We Tried All the Under-$250 Window ACs

Year after year, this simple air conditioner with analog dial controls is one of the top-selling air conditioners because of its low price and solid reputation.New Yorkcopy editor Roxy Bonafont had an easy time installing the unit in her 121-square-foot office and appreciates the screenless design and simple knob controls — but not the noises it makes on its highest setting. “It rattles and makes a whistling sound, sort of like the sound the wind would make if you were falling from an extreme height with no parachute in aMission: Impossiblemovie,” said Bonafont. “It can be distracting.” She also notes that while it’s effective at cooling her office on hot days, the lack of a thermostat makes it difficult to maintain a consistent, comfortable temperature.

“This seems like a decent version of the standard cheap window AC,” said features writer Madeline Leung Coleman after putting it in a 130-square-foot room. She described the noise as “neither deafening nor dead quiet” but notes that the hum of the compressor can be pretty noticeable when she cranks the cooling control knob to its maximum setting. Like the Frigidaire (and other knob-controlled models), there’s no thermostat, but it does a good job of maintaining a comfortable temperature over time. “It gets the job done for a reasonable price,” said Coleman. “But I’ve used other similar models that did the job just as well.”

Senior men’s style editor Samuel Hine tested the updated and upgraded version of the 5,000 BTU Frigidaire in his 77-square-foot bedroom and was impressed by its performance and intuitive interface, but was also frustrated by the noise. “I’m a light sleeper, and I find it is too loud to keep on through the night,” said Hine. “It makes that rumbling sound that I associate with small, cheap window units that I’ve had in so many apartments.” It does have a sleep mode, but Hine found it only turned off the screen and didn’t affect the noise level. While he appreciates that the remote comes with batteries, he laments having to get up from bed to program the unit’s timer functions. Overall, Hine thinks the remote and thermostat make it a decent choice for a smaller living area but would not recommend it for sleeping.

Della is known for its excellentmini-split heating and cooling systems, so I was eager to experience its new window units. Photo director of The Cut Noelle Lacombe said it was easy to install in a long, sunny 200-square-foot hallway and found it effective at cooling the entire area. The long space took a bit more time to cool down than expected — about half an hour — but once it reached the target temperature, the digital thermostat did a good job of maintaining it. Lacombe described the steady humming noise it makes as “very tolerable” and reminiscent of a white-noise machine. She also appreciated that it came with a remote. It also supports Wi-Fi control via Della’s simple-to-use app.

Della also makes a smaller AC, with manual controls, for a bit less. When it’s available, it’s one of the cheapest ACs you can buy, and it’s no less functional than ones made by more established brands. Strategist beauty writer Tembe Denton-Hurst confirmed that hers was effective at cooling and noted that it was less loud than her similarly sized, eight-year-old Frigidaire with analog dials.

LG consistently makes some of the best full-size window ACs around, so it’s no surprise that its small ones are similarly impressive. “It cools fast and isn’t offensively loud,” said Strategist lead editor Lauren Levy of the unit she installed in her daughter’s 100-square-foot bedroom. It takes only five to seven minutes to cool the space, and, even without a thermostat, it maintains a comfortable temperature at its lowest setting. “On the high fan setting it sounds like a whirring with a bit of a buzz, but not much. On the lower setting, the whooshing goes down by quite a bit, but there is a bit more of a buzz.” Her daughter has no trouble sleeping through either setting. Levy also appreciates that the vents point upward, so it’s more difficult to catch a chill while sleeping. “For an under-$200 AC for a small room, it does the job well.”

This is a good option if you prefer forward-facing vents to feel the wind on your skin. We didn’t test this unit, but it’s basically the same AC as the other LG in a more modern-looking body.

If your room is larger than 150 square feet but smaller than 250 square feet, this Frigidaire is slightly larger, slightly more powerful, and slightly quieter than the 5,000 BTU version. Vulture editorial producer Britina Cheng had an easy time installing it in her 174-square-foot bedroom and reported it is effective at cooling the space quickly and maintaining a comfortable temperature. She finds the white noise it generates to be tolerable for sleeping and preferable to the sounds emanating from the restaurant on the first floor of her building.

The Windmill Lite doesn’t perform any better than the other ACs on this part of the list, but it does look more modern and has a nice automatically dimming control panel with satisfyingly click-y buttons. I installed it in our guest bedroom and found that it’s less rumbly sounding than the cheapest Frigidaire with the analog knobs. I personally would not have a hard time sleeping through the white noise, but my mother-in-law is a lighter sleeper and prefers to turn it off before she winds down. What really sets this AC apart is its easy-to-use Wi-Fi, which allows you to monitor the temperature and control it remotely or on a schedule. It also comes with a basic remote with batteries. Overall, it offers a lot of convenient features for under $200.