Best budget AC setup for small bedroom with horizontal sliding window? (California heat)
Hey everyone, it's almost summer, I’m in California and my bedroom has been brutally hot lately. The house AC is old and barely works, and my room feels like an oven during the afternoon and at night.
I attached pictures of my room/window setup for reference.
My room is around 100–180 sq ft and has:
- a gaming PC
- multiple monitors
- direct sunlight through the window
- a horizontal sliding window (not a normal up/down window)
- window opening is about 47x47 inches (48x48 to be safe)
Right now I’m using a fan/exhaust setup at the window to try to push as much hot air out of the room as possible, but it still gets really hot during the day.
I’ve been researching options and I’ve seen people build custom wood frames for regular window AC units in sliding windows, but I honestly have no experience with woodworking or DIY construction stuff, and I don’t feel comfortable trying to build or mount something complicated myself.
Right now I’m actually leaning more toward getting a casement/slider window AC since they seem more efficient and better for extreme heat, but I’m still considering portable AC units because the installation seems way easier.
I mainly want:
- the simplest install possible
- safest option
- cheapest decent cooling solution
- something that works with a horizontal sliding window
- or any better alternatives (preferably cheaper)
Is the casement window AC route worth the money? Is 8,000 BTU enough for my room/setup? What would you personally do in my situation?
I mainly just want my room cool enough to sleep and game comfortably without sweating all day. Any advice would seriously help.
