In February of 2021, I moved to my current apartment, which meant I got a good deal on an apartment being in the middle of the pandemic, and it also meant I didn’t know what the summer would be like in the unit. I live on the 7th floor of a walk up. (No, this is not a typo.) What that means come summer though is that three sides of the unit and the roof above are in direct sunlight essentially baking me throughout the day. Thus, an air conditioner became a critical purchase. Again though, to my demise, I didn’t understand how BTU strength worked, and made the stupid choice of buying a $150 unit on Amazon. It puttered away, never making anything all that cooler, and then would freeze from the condensated water and not let any air pass through.
This week, I junked it, and invested in something new. I went with a July AC unit. Honestly, it’s great. For only $300 more for this unit than I paid for what was really just a molded oscillating fan, you’d think this thing was built by NASA. I had to put on a sweater last night. That is the kind of chill I’ve been craving in late June. The “medium” size, 8,000 BTUs power this thing, and while July says it covers 350 square feet of space, in a railroad-style apartment like mine that creates a channel for the air to flow through the whole unit.
Installing the July is definitely a two person job. The packaging makes it easy to set up the frame that goes in the window, but you really need someone else to brace the thing while you fit it through the opening in the frame. Nobody wants anything tipping out of the window into the alley below. It’s worth noting though, of course, this is true of almost all other AC units.
The thing is, I don’t usually go in for the whole smart device thing. I think, at least in many cases, it’s an upcharge for smart things that I don’t really end up using anyway. For July, this means I can toggle it on or off remotely from an app on my phone. It becomes a remote for the unit, which isn’t that necessary when I’m also at home and can walk over and turn it off. The thing that makes it worth its weight in gold is when I’m coming home. (Reminder: 7th floor walkup baking in the summer sun while I’m at work.) I’ll turn the unit on when I’m about a couple blocks away. That way, when I get back, it’s already chilled out enough to be a livable condition. Now, my apartment can be as cold as a meat locker and I don’t wake up sweating from the heat. That means the 7th floor apartment has no downsides, just great views.
July AC Unit
This smart AC from July is programmed by an app to turn on and off and adjust speed from your phone, so you can keep your place cool without having to wait.