Haier 5000 Btu Air Conditioner Summer Shivers By Demon_Buttercup on Jul 01, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

We aren't lucky enough to have the luxury of central air conditioning and rely on a couple of window units to cool the main area of our home during the summer. Last summer, my old bedroom unit finally went on the fritz. It was during a heat wave and it was honestly quite difficult to find a small, affordable window unit. So when I found the Haier 5000 BTU window unit on the shelf at Target, I bought it up.

I liked the overall look of this unit, it was streamlined and sleek with 2 knobs - one for ac, fan, etc and the other for fan speed. If fit into our window with ease and was installed within minutes. I was hoping that since it was a newer model it would be quieter than our older one, but that was an empty hope. It essentially is a loud frozen cold blowing machine.

The cooling effect of the Haier is terrific. It cools the whole bedroom it is in very quickly and then we open that door to help cool the rest of the house with our other super huge machine in the kitchen. It does what it is supposed to great.

However, this machine also has some not so great things to talk about also. The first and foremost is the KNOBS. Cheap cheap plastic describes them completely. The knob you turn to turn the power off broke within the first week. The fan speed knob broke within the month. It seems the plastic gets cold and if you try and turn the knob too fast, the plastic splits where the knob is attached to the metal inside. So now we get to turn the machine on either with a needle nose pliers or just plug and unplug it each time. That really kind of stinks. Replacement knobs are available through the company, but at $14 each plus UPS shipping, it wasn't worth it to buy replacements.

The other problem with this machine is when you remove the filter to wash it, it is near impossible to close the front of the machine afterwords. Basically, we punch the 2 sides of the front flap to get it to close, there is simply no other way.

So, the Haier does a great job keeping me shivering cold and in sweaters in the house when it is sizzling hot outside, but the plastic casing and parts of the machine are really poorly made. If you have the cash, I'd suggest a more expensive brand. However, if you are desperate and broke, this is your machine, just be careful turning those knobs!