The Noria air conditioner caused quite a buzz in the media, likely due to its sleek appearance and ease of installation, but is it just marketing? Or do people really need that extra piece so they can remove the unit from the window more easily?
The latter sounds unlikely, unless that’s the only window you have, and you must open the window from time to time. To be fair, The Noria is a 5,000 BTU bluetooth-enabled window air conditioner that is designed with the 21st century in mind.
Mostly, Noria‘s unit is installed in the same way that you would install a conventional window air conditioner of the same capacity, but with an additional step (placing the unit in the frame you have to install in the window). This additional step may actually lengthen the installation process, but provide an additional safety benefit because you can set up your window without simultaneously holding up a heavy air conditioner.
It has a sleek design which (aesthetically) works with today’s common black and stainless steel appliances. Air conditioner manufacturers are lagging behind with dull, cream-coloured/off-white units, and the few that are black or silver are often found in expensive, premium product lines like the LG Artcool.
The unit also obstructs your view less, has its height is significantly less than that of a traditional window unit. It is only 6 inches tall. Also, it can easily be controlled via a smartphone app, and has a simple knob which is very much in line with the modern trend towards implementing fewer button in the unit itself.
Drawbacks
This is a potentially expensive unit. On Noria’s Kickstarter page, three units were stated to have a value of $1,200, translating to $400 per unit. This is significantly higher than some $100-$200 5,000 air conditioners offered by Frigidaire, Keystone, and PerfectAire, some of which offer a higher EER (over 11, vs over 10 for the Noria unit). The MSRP may not have been set in stone, so i’ll wait and see.