If there's something in your apartment or home that feels outdated or a bit ugly, there's probably a startup for that. July air conditioner(opens in a new tab) is the solution to those ugly, outdated air conditioners — and it pretty much does everything you want from it.
July is an air conditioner meant to do all of the normal things an air conditioner does — cooling your home — while also looking good and being easy to install, customizable to your aesthetic, and better for the environment. It's almost a requirement to have some sort of cooling system in your home to get through New York summers, so I gave July a shot. It rules.
Installation
I would buy this air conditioner purely for the ease with which it can be installed. You can pay to have it installed by the folks at July, but it is truly so easy to do yourself. More traditional AC units test you with a zeal unheard of in times of peace, forcing you to hold the window open, slide in an AC, and smash it down; it's precarious, at best. And the little accordion arms on traditional ACs are designed to help support the unit and keep the outside air out, but it almost never fully covers the gaps. But the July AC doesn't have those accordion arms — instead, it has an expandable frame that fits inside your window. All you do is slide the frame in without the unit, close the top of the window, and fit the sides. Then, simply push the unit into the frame and hear a satisfying click.
The look
You can customize just about every element(opens in a new tab) of this machine. The side panels default to this paper-ish quality, but you can get it in solid white, solid black, or plexiglass. The front cover can be fabric, wood, or one of five different matte colors (I have it in sky blue).
It's very pretty, but there's one key issue with the design: using it. The mode and temperature are on the top of the unit, so you can only see it by being directly next to it and peering down. You also can't see any of the unit's settings on the remote. So, if you want to know what temperature your unit is at, you'll have to be right next to it. There's an app build to solve that problem, but I still don't love it.
Its performance
This unit works just like all other AC units work, once you have it plugged in. It comes with a controller, so you can change the temperature from anywhere (your bed), and comes with an app, so you can theoretically change the temperature and settings before you get home. It can also be controlled by Amazon Alexa or Google Home. These aren't particularly revolutionary tools — plenty of air conditioners are WiFi-enabled. The unit is also louder than I wanted it to be, and it doesn't significantly quiet down on any of the settings. But it is quite a bit quieter than my previous Frigidaire unit.
My biggest problem with the unit is also one of its biggest selling points: the app. The(opens in a new tab) app(opens in a new tab) only connects to a 2.4GHz WiFi connection, and my apartment uses a 5GHz connection. You can change the GHz on most wifi routers fairly easily, but you might run into some problems: While the 2.4GHz WiFi connection can send internet to a larger area, a 5GHz connection gives you faster speeds. My apartment is filled with three people who depend on high speed internet connections to do their jobs, so I couldn't risk changing our connection in order to use the app longterm. While I was having so much trouble setting up the app, I contacted July customer service; they responded with 24 hours with some helpful tips, like restarting the unit manually. But unfortunately there's nothing they could do to help that the app is only compatible with a 2.4GHz WiFi connection — rendering it useless for me.
That said, if you use a 2.4GHz WiFi connection, or if your home internet setup has both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz connection options, the app would let you see the unit's settings on your phone, control the unit from your phone, and adjust the setting with Alexa or Google Assistant.
How sustainable is it?
Window unit air conditioners are bad for the environment(opens in a new tab). July says(opens in a new tab) they have taken steps to reduce emissions from their units, considering that air conditioning in the U.S. releases about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide(opens in a new tab) each year. The company, for its part, partnered with CarbonFund.org(opens in a new tab) to "offset the first year’s emissions of every July [they] sell." It says the medium unit — the one I've been using — uses a "state-of-the-art refrigerant" that has "2/3 less global warming potential than most ACs found on the market."
Is it worth the price?
The version I used(opens in a new tab) — a medium, blue unit — starts at $520. Most Frigidaire units with an 8,000-BTU output are around $250. But, if you want an AC unit with a remote and WiFi access, you're going to have to pay at least $300. So you're paying about $220 for: the ease of installation, no air leaking out from the sides, and its design. Those extra qualities don't render this machine a necessity, but it is one of those luxuries I do adore. And if the July AC falls in your budget, I'd say it's worth it.
