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Frigidaire provides a great-looking line of Smart Window Air Conditioners. These smart units are app-enabled air conditioners which can be controlled by automated schedules. These schedules can be easily created in Frigidaire’s app or by using the Frigidaire Skill within the Alexa mobile App. Stay tuned as I review the Pro’s and Con’s of this AC unit following four summers of use.
Let me state upfront that I am not being paid by Frigidaire to promote their products. Therefore the following review is my honest and unbiased opinion of my purchased air conditioner unit. I purchased our Frigidaire Smart Window Air Conditioner in May of 2018. So as mentioned previously, this is my fourth consecutive summer of use. The unit which I purchased is the Frigidaire Wi-Fi, 8000 BTU smart unit, which is compatible with Alexa. Frigidaire also makes Alexa compatible 10,000 and 12,000 BTU units.
Although we have central air throughout most of our 1½ story home, we do not have air condition in our upstairs master bedroom, thus the need for a window A/C unit. Our bedroom is a large room measuring 20 X 20 feet, which factors out to 400 square feet of bedroom. The 8,000 BTU unit is rated to cool up to 350 square feet, whereas the 10,000 unit will cool up to 450 and the 12,000 unit up to 550 square feet. Although the 8,000 BTU unit is slightly undersized for my room, the unit has performed superbly.
I’ve created a nightly schedule to turn on our air conditioner 20 minutes before bedtime. The room is consistently cooled to a comfortable temperature, regardless of the outside heat. Our unit is also scheduled to stop automatically in the morning. However, if we desire to sleep in or if we rise early, the unit can be easily started or stopped with an echo voice command.
What I like about the unit is its durability, efficiency, convenience and its contemporary appearance. This unit has performed flawlessly four consecutive summers, thus it gets high marks for reliability and durability. I really like the Auto fan settings and the ECO mode. I these settings provide sufficient and comfortable cooling with minimal impact on electrical cost. The real bonus, in my opinion, is the convenience of entering into a cool bedroom each evening, without the need to remember to turn the unit on in advance. Frigidaire gets high marks for the ability to control the device with smart home automations. Finally, I like the sleek and progressive design of the unit. The Frigidaire Gallery Air Conditions are the most attractive A/C units on the market.
The two things that I dislike about the Frigidaire unit is the Frigidaire App, and the fact that the unit’s control buttons are not lighted for nighttime control. The Frigidaire app is great, when it works. If you go online you will see countless articles expressing displeasure with the app due to its buggy nature. My personal recommendation is that you install the Frigidaire app and then pair your air condition unit with the app. Once your unit is paired to your Wi-Fi, you can then enable the Frigidaire 2.0 Skill within your Alexa App. With the Frigidaire Skill enabled, you can then create routines within Alexa to schedule your unit to turn on and off at pre-set times. The Frigidaire Skill also provides you with the capabilities of controlling fan speeds, modes, and temperature settings. You can also control your unit with echo commands, using the Alexa wake word followed by phrases such as “turn on the air conditioner”, “set the air conditioner to 68 degrees” or “decrease the air conditioner temperature by 2 degrees”.
If you don’t have echo devices and the Alexa app to control the unit, then you will either need to use the free Frigidaire app on your smart phone or you may control your A/C unit wirelessly using the supplied credit card-size wireless remote. The remote gives you the ability to control Power, Fan Speed, Operation Mode and it has Temperature Up/Down buttons. You can also use the touch sensitive buttons on the front of the unit to manually control its operation.
And about the unit’s control buttons, they are impossible to see in the dark. The buttons are not illuminated and they are not really buttons in the traditional sense. The so called buttons are flush with the unit, and function like pressing a touch screen. So if you need to adjust the unit’s temperature in the dark, you will need to use an echo voice command, or you will need to turn on a light to be able see the markings on surface of the unit. Neither of these an acceptable option if you’re trying not to wake-up a sleeping spouse.
Despite these minor issues, I love my Frigidaire Smart Window Air Conditioner. It has proven to be durable, reliable, and efficient, and it is one of the best looking air conditioners on the market. Add to these attributes that it is one of the few Smart Air conditioners available. This makes it a must have for any smart home enthusiast who lacks a whole house air conditioning system. Frigidaire gets a definite thumbs up from me!