Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez / Unsplash
A window air conditioner that cools a room well but runs loud at night may cost more in sleep quality than it saves on the electric bill. Noise levels at low settings matter especially at night, when the gap between a quiet inverter model and a cycling compressor is most noticeable. Two design innovations — the U-shaped frame, which positions a pane of glass between the sleeper and the compressor, and the inverter compressor, which modulates speed continuously instead of switching fully on and off — now account for most of the top scorers.
Consumer Reports used a sound meter to measure noise at both high and low settings across every model it tested, alongside cooling performance and member reliability surveys covering more than 6,000 owners, to identify the six quietest window ACs it recommends.
1 / 6
Priced at $380, this 6,000-BTU unit is sized for rooms of 100 to 250 square feet. On its lowest fan setting, Consumer Reports testers rate it the quietest model in the ratings. CR also scores the LW6023IVSM at the top for cooling accuracy. It hits the set point quickly, holds the temperature steady, and recovers from brownouts without issue. LG window ACs earn top marks for predicted reliability and very good marks for owner satisfaction in CR's member surveys.
