Haier Serenity Series ESAQ406TZQ1 6,200 BTU Windows Air Conditioner Review

My review of the Haier 6,200 BTU Serenity Series window air conditioner model ESAQ406TZQ1.
I purchased the unit for $299 in March of 2023, as of August 2023 it is now retailing for $384. This is on the high end of the scale for units of this capacity--many other basic models can be had for under $200. I've used the machine for the majority of Summer 2023 and these are my findings:
It's quiet on low--very quiet. It's even quieter than some of the units of decades past. This was the selling point for me. This is one of the quietest units available today in this form-factor. Medium and high speeds do have considerably more noise to them, but still remain quieter than other offerings.
The air flow from the unit is gentle on low and strong on high, just the way it should be. Good range in speeds. The registers direct the air away from the evaporator coil and disperse it into the room well.
The low speed is very slow, works exceptionally well for dehumidification during times that aren't warm and don't require much cooling, a common scenario in this part of the country.
The temperature regulation in Cool mode is reasonable, it will keep the temperature within a degree or two of the set point. The regulation on the Energy Save mode is not as good, but this is to be expected.
The control set is fully electronic and quite a bit more complex than it should be, including useless and gimmicky features such as the Dehumidify mode, which operates absolutely no differently than the Cool mode. Turning the unit off looses your settings other than the desired set temperature, it defaults back to the Energy Saver mode when powering on. This requires a few extra keystrokes to get it where you want it every time you turn it on. That should not be.
The remote is littered with so many buttons and doesn't have the most logical layout. It also features additional options which cannot be set from the on-board control on the unit itself, so the remote is imperative for full feature operation. The lights on the control board are bright but can be turned off for use in the bedroom at night--but only from the remote.
As with the majority of these units, it's designed to accumulate water in the pan and sling it onto the condenser during operation for additional cooling. This will create quite a bit more noise (defeating the purpose of a quiet machine), inhibit mold growth, and create detrimental amounts of rust leading to premature failure. I always drill holes in the machines to allow the water to run out and eliminate these issues. This is often debated among people that blindly read the instruction manual but don't understand how the equipment operates and what the negative effects are. I highly advise drilling the hole.
I have shown on video a teardown of this unit as well as the procedure for drilling the drain hole. It's not the easiest design to work with, but it's far from the worst.
Overall, it's a pricey machine, but if the reduced noise level is important to you, it's money well spent. It cools and dehumidifies well and keeps the temperature pretty constant. It produces around the amount of cooling I would expect for the rated capacity. The filter is easy to clean. I don't like that the unit doesn't drain the water, but this is easy to fix. I don't particularly like the control set either, but it's tolerable. I'm very seldom fond of newer appliances, but this is a rare case where the majority of the unit is correct.
As it stands right now, taking into consideration the other models that are available today, this machine is a 9 out of 10. Of course time will tell-if it quits next year, it gets a 0 out of 10. I'd say at least a decade of service is required at this price point. It shows a lot of promise and I suspect it will last, IF and ONLY IF you drill the hole to let the water out.

[@fordmuscleluis9710]

Good review video of the 6200 BTU Air conditioner I love that compressor start-up sound

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

The temperature probe does double duty to also monitor the temperature of the coil. I found that out the hard way when our central A/C died and we started using window units in the early 2000s. We had bought a few window units off a neighbor who was buying and selling abandoned storage items for $20 to $30. Two of these had early electronic controls that were dead. So, we just wired the fan and compressor to always be running and rigged up 12 volt DC systems with central thermostats to operate the air conditioners. Most of the time, this set up worked just fine, but since the electronic controls were dead, so was the coil temperature monitoring. Every once in a while probably on a humid day or something, the whole coil iced up which was a huge pain waiting for the coil to thaw. I eventually wired up the fan in a way that would allow me to turn in on to speed up the coil defrosting. What solved the problem completely was to just get a thermostat module with a temperature probe placed in the coil that turned off the compressor when the coil got around 33'F to 34'F. The two smaller window units might have not had enough air flow to keep the coil from freezing up, but the 12,000 BTU unit could blow cold air across the room, and the coil would freeze up on it, too. All of those units were R22 units. I think all three units were Kenmore variants. The 6,000 BTU I had was a re-branded LG. It was the one with the independent fans for the evaporator and condenser.

[@taco-lover]

I have that same Haier 6200 BTU AC unit in my extra bedroom that is 12' x 13' and it does the job on low real good.

[@theericfreeze1493]

Something I like about my 14k and 8k general electric air conditioners is that the LED display automatically turns off when you finish using the controls. I feel that should be standard for all units with digital controls.

[@bobwigg761]

I agree, on my GE, I have to cover the display, otherwise it puts out too much light in my bedroom when trying to sleep.

[@jasonreinhardt1697]

I have the GE version of this. It’s pretty a pretty quiet unit. The only thing is the outdoor condenser fan is noisy on high but otherwise it’s a good unit. The evaporator design is great because it dehumidifies the air very well.

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

Haier now owns GE name for appliances. I prefer old Ac too because they works better. You're true on that one but the Haier is cool for the sleep mode from TCL website What is sleep mode in AC and how to use it. Sleep mode is a low-power mode. The air conditioner will control the room's temperature in sleep mode and raise it by 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius in an hour, up to a maximum of 3 degree Celsius per hour. With this setting, the air conditioner will keep you cool and cozy all night ...

[@bobwigg761]

I have that Sleep feature on my GE, but don’t use it while sleeping as the temperature increase will wake me up as the night progresses.

[@WalterKnox]

I have very similar windows with that lip, I just put the air conditioner right ontop of it. And I use a heavy vintage unit. I haven't broken it yet.

[@the333ryan]

7:19 perfectly explains why I much prefer having the option to use external sensors to regulate temperature, thankfully I found an electronic 5000BTU AC that has that feature, the remote has a built-in thermostat and it has way better temperature regulation with the remote mounted on my wall as opposed to using the sensor inside the AC. I think internal sensors in general are junk for the same reasons you described.

[@JordanU]

Thanks for letting me know.

[@LemontTheFanMan]

good video and good ac for an Modern day product i enjoyed the video bro

[@delta_cosmic]

If this unit had R22 then it would be one of the best air conditioners to exist in the modern era. But even still this is a far better unit then those other junky units.

[@TylerHVAC]

Midea actually fixed the thermostat problem on their u shaped unit. I'm an HVAC enthusiast so I hate quiet compressors so I don't have it. Also, idk why people just can't take the time to wash their unit, especially window units, now I can understand trying to clean a portable unit but what I've done is I've taken a piece of one of those cheap green filters and put it on the intake, I am using a dual hosed design so, just a tip for any people feeling lazy.

[@JordanU]

OK

[@bobwigg761]

The Energy Saver feature won’t work for me, besides the issues you brought up, I fall asleep to the constant sound of the Fan; I’d be awakened with the Thermostat cycling the Fan with the Compressor.

[@zenozer0themechanicalchann720]

It’s like a ptac for your window

[@mnightfamalam1510]

If I'm running this thing on a hot and humid day, a slight, ongoing sputtering noise due to the slinger ring is normal right?

[@JordanU]

In theory, yes. I would drill a hole in the bottom of the pan to allow the water out to prevent rust.

[@djbrucebanner9882]

I like it

[@LiftEnthusiast2020OFFTOPIC]

OK

[@Eddie1536]

Now it's $199.00

[@JordanU]

Where?