Can anyone recommend a good air conditioner?

It will be my first time ever purchasing one, I've got no clue as to what look for.

The heat is becoming unbearable.. :)

I just installed a Trane. My old one finally bit the proverbial dust and left me in the heat. I live in Arizona, USA so airconditioning is a must to survive here.

Energy costs have been about 65% of what the old one used.

I got a Maytag this year that is awesome. The REALLY nice thing about it is that it came with a 5 year onsite warranty (not that I expect to use it).

I really need to buy one. It's pretty hot here.

I highly recommend 'Sharp Confort Touch':
http://www.sharpusa.com/products/TypeLanding/0,1056,1,00.html

It's fairly quiet and comes with a remote control (very important - to me at least).

It's 68F in my room right now - chilly.

At our old house we had Samsung airconditioners (wall units). They were really good and made minimal impact to our power bill once they were installed. The cost for these was approx. US$280 per unit and each unit cooled a small-medium sized room with no hassles (they were cooling only though).

I recently moved out and sold mine, but next summer (it's currently winter here) I'll probably get a Samsung split system.

Daikin is an excellent brand as well but can be a bit expensive.

The best airconditioning we ever had was our house we moved out of about 4 years ago. It was a Honeywell ducted system from memory (well, the control panel said Honeywell), cost about AU$30,000 (US$~16500). The good thing about it was to save energy you could turn off individual rooms that nobody was in, so for example, during the day we would have the lounge room, kitchen, dining rooms and offices switched on. At night we would have only the bedrooms switched on.

Basically what you'll buy depends on if you want to do the whole house or just an individual room (or rooms).

--Shaun

I live in AZ as well. Indeed, it is hotter than hell here. :dgrin:

It's midnight so I'm not going to go outside and check what kind of AC we have.

do you want a wall / window unit or like ... central air?

I was thinking of getting a wall/window unit for now.

no experience with their airconditioners but my finacee's parents have had a Maytag washing machine and dryer that's lasted for over 20 years. One's had it's motor replaced once, and a couple of belts. Beyond that both run as well as they day they were made.

Greg Moore

Just a hint with airconditioners...

Depending on use, they will lose their cooling/heating effect over time (especially with the larger systems). Every few years you will need to get them refilled with the refrigerant gas.

It doesn't cost much and usually only takes the airconditioner mechanic a short period of time depending on the size of your system.

Our last ducted system lasted about 5 years (mentioned in my previous post.. served 4 bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, 2 lounge rooms and a few offices) running basically 24/7 before it lost its "touch" and had to be re-gassed.

--Shaun

Well, they only need freon if they have a leak. Which, of course, can happen. But, some systems run forever and never need any added.

I'd go along with the Maytag side of things. Speaking as someone that spent years in the refrigeration and air-conditioning repair business; I would have been broke if all I could work on was Maytag products. They really are quite well built.

I've got an old, energy guzzling Fedders that's about the size of a Buick...but it's still working after about 10 years and a couple of rough moves. I'm pretty happy with it. :)