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There are plenty of smart and affordable air conditioners that connect directly to your home’s Wi-Fi and can be controlled remotely via app. But what if you already own a perfectly good window unit that you want to make a bit smarter?
I had this exact problem with the compact Frigidaire window unit I’ve owned since 2016. It still works perfectly and is the ideal size for a studio apartment or small bedroom — but it only has two settings: high or low, and on or off.
In The Before Times, I felt wasteful leaving it on while at work, but I hated coming home to a swelteringly hot apartment after a long day. At night I’d either wake up freezing from the chilled air blowing on me for hours, or I’d be a sweaty mess from trying to keep it off the entire night.
I needed a solution that would make my old window unit work the way centralized AC does. That’s when I discovered the Sensibo Sky, a smart AC controller that turns any air conditioner into a smart air conditioner.
Sensibo works by connecting to your home’s Wi-Fi and intercepting your air conditioner’s infrared remote control system. In turn, the Sensibo app on your phone replaces the remote that came with your window AC, so you can control it from anywhere, anytime.
Sensibo has a built-in thermometer to regulate the temperature and has geofencing so it can turn off and on when you leave for work and arrive home. It’s also smart device-compatible, so you can simply ask Alexa, Siri or Google to adjust the temperature. (A handy capability for when you’re cozied up for bed and want to turn the air conditioning down for the evening).
Finally having the ability to control my air conditioning remotely and regulate the temperature solves a lot of problems, but what I find most useful is that it saves my wallet.
The Sensibo Sky system is about $120 on Amazon, but I found that it’ll practically pay for itself by the end of the summer with how much it trims from the electric bill.
Well worth the investment, if you ask me.