I Tested the July A/C for a Month—Here Are the Pros and Cons
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
If you’ve ever lived in an apartment or a house without central air in every room, you’ve looked around for the best air-conditioner at least once. I rented three different Brooklyn apartments over the past decade and have bought my fair share when I moved or they stopped working. Back then, the options didn’t look that different from each other; it was all comparing the specs and prices. Now I live in a house with central A/C on the top two floors but not the first. My husband and I decided we could make do with a small unit and have been using a portable one; it works fine, but it takes up floor space and there’s not a good spot for it in our galley kitchen, where we spend the most time and it gets the hottest. So when I had the chance to review the July A/C, I was excited because it actually is different—it has a pretty, matte front plate instead of a grille and comes in a range of soft, neutral colors. In other words, it wouldn’t detract from the kitchen we’d just spent so much money renovating.
Window Air Conditioner
wayfair.com
$499.99
A window air conditioner has an important job to do. You want it to cool well, run quietly, and not break down on you. That’s especially important to us since we have a small child. I’m lucky because I’ve never had to figure out which one is best or most reliable: My dad has run an HVAC business for nearly 35 years, so he’s always told me what to buy. So after we got the July unit, I had to have my dad weigh in on it too, from performance to price, to confirm whether it’s worth the cost. Keep reading to get his expert take on the July A/C and my firsthand experience with it.
What Makes July A/C Different From Other Brands
As a design editor, I was tempted by the July A/C based on looks alone. July is one of a handful of companies (including Windmill) that make more attractive versions of traditional window unit air conditioners. You pay for the aesthetic: July units start at $399, which is $50 to $70 more than similar units, and $200 or more pricier than a basic unit with similar specs. That might sound frivolous, but it’s really not considering that you’re sacrificing a window (i.e., natural light and a view) for it—if it can, it ought to look good!
Most traditional units aren’t the nicest things to look at, partly because of the grilles on the front. The July unit has a unique front cover that’s the main thing you see instead; you might think it would impact the airflow, but it doesn’t in my experience. You can choose a cover in one of five different matte colors, ash wood, creamy linen, or (for now) one of three limited-edition artist designs. You can also upgrade the standard flexible side panels to solid or Plexiglas ones—either way, they look nicer and more substantial than the usual plastic accordion panels that come with most units. I ended up getting a creamy white Matte Cloud cover for my small window unit; more on that in a sec.
July is unique among its peers in that it offers two types of filters: standard and air purifying. The air purifying options include carbon filters, which are geared toward smoke (as in from wildfires), and Sky filters, which are geared toward common allergens like pet dander and pollen. If you choose a standard filter, it comes preinstalled. According to my dad, the most important thing you can do to keep your air conditioner running efficiently and your house cool is change the filter regularly. He actually advocates for buying cheaper filters and changing them more often as opposed to buying “fancier” filters, for central A/C systems.
July A/C Pros and Cons
Window Air Conditioner
wayfair.com
$499.99
July A/C Features and Specs
As I’ve said, the July A/C looks really nice in our window. It also holds up in terms of performance, according to my dad, who went over its specs with me. These are the features that matter for cooling, reliability, and efficiency.
BTUs
July A/C BTUs: 600 (for small, up to 250 sq. ft.) or 800 (for medium, up to 350 sq. ft.)
BTUs, or British thermal units, measure cooling capacity—how much heat an air conditioner can remove from a space in an hour, according to manufacturer Trane. That’s a little complicated, but essentially you want to look for the right BTUs for the square footage you want to cool. Buy something with too low a BTU for your space, and you’ll find that your appliance won’t ever get it as cool as you want while working extra hard—not good for you or it. According to my dad, the July units are the appropriate BTU for the square footage the company recommends. My kitchen is about 150 square feet, and I can feel the cool air when I come in the front door a few rooms away.
Amperage
July A/C Amperage: 4.2 (small), 5.8 (medium)
Amperage tells you how efficiently an air conditioner runs. According to my dad, it’s a better gauge of energy efficiency than SEER, which you often see cited but can be misleading in terms of real savings. Amperage is what your local utility charges you based on. In his view, the July unit has a low amperage and seems quite efficient.
Voltage
July A/C Voltage: 115V
You need to know if your air conditioner can plug into a standard 120 volt outlet or needs a 240 volt outlet (bigger units may require a 240 volt outlet the way other large appliances, like a clothes dryer or range, do). The July units plug into a standard outlet, so you have more flexibility on the installation location without needing to call an electrician to work on your outlet.
