All I can really say is to avoid the floor models, since they put the hot part of the conditioner inside your home, thus have to work a lot harder
See Technology Connections (Piped) for an informational video
My experience with these units is that they're horribly unreliable too. I worked in an industry where we'd use these for temporary or emergency cooling for server rooms and I don't know if I ever saw a model last more than a year. A lot of window units are pretty flaky too, unfortunately, but you'll probably at least get 2-3 years out of one.
Well most of the world lives in apartments where only floor* units are an option so they do exactly what they should. Ofc it's less efficient if the hose is uninsulated. But that's fixed with 20bucks and some tape
Even renting a house it’s in my lease I can’t use a window unit. Which sucks because our swamp cooler outputs into the living room in a way that makes it very difficult to get its air into the second bedroom.
Don't do it at this time of year.
This is a fact. It’s absolutely the highest priced time to buy any air conditioning. Everyone is buying so they have zero incentive for true sales.
I know it's a considerable cost increase and installation, but still way cheaper than upgrading your central A/C, and way more efficient, quiet, elegant than a window unit: add a mini-split to the room. I added a Mitsubishi to our hot office with tons of electronics and it's one of the best home investments I made.
They’re mostly all made in one or two factories in China. Midea and another one.
When it comes time to replace the AC, consider getting one that’s reversible and runs as a heat pump. You don’t need to use it, but it shouldn’t cost much more and gives you flexibility.
Be aware that most window A/C units are power hogs. Expect to see a significant rise in your power bill. It might be cheaper to have your home A/C unit serviced instead. Could it be low on freon? Would it benefit from having the coils cleaned?
Make sure you buy one with enough cooling power to cool the room it's in. If it's a small bedroom you'll want 5,000-8,000 BTU and if it's a larger area like a living room you'll probably want 12,000-14,000 BTU.
I just put a 12,000 BTU unit in my living room because it's open to the kitchen and it's about 550ft².
A good rule of thumb is 20 BTU per Ft², so my 550ft² living room/kitchen area would require at least 11,000 BTU.
What size is your central AC (usually measured in "tons") and what's the total area of the space you're trying to condition? Single story or multiple stories?
Not what you asked, but you might check that:
The central AC doesn't need to be recharged. If it has leaked coolant and is low, it will drop in effectiveness.
Or, even more simply, that the air filters don't need to be replaced.
You can't improve insulation. Doing so is a one-off cost, as opposed to the ongoing cost of throwing more air conditioning muscle at the problem. Weatherstrip leaks, replace any single-pane windows with double-pane, etc.
On top of that, some rooms don't have proper cold air return to the furnace, meaning those rooms don't get proper air circulation and can be the reason for a room being warm. I'm experiencing this right now. One bedroom has a cold air return on the other side of the wall, but nothing in the room itself, and it's the hottest room in the house. I gotta cut an entry to that cold air return duct.
Check the minimum operating temperature. Most ACs will start throwing hot air if the outside temp drops to 18c/64F. Not a problem if it's going to stay warm overnight but towards the end of summer the night temps can dip fairly low.
We have one in an upstairs bedroom from midea, the window slides right between the front and back of the unit and it's excellent. Our power consumption didn't increase too terribly much and it's actually decently quiet.
Not gonna put the model here but just look for U shaped window units. It has little legs that go outside.
Don't get the inside standing units, they're massive, loud, power hungry, and most of them are less effective than even the cheap window units.
The U shaped units manufactured by midea were all recalled and are not currently available for sale.
You might want to look up the recall and get the repair kit. They were recalled for excessive mold build up.
Just don't get a portable unit. They suck and are just a waste of money most of the times.
These are portables if you're unfamiliar. 
While the dual hose ones are better, I agree that these all kind of suck because you have the compressor inside and it's always the loudest part of an AC.
The single-hosed ones literally suck...
...air out of the room. This inevitably leads to ingress of warm air from the outside through various crevices. But you know that already from this comment section.
