Window Air Conditioners for Dummies

Window AC installation - NOT!

The sad fact about the content at eHow.com was always that the contributors who wrote it often knew as little about the subject as the person who'd asked the question in the first place. Apparently, that's about what you can expect when you pay out-of-work J-school and English Lit grads to write instructions for making synthetic rubies or building a router table. Sometimes, the "answers" border on the dangerous, as in "How to Secure an AC Window Unit,"¹ eHow content by Jocelyn Kerr (aka Aubrey Kerr) at HomeSteady.com.

Kerr, whatever her first name, googled the question and came up with (now-deleted) Home Depot instructions, from which she happily cribbed. Jocelyn's problem was that she had no idea what she was talking about, so when she omitted material to keep the HD stuff within Demand Media's "sweet spot"² for content length, she left out important information. Here's some of it...

1. "Screw [the bracket] in place using sheet-metal screws on a metal frame and wood screws on a wood or vinyl frame. Put a level across the bracket and sill, and adjust the bracket as needed to level it." which Kerr changed to "Use a level and sheet-metal screws to install the bracket."
2. "Put the air-conditioner in the frame or window, If there is a frame, move the accordion panels aside and slide the air-conditioner in. If the frame is built-in, open the window a bit wider than necessary to make it easier to put the air-conditioner in place. Close the window to hold it in place." which Kerr changed to "Open the window and place the air-conditioner on the windowsill. Close the window over the unit to help hold it in place."
3. "If the installation kit that came with your unit contains angle brackets, screw them to the upper sash as directed. The brackets keep the weight of the air-conditioner from forcing the window open. If there aren't any brackets, buy and install [them]." which Kerr changed to "Install angle brackets to the upper sash of the window. This will further secure the unit by preventing the window from opening against the weight [sic] of the air conditioner. "

Our comments on Aubrey's/Jocelyn's changes follow:

1. "Use a level" is probably OK except for the people, who like Kerr, don't know how to use a level. Omitting the qualifiers for screw types and a type of screws is dangerously stupid.
2. Way too much was left out in Kerr's abridgment job.
3. Again, Kerr's unfamiliarity with the job is obvious from her omission of critical directions: just how should the angle brackets be placed, anyway? That's not to mention, WTF does "opening against the weight" mean, anyway?

Nope, we can envision air-conditioning units all over the world tumbling from the windows of people who thought our Dumbass of the Day had useful instructions.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_7232368_secure-ac-window-unit.html
² Demand Media (now known as Leaf Group) is the owner of eHow. Their SEO gurus mandated a 300-500 word range for their content.

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