Smallest, most quiet window air conditioner

[Kanin]

I'm on the hunt for the smallest, least obnoxious window air conditioner. Both of ours got damaged in the Great Basement Sewage Debacle of 2019. Ugh! 

Our rental house is a ranch, and it's kind of long and narrow. The airflow is terrible. The living room doesn't even have windows the right size to fit an air conditioner - it's got a huge middle window panel with skinny side panels that open - but it's the sunniest room in the house. My best option is to put an a/c in the kitchen and hit the living room from one end, and then an a/c in the bedroom, and only have that room cool at night. Luckily I only really need to deal with this problem in July, August, and part of September. 

One problem is that I'm really sensitive to noises, especially intermittent ones. If a fan or a/c is not just right, the noise bugs me. I also hate those big honking units... especially since I rent, I worry about damaging the windows.

Has anyone ever found a window a/c that they love, and doesn't weigh a million pounds?

[DoraBora]

Not a window unit, but we have a ductless AC (and heater) that we attached to the wall.  It's high above the opening from our kitchen to a large sunroom and eat-in kitchen area the previous owner added to the house.  The HVAC for the rest of the house keeps that half of the downstairs warm enough during our mild winters, but summers were uncomfortable. 

It's pretty quiet -- I forget it's on -- and it cools the large area well.

Here's a link to the unit.  we've had it for about five years:

https://www.acwholesalers.com/Mitsubishi-MSZ-GL12NA-U1/p65041.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=catchbingpla&msclkid=0acc209e076712b5b76e7e41ed87e490&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%23BSC - Catch - Brand&utm_term=4581046486161887&utm_content=adg1 - Mitsubishi&

[City Mouse]

What about a portable AC unit on wheels? They do have an exhaust tube (looks kind of like a dryer vent hose) that vent through a window, but don’t put any weight on the window frame.

Edited June 9, 2020 by City Mouse

[MEmama]

32 minutes ago, City Mouse said:

What about a portable AC unit on wheels? They do have an exhaust tube (looks kind of like a dryer vent hose) that vent through a window, but don’t put any weight on the window frame.

We finally gave in last summer and bought two of these for the bedrooms. I'm a bit paranoid about the units that go right in the windows, and since we don’t need them set up for very long I don’t want to give up the ability to open a window.

I don’t know if the kind we bought are terribly quiet, though (we actually never got around to setting one up in our bedroom because the heatwave ended, but DS liked the white noise in his room). Even just running one kept the entire upstairs cool.

[Lori D.]

Here's a portable DIY cooling unit, using a 5-gallon bucket, a styrofoam bucket as a liner, some PVC pipe, a small fan, and a block of ice. No windows involved. 😄 You could use this during the day to cool the rooms, and then just a quiet fan at night just to circulate the cooled air.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Lori D.

[Andromeda]

17 hours ago, City Mouse said:

What about a portable AC unit on wheels? They do have an exhaust tube (looks kind of like a dryer vent hose) that vent through a window, but don’t put any weight on the window frame.

 

Last year we bought two portable units because our window AC was too loud. We found them quieter, but very inefficient. We insulated the vent ducts and did everything our Google search results suggested, but our electric bill was nearly double its normal amount last summer.

This year we have small GE window units with "quiet mode". They do indeed run pretty quietly, but we found that they freeze if we use quiet mode for any length of time. I mean, if you removed the front grill where the filter is, you would see a thin sheet of ice. Google told us this is because there is insufficient air flow inside the unit because the fan runs low. We are still using these, but now they are on Medium, e-save. It's louder than quiet mode, but not as loud as our previous window AC used to be.

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by RosemaryAndThyme

[fairfarmhand]

Can you put up insulating curtains in those big windows? It’ll be dark but may help with cooling. 

[Andromeda]

4 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

Have you looked at something called a split AC. We use that a lot in my native country and it is absolutely quiet compared to a window AC. The thing though is you must hang it on the wall.  If it is something you consider, here is what I am talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/PIONEER-Air-Conditioner-Minisplit-Heatpump/dp/B01DVW6G42?ref_=s9_apbd_otopr_hd_bw_bFsxe4R&pf_rd_r=WE85CGSBTHK2TG97W89B&pf_rd_p=9108b813-4320-5879-bbbc-a8902c545c87&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-12&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=14554130011

I think the split units are great, but I think the OP is in a rental. Split installation requires cutting holes in the outer wall and in some cases pouring a concrete slab or installing a bracket or something for the unit to sit on. It's a fairly permanent installation with electric wiring work required and has to be done to code (inspections, permit, etc).

Also, in my area these are rare. People are not used to seeing them. So if a house goes up for sale, the look of the split unit inside a room, no matter how small, can be a negative for a buyer in my area because these are not the norm around here. It's mainly central air and window units in older homes.