAC equipment. It would just be a matter of a zone control board, two new stats, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. A couple motorized dampers installed in your ductwork to isolate downstairs from upstairs. Depending on duct modifications needed it could be done for around 4 grand. It would be the next best thing to having two systems and a whole lot cheaper.

Four grand, huh? Hm. Might have to look into that. What would make the price more attractive is that we have a small linen closet off the top of the stairs. Not much storage space, but behind it, in the attic, is unused space about feet wide and a little longer than that before the roof starts to slope, call it 11 or so feet of useable length by building shelves/cabinets against the back. I'd thought about cutting out the rear of the closet and building out and insulating another room--as in maybe a reloading and tinkering space, which I really don't have now--but knew that me just trying to duct tape a spliced A/C duct run over there would do more harm than good. But maybe that could be done professionally as part of the whole zoning damper thing. Hm.

My wife will not be happy if I bring this up...

Take Down Sicko wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:13 pm ...Good pick. I recently bought an LG 7500 BTU window unit from Home Dopey but havent installed it yet. I mainly bought it for emergency use but will most likely use it in conjunction with my home A/C on specially hot summer days.

It's still running!

It cools the shed/studio/thing down so fast, even when it's in direct sunlight, that I thought briefly about another window unit for upstairs. We don't have a dual zone system, and the thermostat is on the staircase landing between floors. I guess it's a decent compromise place to put it, but on baking hot August days there can be almost 8 degrees difference between downstairs and up. The central A/C has to run like crazy if we want to keep the upstairs around 76...and then the downstairs is a chilly 70ish. So I figured for a few hundred bucks we could ease the load on the central system and still keep the upstairs comfortable.

Then I read the HOA rules. What they can't see behind the back fence is fine, but anything hanging out of any upstairs window is a no-go and would have HOA Karens threatening to fine us.

loscar141 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 7:58 pm

loscar141 wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 8:00 pm i bought the cheapest 5000btu Walmart window ac unit, a few years ago and used it when we lost power from hurricane harvey. i stored it in my garage until one month ago my ac went out, it was going to take a couple of days before getting it fix so i put the window unit into our 12x15ft room and it worked great, kept the room super cold. so yes you will get lemons sometime but they are not all trash.

Update.

Came home to my house smelling like burnt plastic. I check the air handler in the garage to find a partially melted relay. call my AC guy to see if he can fix it, he came over right away, but bad news is he didnt have the part, so he is coming back tomorrow. In the mean time I pulled out my cheap window ac unit and put into my 12x15 room and its working great.

Aargh. I hate A/C problems...and especially houses smelling like burning tires!

I ended up going with an LG for the shed/studio. It's working perfectly so far (knock on wood). Not that I'd ever want to have to move it, but your situation reminds me that now, if the central unit blows up when it's 101 degrees and 75% humidity in Houston, at least I'll now have the option to pull it and stick it in the bedroom window.

Weldonjr2001 wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 9:05 am My only contribution is to caution against GE or Whirlpool. I’m on my 5th one of those right now. Almost like clockwork they fail about every 3 years, mostly when summer is upon us. I need one fast in this south Texas summer, Lowe’s is right up the street and that’s what they carry, at least up to now. I keep expecting the new one to be better than the previous ones, and I’m always disappointed.

I have a large 600 sq. ft. room that was built after my central AC was ducted to the other parts of the house, and a window AC plus ceiling fans to distribute the cool air is absolutely necessary for this room.

I WILL buy another brand next time.

Gracias for that. Yeah; I have a Lowes less than a mile and two turns from me, but I'm tempted not to buy there. No real experience with Whirlpool, but when the house was built (Lennar, which I don't recommend, either) they used all GE appliances. The GE washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator, and built-in microwave all died by year 9; dishwasher was the first to go after 5 years. Used to be a reliable American brand, but I stay away from it now. Shame.

