6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Ok ... so-so
Date of Review: Sep 14, 2006
The Bottom Line: I would NOT count on this unit to significantly cool it's maximum sqft rating. If you need maximum cooling, or have really hot temps,buy a larger unit.
Turned my 3 yr old Haier (12000btu ... same as this Amana) in on a warranty exchange when it seemed to not be cooling the room in hot weather like it first did (elecrical or thermostat problems I'm guessing) ... so the Amana was effectively free.
The Amana does not get as cold as my Haier did when it was new. The fan in it is not as powerful. And it does not have the "air sweep" feature that the Haier did which was a GREAT feature (this would sweep the air flow back and forth across the room from far right to far left.)
I would gladly have traded the Amana's rather suspect "UV light antibacterial air treatment" feature (just another thing to go wrong) for the air sweep feature.
We haven't had another 90 degree day yet since I got the Amana ... but I expect it will cool the room(s) acceptably, though not as well as the haier did when it was new.
The other issue is that to put the Amana in a window, you are *required* to remove a bunch of screws, remove the control panel, take out the entire internals of the machine, do some misc stuff , mount the bracing hardware on the empty case ... and then return everything together after the empty "case" has been mounted into the window.
Now, it DID make for an excellent fit into the window ... and would be ideal if you need to really be careful of your window frame, trim etc ... but is took over a 1-1/2 hours to install (the installation instructions are vague and really suck).
As the Amana was effectively free ... it is ok ... but probably less so if I had paid retail ($318 to $370) ... mainly because I suspect it's cooling is only mediocre ... unless it really kicks some butt when we get some more 90 degree weather.
9-15-06
Following some complaints about the above review ... here is some further requested information ...
The epinions "View Details" section did not cover such basics such as the features etc.
The features for this unit are:
Cool, Fan, Dehumidify, and Energy saver (which turns the unit on only when the room temperature rises above the threshold you set).
It also has an internal UV lightbulb in it that is supposed to kill bacteria in the air.
As it does already state in the "View Details" section, the unit comes with a remote control.
The controls are a touch-pad.
Making an enlarged photo available to epinions readers would help to view this and other details.
As far as cooling capacity ... manufacturers do not specify a square feet capacity but retailers will be happy to give you their opinion.
As there is no express manufacturers square foot rating for cooling capacity on air conditioners ... and recommendations will come from the retailer ... my review was meant to suggest that readers reduce the "guestimation" they receive by an appropriate amount.
If epinions wants to help readers understand the square feet an air conditioner will cool, then a link to a chart should be provided. This would be helpful.
Generally it is an industry standard to recommend that every 1000 btu cools about 40 to 50sqft when using a thru the window air conditioner depending on characteristics of the room such as number of windows and exterior walls etc. So a 12000 btu unit would be expected to cool approx 480 to 600 sqft. As noted above, I think this unit would be at the lower end of the range.
And while a 12000 btu unit *will* cool an area considerably larger than 480 to 600 sqft (up to a point) the unit will be running incessantly which will likely affect it's lifespan.
How much will it cost to run this air conditioner??
This unit will cost you about 10-1/4 cents (just over 10 cents) per hour to run while its cooling.
