Haier HWR10XC6 10,000-BTU Window Air Conditioner with Remote Control
by Haier
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Haier HWR10XC6 10,000-BTU Window Air Conditioner with Remote Control
Customer Review: Cools my Garage and Shop Area well.
Summary: 5 Stars
As most folks know Florida weather is generally great in the winter months, but come around summer time it can be the pits. The heat and particularly the high humidity will make you a prisoner of you air conditioned House. I'm retired and fortunately only have to go out for necessary things like cold beer and I guess food at times.
I have a house with central air conditioning, so no problem keeping cool there. But I also have a large two car garage where I have a fairly large work area with a work bench also. That whole area is not air conditioned, and gets super hot in the summer. I like to keep my car clean and polished plus there are repairs and projects I do in my work area. I had no desire to go in there with the heat to do what I had to get done, so I decided to put a window air conditioner in the one window I have in there.
I chose this Haier window AC because of the reviews on it, the reasonable price plus I own a Haire 4 slice digital toaster which is outstanding, and was hoping this AC was of the same quality. " which it seems to be so far ".
My garage is approximately 520 SF and my 2 car garage door is aluminum and not insulated, so I knew I was pushing the capacity limits of a 10,000 BTU AC. But I figured that all I needed was the humidity down and the temperature down enough to make it reasonably comfortable to work in.
Installing it is fairly easy, if you are not familiar with doing it go to " You Tube " and put in How to install a window AC. There are many videos there to show you how to do it. I finally got it installed and had all the openings sealed up which was not to difficult, although it took an hour to do properly. You will need some help getting it up there and holding it secure it weigh's nearly 70 pounds. Watch a couple of the videos ,they have different tips on how to seal it off properly.
I had it running for over an hour before it got the humidity down and pulled the temperature down to where it was comfortable in there. Not as cool and comfortable as my house but nevertheless comfortable enough to work in. I also use a floor fan to circulate the air better. It basically accomplished what I wanted without spending a lot more for a larger AC.
The remote is great, all I have to do is open my kitchen door which is my rear entrance to the garage, click and I can control the AC which is on the far side of the garage. Now all I have to do is wait till it cools down, than do what I have to in there. Being in the garage the noise level was not important to me, but it did not seem that loud. This AC should work well for up to a 400 to nearly a 500 sq. ft. indoor area that's insulated since it did quite well on my uninsulated garage.
Customer Review: Expensive, Loud and Poorly Designed
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a 6000 BTU air conditioner (another make and model) up towards the sunny side of our house and it cools the front half to the point where the first room feels like a meat locker. I have this one out back in a spacious living room/kitchen area and aside from the first 3 feet in front of this air conditioner, it makes absolutely no difference in the ambient temperature whatsoever.
The blower they used with this model is too small to handle 10000 BTU so insufficient air moves through the coolant grill. That causes an immediate build up of frost and ice which, in my unit, becomes a large, solid block of ice within an hour or two. The thermostat is attached TO THE GRILL so it reads temperatures WAY below the actual room temperature and with the ice buildup, results in shutdown (which is a good safety factor I guess) after the ice builds up and before any actual house cooling takes place.
When the ice melts though, it has NO place to go as there is no drain spout installed in this unit so if the fan stays on, water comes flying out of the front and all over my rug. As the unit is designed, the water is supposed to miraculously pour over the side of the large lipped tray with the unit installed using a steep tilt towards the back. You'd need a 20 degree tilt to achieve any useful drainage and that makes the unit essentially useless out of the box. I found an area on the back right of the unit where a hole could be safely drilled in the bottom to provide drainage. Water POURED out afterwards (pints, no joke). I drained it, blew it out with an air compressor to get rid of all the remaining moisture, ran a dehumidifier upstairs for 2 days and 45 minutes after I turned this unit back on, block of ice (though somewhat limited towards the bottom this time...the top 1/10 of the unit seemed to finally stay ice free).
This is NOT a 10000 BTU air conditioner or at least it can't work like one. It's good for a small, single room with a closed door because there's a very small air volume there and the room will cool so fast it will shut off and prevent large ice buildup. I still strongly recommend you drill a drainage hole in a safe area of the unit so you give the water a place to go and prevent mold buildup. If you have mold problems in your house, do NOT buy this. Even with a drainage hole, far to much water collects and stays inside this unit and you'll end up with a sick house.
I really regret buying this. It's very expensive, it's fatally designed, it's VERY LOUD, can only cool a tiny, enclosed space and is all around a lousy air conditioner.
Customer Review: Great price & value for those hot, humid summer months
Summary: 5 Stars
I just moved into a new apartment, and - while the prior tenants had just bought a new air conditioner, it wasn't powerful enough (FYI; air conditioners can ONLY cool ONE room - and they really can't blow air around corners, so whenever you're looking for ANY a.c., always figure out what the square footage of your space is, and buy one that has the proper BTU's accordingly. You don't want an a.c. that doesn't have enough BTU's for your space).