Another forum member recommended Abt Electronics as a place to buy: 85-year-old company; free 3-day shipping on every window unit I've checked so far; they'll give you a code for $25 off on your 1st visit (purchase must be over $250, code good for only 1 week, but we plan to buy next Saturday no matter where so we can take advantage of the sales tax holiday); and they have free "lifetime" tech support on most everything except computers and home automation gear (that isn't warranty, just support, but it's something). Plus they seem to have easily accessible PDFs from the manufacturer for all units. Among other brands, they carry LG, Frigidaire, and Friedrich, which it looks like where we've narrowed our selection to. The same member noted that if you plan to buy two, you may want to use the initial discount on one, then wait because they'll often offer another discount on a subsequent purchase for new customers.

So this round I think we'll order online. Either Abt, Amazon, or Sam's Club. Free shipping at all three; Abt has the better selection; and with the $25 discount one of the Frigidaires that's on the list is actually the same price at all three.

puma guy wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 3:48 pmFriedrich

Huh. How is it I'd never heard of them? Texas company, no less, founded by Ed Friedrich in San Antonio in 1883. https://www.friedrich.com/about/company-history Looks like they're sold, at least around Houston, only at specialty stores. Only two dealers showing within 35 miles of me. Research required, but the products themselves look solid. Thanks!

Good thing we thought about this a couple of weeks before we intended to buy. I mean, it's nowhere near the money commitment of a nice rifle, but I really don't want to have to go through the work of installing and sealing this thing in only to find it's died and needs to be removed again just a couple of months down the road.

Many thanks, everyone! Geez; 10 years? That's longer than my central A/C lasted before I had to replace it. I hadn't even thought in those terms, especially after my neighbor's 2-month experience.

I'd never considered the run-it-periodically thing. Kinda like a car you're storing for a while? Keep the coolant circulating? My neighbor already took his Tosot Chinese model to the recycler, but he did mention that he could never see any evidence that the coolant had actually leaked out. I wonder if the coolant was still in there but just couldn't circulate after being shut off for 5 months. He said their customer service gave him no troubleshooting options, just "ship it back" as the only choice.

And LG and Arctic Air really weren't on the radar. Glad I asked.

LimaCharlie3: Manual controls would be just fine for us since the unit will only be about three steps away from the desk/bench. And looking at this article from Consumer Reports, for our baked-in-the-sun building we figured 5,000 BTU was what we'd be looking for (and I lied earlier: it isn't 10x12, it's 10x15; not a big deal for the A/C, doesn't seem, but no wonder it felt a little bigger than 120 sq ft). Even though a unit that size isn't going to be very heavy, I'm not sure I trust the structural integrity of the window where it's gonna go, so am planning on using one of those external braces to help support it against the exterior wall.

And RPBrown, I hadn't thought of looking at a heat pump, either. We'd just assumed we'd use ceramic space heaters in the winter (we bought an extra one of those with the intent of letting it keep the garage from freezing in February's icepocalypse, but then, of course, no electricity for days). The little building actually isn't bad in the typical Houston winter; it's sealed pretty well. But the aluminum shell simply bakes in the summer sun. If it's a cloudless August day, it's a sauna in there. Going to do some research on it.

We have a 10x12 prefab building we put in the back with the intent of it housing lawn & garden stuff. But I keep the mower in the garage just because it's easier, so less than 20 sq. ft. is actually used in the building in back. So we want to turn it into a sort of arts & crafts room. But it needs A/C.

A neighbor bought a window unit last September and it worked great. Didn't need it after November, so it stayed powered off until a few weeks ago. He turned it, fired right up, but no cold air. An error F0 and the company--Chinese with a U.S. office--says he needs to ship it back on his dime for them to repair or replace under warranty; evidently the coolant leaked out. The unit was a low price, and the shipping would equal about half the cost of the unit. He is not happy. The A/C actually worked for only 8 weeks.

We don't want to spend a lot for a best-in-class type thing. We just want one that we can have reasonable confidence will run for a couple of years. With the sales tax holiday in 8 days, seems like a good time to buy.

To our knowledgeable forum members: What's a reliable brand for a window A/C unit? Thanks in advance!