Had someone told me I needed to measure my window before buying an a/c unit, I would not be in the mess I was in.
I walked into the store and told them I needed a window a/c component for my dining room, but no one said they had odd sizes or that they were odd BTUs.
I knew how big my dining room was and provided him with the dimensions. She quickly figured out numerous BTUs I needed and pointed out many a/c units that could work for my dining room. One looked too big, and I was afraid it would be too large for me to lift and install. I wasn’t petite, but I wasn’t a monster like some guys I knew. I looked at the smaller one and although it had the same BTU on the label, it weighed a mere fifty pounds. I lifted the AC component and knew it was the right one for me. The girl didn’t tell me it had to be plugged on both sides and that there was nothing to fan out and create a slender fit. I sent the AC component home, opened up the box, and took it into my dining room. I had it seated in the window and the window was down, but I had four inches of open air space on both sides of the window. Now, what was I going to do? The instructions said to build a box for the a/c unit. It was made to go in the wall and not in a window. I called my sister and told her I needed help, because I wasn’t going back for another a/c unit.