Should I bypass thermostat on window unit?


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Old 06-28-22, 04:40 AM
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Should I bypass thermostat on window unit?

I’ve got a brand new Toshiba window unit that cycles on/off about every 15 minutes throughout the night, regardless of how low I set the target temp (I’m not sure I believe that my room has ever reached 62*, but the unit still shuts off pretty regularly). It’s loud, so the cycling is actually waking my wife and me up when it happens.

Some years ago we had a unit that had no thermostat, only various levels of fan speed and we would run it all night, serving as a cooling device and a white noise machine. I’m tempted to bypass the thermostat in the new unit to achieve a similar result. It was under $300 and the life of the unit isn’t a big deal, so I’m not worried about burning up any components. Is this feasible? Should I just be searching for a different unit instead?
 
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Old 06-28-22, 05:02 AM
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If you turn your AC all the way down to the coldest setting does it run continuously? If it does then running an external thermostat is easy. You can use a simple one in the cord and they can be bought for about $50.

If the unit still turns off regularly you've got to wonder why? Is there a timer in the controls so it pauses every 15 min to get a more accurate temperature reading or is something overheating? Either way bypassing the thermostat will get quite involved since all the controls are probably built onto one circuit board and may be difficult to remove without bricking the unit.
 
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Old 06-28-22, 07:11 AM
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Unfortunately, no, it does not run continuously if I set the target temp to an extremely low value, but that’s exactly what I’m hoping to achieve. Basically I want to be able to turn “on - cool” and have it run until I turn it off.

As for why, I’m really not sure. It’s properly leveled, well ventilated on the exhaust side, throughly sealed at the window and unobstructed in the front. AND brand new! I could try to exchange units, but the 15-20 minute cycle time sounds similar to what I’ve heard for central A/C, so I’m not sure anything is “wrong”.

The simplest answer might be to swap for a different model with different controls, but I’m struggling to find any others that are likely to behave differently than this one.
 
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Old 06-28-22, 12:08 PM
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Something wrong, no AC should have a fixed 15 minute on/off timer, they should be all based on the temp setting. As mentioned, may be overheating.
 
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Old 06-28-22, 12:26 PM
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Probably not overheating.
It may have a programmed compressor shut down for defrosting.

You may want an A/C where it shows energy saver setting and then not use it.
Energy saver turns the fan and compressor on and off together.
Energy saver off cycles the compressor but keeps the fan running.
 
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Old 06-30-22, 03:32 AM
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Back to bring this thread to conclusion - it was “eco mode”! I would’ve gotten there eventually, but thanks to your suggestion, I toyed with that setting and the unit ran through the night.

Surprising that eco mode shuts down both the fan and compressor, but at least I’m glad to now have a better understanding.
 
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Old 06-30-22, 09:17 AM
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Energy saver = economy mode

 
 

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