Noise Level
July A/C Noise Level: 50 dB (small), 54 dB (medium)
The decibel level tells you how loud an air conditioner will run, which is important if it’s going in a room where you spend a lot of time and like to chat. In a kitchen, you’ll probably also have other appliances, like a vent hood and dishwasher, running at the same time; in a living room or playroom, you might want to have a TV on. The hum of the air conditioner contributes to the overall din. The small July A/C’s listed decibel level of 50 dB is average for a window unit air conditioner—pretty quiet but not silent. Plus, you have to keep in mind that manufacturers often list the reading on the lowest, quietest setting. I checked ours using the Decibel X app from approximately 10 feet away across the kitchen; running on high and without any other background noise, it averaged out to 54 dB. The medium, at 54 according to July, is getting to be fairly loud. Comparable units to the small July A/C clock in at 52 dB (LG), 56 dB (GE), 54 dB (Toshiba), 49 (Windmill), and 42 (Midea). The Midea unit also costs less. Truly quiet dishwashers, by contrast, rate at 44 dB and below.
Fan Speeds and Modes
July A/C Fan Speeds: 3
July A/C Modes: 6 (Cool, Dry, Fan, Auto, Eco, Sleep)
Having more options than high and low speed is important when you’re trying to balance the temperature and noise in a space. You may also want to set your unit to turn on automatically when the room reaches a certain temperature or to “hibernate” for a few hours at night when it’s cooler. The July unit has those options; it also has a basic Fan setting and a dehumidifying Dry setting.
Cord Length
July A/C Cord Length: 70.75 inches
It’s not ideal to plug an air conditioner into an extension cord. This is the kind of thing that makes my dad just shake his head at me. You also don’t want to get it in the window only to discover the cord won’t reach an outlet. (I’d also recommend checking the path from the outlet to the window to make sure there’s an easy way to disguise the cord.) The July A/C has a nice, long cord. By comparison, the quiet Midea unit’s cord is only 6.23 inches long.
Other Key July A/C Specs
These details don’t matter so much for cooling performance, but you should double check them before you order to make sure the July A/C will work in your window and fit your needs.
Weight: 50 lb. (small), 55 lb. (large)
Dimensions: 17 7/8" x 19 7/8" x 14 3/4" (for both small and medium sizes)
Remote control: Yes
WiFi and Voice Control: Yes
Installation Frame and Side Panels: Included; you can upgrade to solid or Plexiglas side panels for $85 and add insulation for $30
Window Types: Standard (single or double hung windows between 20 3/8" and 39"), slider (works with some dimensions; see website for full details)
Trial Period: 30 days
Warranty: 1 year, with extended 2- and 3-year warranties available at an additional cost
July A/C Installation
Full disclosure: We installed this air conditioner during a heat wave when I was seven months pregnant, so I had to let my husband do it. I like to put things together myself, but I didn’t have a choice—I couldn’t lift 50 pounds or lots of people would get mad at me. My husband is the first to admit that he’s not handy, but he had zero issues installing the July A/C perfectly, which is a testament to its ease. (Sorry, Jimmy.) I was very pleasantly surprised to come home and find it in our kitchen window, looking and cooling perfectly.
It took him less than the estimated 30 minutes to get it up and running, and he didn’t have to do any backtracking. He reports that you just put the three pieces of the frame together, secure the top of it to the bottom of the window frame with three screws (which he says is very easy to do), extend the edges of the frame to seal the window, and slide the unit in until it clicks. Then you snap the plate on the front. The company has a super-clear online installation manual and videos that make this truly foolproof.
Should you want to avoid the installation process altogether, you can add on the white-glove installation service via July’s partnership with the nationwide handyman service Handy for $95.
We didn’t opt to set up the app or WiFi because it’s so simple to control the unit by using the control panel on the top (which is very discreet) or the remote control.
July A/C Cooling
The July unit in our kitchen is the only cooling device we have on the first floor of our house, and it has kept us comfortable during the hottest week of summer so far, when the June temperatures spiked into the upper 90s. We have an air filter and fan on the other side of the house, but we haven’t needed to get another air conditioner to supplement this one. It’s doing everything we need it to do.
Is the July A/C Worth Buying?
If money is no object or if you need a window unit air-conditioner in a room where it will be prominent and you’ve put a lot of thought into the design (like my kitchen), then it does make sense to pay a premium for a nice-looking air conditioner like the July A/C. My dad gave it his stamp of approval, although he himself probably wouldn’t pay almost $400 for one just because it’s pretty. If aesthetics aren’t a factor for you and you just want a basic unit that keeps you cool, you can find more affordable options with similar specs in our guide to choosing an air conditioner.
Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.
You Might Also Like
