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Michele sent in a link to this amazing collection of pictures of air conditioner supports. That's right. Michele collects pictures of the things people use to prop up their air conditioners! She's got pictures of bowls, videos, books, wood sticks, styrofoam, and a whole bunch of other crap that people have stuck up in the gap on the outside of the window. Now, the common wisdom in our household growing up was that supports are not necessary-- the air conditioner is fine by itself. Of course, we've also seen "The Glasses" episode of Seinfeld 500 times, where Kramer kills a dog with a poorly secured Commando 8:
KRAMER: Commando 8 has arrived!JERRY: Take it to the window.
KRAMER: 12.000 BTU's of raw cooling power.
(Kramer places the air conditioner in the window)
KRAMER: Installed!
GEORGE: That's it? You don't have to screw it in or anything?
KRAMER: No, just plug it in and the Commando 8 does the rest. (And to Jerry:) I'll seal that up later, right?
...
ELAINE: Yeah, he's got a real horse face. (Elaine, while looking out the window:) Here, look at this! It's the guy with the dog! (She opens the window and screams:) Hey! You down there! Remember me? I had to get shot because of your stupid dog!DOG OWNER: Who are you calling stupid?
JERRY: Hey, shall we spit on him?
ELAINE: No no no no, come on, let's go downstairs.
(Kramer enters the apartment)
KRAMER: (Singing:) Oh myyyy papayaaaa.
(The air conditioner wobbles)
KRAMER: The air conditioner!
(Kramer tries to keep it from falling by holding it's cord, but it snaps)
KRAMER: I think it got the dog!
So there you go: if you like dogs, probably best to prop the AC up. We, of course, have a cat, so we don't worry about the airconditioner falling outwards.
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Our landlord's car is parked right beneath our window. So every year we have him install the AC...as to avoid any liability should it fall.
:)
Seinfeld is always great!
This is the worst news piece in the history of MANKIND!!!!!!!!! Gothamist is done for.
Just a note that you should buy an air conditioner only with the amount of BTUs to cool your room or apartment. Buying an airconditioner with more BTUs than necessary doesn't make your apartment any cooler and just wastes electricity.
In the episode, Kramer actually puts the blinds down onto the top of the air conditioner to finish his installation.
best gothamist news piece ever. I've always felt that I would meet death by being crushed by a poorly installed air conditioner or by being hit by one of those mirrors that jut out from the side of MTA buses. this only confirms my fears. michele deserves the internet equivalent of a pulitzer.
"Buying an airconditioner with more BTUs than necessary doesn't make your apartment any cooler and just wastes electricity."
If you want to change the behavior of New Yorkers, you have to do better than to appeal to their better nature. Better to tell them that an oversized unit would be a) heavier and therefore more difficult to install, just ask anyone who has to manhandle an 80 pound 12,000 btu unit into a 10th floor window, hoping it doesn't fall out before they can clamp the sash down on it. And b) it'll cool too quickly, which means it will short-cycle, meaning it reaches the desired room temperature too quickly, shutting off before it can reduce much of the humidity. You'll have problems with a clammy feeling and maybe even mold.
Actually, I dropped my air conditioner from my second-story window, but thank God my housemates' dog (and, of course, my housemates) were all inside. It still managed to smash a six-pack of beer bottles someone had left in the backyard...
Our building can't support air conditioners--if you plug one in, it blows out power to half the building. Still, one subletter thought she could get away with it (though it's pretty obvious who has the air conditioner....).
At the end of the summer, she went to take it out of the window. Raise the sash without holding on to the unit....out it went. She also grabbed the cord to try to save it, but it snapped. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen--her precious air conditioner in pieces in the trash bin (we live three stories above it) and the snapped off cord in her hand.