Frigidaire FAA086P7A - Air conditioner - window mounted - white

I purchased an 8000 BTU in 2003. When I installed it in 2007 (would have been its fourth year) it would no longer work. After sweating for over a month I received this unit (faa086p7a) as a replacement. It is now 2011, and it no longer works. It appears that these units have an almost exact three year life span, at least in my experience.

Great price, super fast shipping! A/C works great and has a lot of features for the price (remote control with temperature sensor, on/off timer, energy saver mode, etc.) The unit is certainly not silent but it is relatively quiet in the sense that someone could probably sleep with this unit on the low or medium setting. Very easy installation, I also have the 5200 BTU version of this A/C unit and it worked so well that I bought this 8000 BTU unit and it was well worth the money.

On the upside, it works fast, and it works well -- no complaints there (haven't compared the bill against the unit it replaced, so can't speak to how energy efficient it is). The downside was almost a dealbreaker: this bad boy is LOUD. I'm a veteran Manhattan apartment dweller, so I'm no stranger to window units, and I know from A/C noise. I have had four other window units and none of them even approaches the decibel level on this thing. It's bad. You can't use a phone in the room when it's on, even on the lowest setting, and I have missed deliveries because I couldn't hear the door buzzer, which is ear-piercing, over the noise the unit makes. Doesn't seem to matter whether the compressor is running or not; it roars.

It was reasonably priced and is much more efficient then the one it replaced. I am close to the max area it is rated for. Takes about 4 hours to cool down the room though. I probably should have gone with a 10,000 BTU machine that could have done the job quicker. Overall a good buy.

I bought this unit with the idea that it would cool at least the living room and kitchen in my apartment (which are adjacent), and maybe the bedroom (across the hall). This seemed possible based BTU recommendations for our apartment's size, but in reality it was not possible. I would recommend this for just one room, perhaps smaller than my 17'x12' living room, as it has yet to get down to the 78 degrees I have on the thermostat. The instructions are also no help if you have a metal frame for the window and storm window as we have in our apartment. We had to just wing it, and it was a pain to install. I wish I had gotten the 10,000 BTU for only $20 more.