I have, at the moment, four window ACs in my house. One of 'em (a Goldstar) works properly.

The Maytag powers up, and I think the condenser works, but the fan doesn't. The Frigidaire just doesn't light up at all. And the second, cheapest-possible-model Maytag I haven't bothered hauling out of the basement this season sort of works but drips wayyyy too much on the inside of the house.

None of these are over three years old.

WTF? Is this normal? What's the half-life of a window air conditioner anyway?

I have my kitchen ceiling fan turned on and a box fan at the top of the stairs to help recirculate within the house and assist the Goldstar, which is doing a fine job of cooling my living room. But I really doubt it's going to cool the upstairs effectively. That's just too much to ask.

I don't generally work at home anymore, but in a little over a week I'll be telecommuting for most of two weeks. So I reckon I have until then to get this problem sussed. I'd prefer to fix the buggers if that's possible... it seems much too soon to throw them out (except for the drippy el-cheapo in the basement perhaps).

Any advice, oh Internets?

Tags: air conditioning, house