Air Conditioner - Window Unit (1 Viewer)

[Henry Gale]

Looking for suggestions on quality room air conditioners.
A friend of mine in Ft. Worth is in need of a new unit and I want to get something with an EER of 10 or better. About 10,000 BTU.
I was shocked to find that Best Buy, Sears, Lowes and Home Depot think, "The season is over." That's how they explain their lack of stock.
If it's 102 degrees in the shade, and I want a new AC unit, how can the season be over?
I was told by an uncle that if I shopped Lowes online they would send my choice to the nearest store. That doesn't seem to be the case as Lowes site announced my choice of a particular Frigidaire was "not available" anywhere in Ft. Worth.
Any ideas?

 

[JoeyR]

Stay away from a brand like Carrier, your paying extra money for the name and then you have to go to Carrier for parts, stay away from heat pumps, I'm not sure where your at but try the local supply houses, your probably have to pay more but the choices you listed(storewise) is about your only choices.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> I was shocked to find that Best Buy, Sears, Lowes and Home Depot think, "The season is over."

Retail stores are always like that- by mid summer they stop selling swimsuits and by mid winter they stop selling the cold weather stuff.

If people planned ahead like they should, that would make sense, but since we don't...

You'd think in TX they'd stock A/C units year-round, but I'm sure they had to clear them out to make room for the Halloween stuff. :frowning:

 

[John Alvarez]

I think your close to Brand Smart?

 

[MarkHastings]

Sorry about the OT, butI know! WTF??? My Birthday is Aug. 2nd and I get a lot of Gift Cards to clothing stores. In CT, Aug. 2nd was the HOTTEST day of the year, but good luck finding shorts and t-shirts at the store!

And why do these place start putting out Christmas crap in Sept. when everyone does their shopping on Dec. 24th?

 

[Kevin Alexander]

What are you trying to cool? A bedroom?... Living room?... If you do a little research first, you'll find that 10,000 BTU may be too much for just a bedroom. The extra cooling capacity will put loads of moisture into the air and give the room a sticky feel. For just a bedroom, a 5000 BTU (smaller bedroom) - 7000 BTU (larger bedroom) will do. For a very, very, very large open space, a 10000 BTU unit will be fine. Sometimes we see the big BTU numbers and we think that bigger is better, but that's not the case. Keep in mind, too, that cool air doesn't travel around corners. It just stays in the room that the unit is in from about your standing position down. Measure your room first to determine your BTU needs, then go from there. You may save yourself alot of money from the cost of the unit and energy costs. Hope this helps.

 

[Henry Gale]

1) A girl.
2) I did.
3) What would help is a store in Ft. Woth that had a good selection of air conditioners for sale....now that I'm 300 miles down the road and can't cruise around Tarrant County.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have measured the space. I know what I want and what I need....I just can't find it.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

Sorry, but at the end of summer you'll be had pressed to find a good selection of ACs. If longer hotter summers become a trend in the next few years, maybe you'll start seeing a good year round selection. If they ordered more for just this summer, they'd lose money and precious floorspace trying to sell the extra stock this winter. Your friend will have to probably endure the next few weeks, or check out an online specialty vendor.