Lee Wallender is a home improvement writer of nearly 20 years and specializes in home remodeling, repair and maintenance. Cassidy was an updates editor whose main responsibility is to write and edit ...

Q: I am renting a small, old home without central air conditioning. I have a window air conditioner, and the past few years I’ve awkwardly filled in the space around it with a large piece of plywood.

We've spent the last several months testing window air conditioners and portable air conditioners and found that while window units cooled rooms faster, it wasn't that much faster. It's true that ...

If you have a window that supports it, we highly recommend window AC units over portable units, based on our lab testing and personal experience with both. Window units are installed in a window, with ...