As it's always best to buy an air conditioner before summer, I wanted to get one now, that would do my large living room justice, and not have it 'straining' at it's top setting, just to make the room 'bearable'.
I had a Haier previously (and the previous tenants had bought a Haier as well). I like them - they're economical, and they perform well.
I found this one here at Amazon, and the price (for that BTU's) was very good for me. That's really my main concern (as well as the EER. You should always look for the best EER possible, because it means it'll cost you less to run it). The fact that this air conditioner comes with a remote was only an added plus.
Some nice features are it's got a humidity setting, and I always liked air conditioners that you could set by TEMPERATURE - and NOT by LOW, MED, HIGH). It's more accurate, and also means, you'll have the machine operate ONLY when it reaches an uncomfortably high temperature (the government suggests 77º).
At this point, I'd just like to make reference to another person's comment regarding the energy saver mode (he said - rightfully - that the a.c. turns off longer than 3 minutes). It DOES - HOWEVER, while I believe that's a mistake on HAIER's part regarding printing, what energy saver DOES do is it gets your room to several degrees below what you've set the a.c. for. It then cycles off UNTIL it reaches a degree below or so to what you set it for. This is NOT a fault of the machine. It's a GREAT MONEY SAVING feature. If you'd feel better, you can always turn off the energy saver feature and let it chug along non-stop. But once you understand WHAT it's DOING, you'll feel better knowing it IS saving you money.
Put all this together in a nice, compact, window size (with added extendible side-fins to fit bigger windows) makes this Haier a winner.
Customer Review: I'm Loving It...
Summary: 5 Stars
Update 11-28-08: I've had this for 2 summers now & it still works like new...
.....pros.....
+...It works great for my medium-sized apartment, keeping it cool.
+...It's reasonably quiet on low fan speed; at least quieter than my last air conditioner. (An inexpensive G.E. model)
+...Sleek, modern design with good looks, electronic keypad, temp sensor & remote control.
+...Multiple settings, with 3 fan speeds (high; med; low) for each: "Fan"; "Cool"; "Energy Saver"; and "Dehumidifier".
+...Great price! (At least at the time I bought it) :)
.....cons.....
-...Installation instructions are a little weak- it's best to have experienced help- drilling involved.
-...The included side flaps have a number of air gaps. I recommend white duct tape for extra sealing.
-...It advertises "Whisper Quiet" on the box- seems like a bit of marketing exaggeration, in my opinion.
-...Temperature sensor seems to be a bit off at times.
-..."Energy Saver" seems tricky- instructions say it'll shut off for 3 minutes periodically- mine seems to shut off for good.
In spite of these issues, I'm giving this 5 stars- I'm exceedingly happy with it! We get a number of searingly hot 100+ degree summer days with humidity here in Chicago, and my apartment is keeping cool to say the least. I even have to switch to fan sometimes to keep it from getting too cold; it's really that effective. 5 Stars!
P.S. This review is for White 10,000 BTU Window A/C by Haier- Amazon ASIN B000CSXTF8. About the temp setting on the keypad: This setting controls when the cold air kicks in. If the temp setting is too high, the cold air will never turn on. If you set it to around 75 degrees or lower, that will indicate that when temperatures rise higher than that, the air conditioner will start the cooling process. Setting it at 70 degrees will likely have the cold air blasting all the time, even to the point of the whole thing freezing over. This temp setting can be adjusted by using the up & down keys. Keep hitting the down key until the cold air kicks in.
Customer Review: Buy 5 Stars
I bought two of these units to cool down 1100 sq. ft, and they are awesome. We also purchased a little Laskco/Stanley air mover on Amazon to circulate the air, and they work wonderfully together. If we leave the door closed; the one in our bedroom gets so cold that we have to elevate the temperature setting.I love the digital temeprature monitor, and the remote control is a huge bonus! You will not beat this price for a 10,000 BTU unit. This very same unit costs double at most appliance stores. We bought two of these units on a Wednesday, and they arrived the very next day.
I don't know what other people were talking about when they said that the energy saver function doesn't work. It works great for use...perhaps they live in a climate where there are 100+ degree days. We have had 95 degree days here in NJ, and yeah... late afternoon when the sun is beating down on the house and the unit, it is not going to cool the house down to 60, but it does at reasonable at 70-74 degrees.
I would also like to address some of the complaints about not being able to reach anyone at Haier. I agree the phone numbers are not exactly easy to find, but I do have them and they are as follows:
Haier Parts: (800)313-8495
Haier Customer Service: (877)337-3639
In my personal experience, Haier employees have been extremely helpfull and curtious. For example, my dog chewed one of the power supply cords (thank God it wasn't on at the time). I called Haier Parts and Services line, and they sent a new cord out to me by the next day (of course at my own expense). But contrary to what some people have reported, Haier customer service does exist, and I had a good experience with them. For $187 each, I took my chances with Haier, and I couldn't be happier. Good luck!