They still work better than no AC. Your costs just go up more than with a dual hose.
Source: had a single hose version and couldn’t sleep without it.
If you get an expensive one with both in and out ventilation through the window it can be good. But you’re spending a lot more than just a window AC at that point. The cheap ones actually vent your cold air outside.
I got a couple of $150 cheapo units at the big box stores to supplement our central air during heat waves, have been just fine. 5k or 6k BYUs at least.
Just don’t get a portable unit. They suck and are just a waste of money most of the times.
Get a dual-hose unit if you get one. There are a lot of companies selling single-hose units. Those are a lot less efficient and aren't much cheaper. I would guess that in a situation where they get any kind of meaningful use, a dual-hose unit pays for itself quickly.
I don't think I'd agree that they suck, but if you can use a window unit
not all rooms and windows are amenable to this
you normally want a window unit instead of a portable unit, unless you must take down the AC unit on a regular basis. Less noise inside, more energy efficiency.
I was in the same situation as you at my last house. Central AC was added to a 100 year old house but it was never enough. I got new windows put in, and that helped, but it still got to hot in the summer.
We got this U Shaped Midea window unit and that did the trick: https://www.midea.com/us/store/cooling-and-heating/window-air-conditioners/u-shaped-air-conditioner-ultra-quiet.MAW08U1QWT
It's better than a standard window unit because you can close the window nearly all the way, unlike standard window units that rely on those crappy plastic accordion things.
Best of luck.
I have 3 of these and love them. Unfortunately there is a recall on them for mold (never had a problem with mold in my units) and I think because if it, they're really hard to find now. Amazon has pulled them from sales.
can confirm. mold was growing in mine.
look inside the blower when it's off. mine had all these little white dots of mold that looked like dust, but it was definitely mold.
So you have three options, I'm going to break them down just because I think comparing all three is helpful for long term planning, but skip to the end for advice on a specific window unit.
💲💲Expensive - these are more expensive than window units up front by quite a bit.
🙇/👩🔧 Installation - Potential DIY - while they do sell DIY mini-split systems that don't require professional installation, you'll be limited by the length of pipe / hoses they provide, so need a suitable spot for your compressor unit. Otherwise you'll need a pro to install it.
🔉Noise - since the compressor is outside and separated by a wall you shouldn't hear it if it's mounted properly, but you do still have an indoor blower unit. It'll be quieter than a window unit but louder than a vent.
If it were me personally, and I owned the house, and I was worried about cooling my bedroom, and I had the money and somewhere to mount the compressor, I would buy a DIY mini split system. I will always want my bedroom to be cold for sleeping and the rest of the house doesn't need to be that cold (and vice versa in winter since they're heat pumps that go both ways). The only real downsides are the very light fan noise from the blower unit, and the upfront cost, though that can potentially be mitigated if you live in a jurisdiction that offers some type of home retrofit or heat pump grant (worth checking!).
That being said there's a bunch of caveats and criteria there that I personally didn't meet, so I bought one of those Midea U shaped units that everyone talks about and am honestly very happy. There was a massive recall recently, but they're adding drains to fix the issue, and these units otherwise are way better than most other window units, though they only work with windows that slide up and down vertically.
*But unlike most other window ACs, the U shaped units have the window sit between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit which blocks most of the noise from the compressor, lets more natural light come in, and doesn't require blocking the sides. They're also very efficient with a CEER rating of 15.
Even despite the recall they're still what I'd personally recommend, you might be able to find one second hand.
Also note that I don't consider a portable air conditioner an option. They're terrible.
get one rated for the room size.
I have one for an attic room that gets around 100°F without one. it's about 100sqft and I'm running a 9000BTU system. with the unit it stays around 71-74°.
stay away from "Mr cool". they've had lots of defects from factory.
I would get something local, probably Walmart. reason for that, if you have any problems you can just take it back.
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