Buying an air conditioning unit needn’t be a traumatic journey – provided you are aware of the basics. First, get enlightened on how air conditioners work and the components that make up the setup. Once you’re done with some learning, you should be well-equipped to go ahead with your shopping.

Determining the Type

Air conditioning systems are primarily categorized into: a central cooling unit and a unit air conditioner. The unit conditioner is the traditional large box that fits into the window of a room. The central cooling setup connects the whole house to a single system, with cool air entering each room via vents.

Unit air conditioners are ideal for people on a budget, and who live in a small apartment, house or studio. If you have a bigger house with multiple rooms and aren’t keen on switching each system on individually, a central cooling setup is what you need. However, you’ll have to pay the additional price.

Measuring window and room dimensions when buying an air conditioner is important. This is because the purchase decision is almost entirely based on the space you’d like to keep cool. When measuring the room, take into account its width, height and length. Don’t leave out the window in the process, so that you don’t buy an air conditioner that doesn’t fit into your room’s secondary opening.

Buying the Product

Before shopping, ensure the model you’ve zeroed upon has a fairly good reputation floating around. In other words, look up Consumer Reports and online review sites to make sure your chosen model is a recommended buy. This exercise would also help you learn more about the positives and flaws about the product. Don’t buy a specific model without researching, and it’s best to not experiment with new or unknown brands.

If you’re a first-time buyer or even otherwise, don’t buy air conditioners online. It’s generally difficult to assess and judge a unit that’s sold online. Also shipping back defective products can be a hassle. It’s recommended you head to a superstore that sells home appliances, or specializes in selling air conditioners with the air conditioning service hughesairco.com.

Things to Know

When buying a new air conditioner, there are specific product details and attributes to look into:

￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾ﾿￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾀ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ Warranty: Warranty is pivotal to any electronic item you purchase. Ensure your air conditioner has at least a year-long warranty, covering labor and replacement of various unit parts. In case of damage, the warranty ensures you get the unit serviced for free or get a fresh unit as replacement, if the damage is beyond repair.

￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾ﾿￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾀ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ Temperature: Look into the temperature settings. If you live in hot weather conditions, the air conditioner should be able to descend to single digit numbers. Also, temperature increments in single degree notches are recommended for precision.

￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾ﾿￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾀ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ Sleep setting: Also called the energy saver function, the air conditioner must be able to slow down the cooling process substantially, to help save energy and money.

￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾ﾿￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾀ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾ﾿￯ﾾﾯ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾾ￯﾿ﾯ￯ﾾﾾ￯ﾾﾢ Slide-out filter: All unit air conditioners come with a filter that requires periodic cleaning. If there’s a choice, go for an air conditioner with the slide-out filter as it is convenient to pop out and re-install the thing.