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My parents had 2 of those Kenmore units up until about 1990 or so.  They were awesome!  I wish we had kept them, as the newer ones don't seem to blow as cold.
 
 

 

That 8,000 BTU Kenmore was the exact AC my parents had in their bedroom at the vacation house for 30 yrs. It was still working when replaced for another new Kenmore unit in 2009. While it is smaller, quieter and more energy efficient, the quality certainly has vanished.  I had the 6000 BTU model in my bedroom.
 
Eddie,

I have a MW Signature similar to the one you posted but 15,000 BTU.

 



 

They were made by Frigidaire (GM). 

 

Here's a 115V 12,600 BTU that I have, it's much larger than the 15,000 BTU Signature I have and just two inches narrower and two inches shorter and it's even 1/8" longer then the big 30,000 unit. 

 



 

 

 

philr-2014061215473702171_1.jpg

philr-2014061215473702171_2.jpg
 
Carry Cool

I still have the sears version of the carry cool, only use it when guests come still a great air conditioner, COLD! and fairly quiet for its age, the side panels are even intact
 
I got another a/c this weekend. A small 5950 BTU Frigidaire from 1978 that was advertised on Craigslist in New Hampshire. it works great and it has the "Electri-Saver" feature that's lacking on my other air conditioners.

It's the exact same size as the 1971 8000 BTU unit I got last year.





 
I don't know, I don't see why later systems still using R-22 refrigerant would be less effective. I never had one new enough to have anything else. I have a 10,000 BTU Fedders (not a weather wheel unit) that's about 12 years old (it's new enough to have a remote control and it's still made in the USA) and it cools very well but it's noise level is very high and it makes the whole house vibrate when the compressor kicks in (I don't use it anymore). The Fedders also lacks the feature that makes the fan stop when the thermostat opens. There's an energy saver mode on the Fedders but I never really figured what it really does. I think it just keeps the 3 speed fan on low speed... And the plastic front is starting to get yellowish, I'd rather have an A/C with a beige, dark brown or woodgrain cover than a white one that gets yellow (just like those white plastic refrigerator door handles from the late nineties).

 

The Frigidaire appears noisy in this video but it really isn't!



 

 
 
My parents had a 10,000 btu Norge with a wood (not wood grain) front. It was bought in the spring of 1964 and cooled our different apartments and house for years. The air that came out was ice cold. Mom hung a curtain at the top of the stairs. Upstairs stayed cool and downstairs comfortable.

In '87 I was working at Caldor and bought an 5,000 btu Emerson Quiet Cool for my room, parents bought another for their own room and the Norge moved downstairs to the dining room. The Norge wound up getting loaned to a friend who needed one and from there to another, and another, and another... My parents lost track of it about 10(?) years ago and as of then it was still humming just as smoothly as it was in 1964. Not one single problem ever!
 
just to interrupt the fun here - I like this thread, thanks for the interesting photos and comments. I have seen the Emerson Quiet Kool mentioned before, but it's the older ones from the 70s or 80s that are favored?

thanks again.
 
Hopefully nobody smoked around any of these. In college I had an apartment that had a through the wall A/C & Heating unit. Whenever you turned the thing on it smelled like an old ashtray for quite some time. Never could get the smell out of it.
 

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