Had someone told me I needed to measure my window before buying an air conditioning unit, I wouldn’t be in the mess I was in.
I walked into the store and told them I needed a window air conditioning unit for my bedroom.
No one said they had different sizes or that they were different BTUs. I knew how big my bedroom was and gave him the dimensions. He quickly figured out many BTUs I needed and pointed out several air conditioning units that work for my bedroom. One looked huge, and I was afraid it would be too big for me to lift and install. I wasn’t petite, but I wasn’t a monster like some men I knew. I looked at the smaller one and although it had the same BTU on the label, it weighed a mere fifty pounds. I hefted the AC unit and knew it was the right one for me. The man didn’t tell me it had to be blocked on both sides and that there was nothing to fan out and create a tight fit. I got the AC unit home, opened up the box, and took it into my bedroom. I had it seated in the window and the window was down, but I had four inches of open air space on both sides of the window. Now, what was I going to do? The directions said to build a box for the air conditioning unit. It was made to go in the wall and not in a window. I called my brother and told him I needed help, because I wasn’t going back for another air conditioning unit.