Midea Window Air Conditioner MAW08AV1QWT

I purchased this unit to replace a GE window unit that was overworked for the space; the poor little thing just couldn’t keep up. Since I’m a renter, I can’t go installing a true mini-spilt. Options in the 12K BTU range require one to be discerning so I chose the Midea. Hopefully, this review helps you to decide if this unit is the right choice for you.
The good: I find this unit to be innovative when compared to the window A/C units I’m used to. It runs quietly. No, it’s not silent and yes, you can hear the compressor operation with the window closed but you must listen very carefully. My old A/C unit just announced its operation to the whole neighborhood and keep me awake. This unit can move a decent volume of air and cool it fairly quickly under the conditions I’ve used it so far; the dog days of summer may reveal a different tale, but time will tell. At 20 feet away I can feel cold air, but it’s certainly not blowing my hair back.
Set to cool at 60 degrees with the fan on high, it is still quiet enough to hold a conversation. Sound exposure is subjective though, so I will let you be the judge.
It’s aesthetically pleasing from the inside and doesn’t just hang off the windowsill like some tacky rubbish from the late 1970s. The mobile app is nice to use and offers as many features as my previous appliance offered and more. (It even gives a local weather forecast by AccuWeather; a nice 2 for 1). The app lets you program schedules or routines to provide a “set-it-&-forget-it” function.
The company seems to have thought of the consumer by providing things like an extra parts bag in case you lose things during installation/seasonal re-installation, oodles of insulating foam to seal the fitment, and a pretty nifty remote control… (if you choose to use it, batteries included)
The remote has a battery indicator, an orange backlit screen which doesn’t kill your eyes at night and the buttons glow in the dark.. That’s pretty cool. We’ll see if it lasts. The backlit screen also goes to sleep after a few seconds so you don’t have an orange light just sitting around.
Speaking of lights, the remote can be used to deactivate the unit’s LEDs, and that also silences the beeping sounds. This is also possible in the app. Previous generations of this unit apparently did not offer this feature, but mine was manufactured in December 2022. Hopefully, some OTA firmware update is made to correct older generations.

The bad: The installation is a bear. Patience is a virtue on this one folks, it really is. If you live alone, don’t be afraid to recruit a buddy to lend a hand since the complete shipping carton is heavy, and having two people lift the appliance onto the window bracket is ideal.
You will need a drill/screw gun/impact driver. The use of hand tools for this whole job is absurd and they really should include that in the install instructions. Drill pilot holes for your screws to avoid splitting the window frame or sill.
The ‘center’ arrow on the bracket isn’t exactly center so make sure you measure the distance of the bracket rails to the window frame for a true guide.
Understandably, residential windows come in all sorts of configurations and I had to set my bracket on stacked spacers from the hardware store to support it as the sill did not reach it. Be prepared to engineer a solution to stuff like this. The bracket is designed for single–width window frames and I have a side-by-side meaning I may or may not have had to get creative with fastening the bracket.
The rubber feet that rest against the exterior wall don’t seem to be adhered very well. Not to mention I rent so to protect the paint, I zip-tied sections of pipe insulation around them to protect both the paint and the feet.
The dense white foam blocks are hard to cut so use something scary sharp (I used a kitchen cleaver) Another option may be to use an ultra-fine tooth coping saw, band saw, or scroll saw (woodworkers would know better for that).
Anyway, with the foam, measure thrice & cut once because you only get one chance on the dense white blocks. Shaping those to your window frame will likely need a steady hand and something like an exacto-knife (I picked up a snap-blade knife).
The bottom of some windows, like mine, will not seat against the foam provided when closed. The fix for this? A section of 2” pipe insulation laid in the gap measured to the width of the window frame + 0.25” (that disables the plastic security locks on the back, but the screw-in L-bracket can still be used if desired)
The channels of the main rails that hold the unit aren’t well insulated either and just look like a great home for a wasp nest. Seal that up as you see fit with the foam they provide, expanding foam, plumber’s putty, or something but be aware, those are both air gaps and welcome mats for all kinds of bugs.
Window dressings may not fit into the gap making for openings on the left & right sides of the interior fan and precluding privacy/light intrusion. Plan for that as well.
You may have to dink around for a while to get things sealed up which makes me laugh at the marketing of “You can open the window!” Why would I do that when I just went to far and gone to insulate this thing and defeat that whole purpose?!
All in all, this design comes with its advantages but downfalls as well. Thankfully once it’s installed, it’s installed and you can forget about it for a few months anyway.

The ’swing’ feature seems a little gimmicky and I have yet to tell if it is actually functional. Moving the louver up & down is cute but the jury is still out on this one.
Wi-Fi setup wasn’t the easiest until I got the appliance into “AP” mode then it became visible to my network. You don’t need it connected to the internet to use it, but having the app is a nice touch. I can’t speak to the smart home device features though since I don’t have any listening devices in my house lol
The power cord measures 58”/147cm and exits the RH side of the unit. Plan for this when choosing a window to install it in and make sure you have an outlet where the end of the plug can route the cord downward. Don’t try running this on an extension cord, it needs to be connected to an outlet on at least a 15A circuit breaker.

The ugly: (yet to come) … For a company that is this innovative, I am surprised to see that Midea did not create better condenser drainage on the outdoor portion of the unit. Underneath, there looks to be a stamping in the sheet metal for a drain but no drain hole – come on guys. I’ve heard there’s some kind of ‘slinger ring’ on the outer fan that’s supposed to fling water on those components to keep them cool. Um, I thought that’s what air-cooling via fan was for? Virtually every other A/C system I’ve seen from window unit, to automotive, to residential, to commercial, provides a way to drain excess condensation. It’s science – the condenser gets cold and condensation forms in the hot weather when A/C is being used. Same reason a glass of ice water gets wet on the outside in the summer. This has been spoken of in other reviews to harbor mold & mosquito larvae – hard pass. I’m not going to go drilling holes into the unit because with my luck I’d ruin it but I will share a hack I stole fair & square from the internet…
*carefully (and I mean carefully) insert the edge of a piece of first aid gauze between the condenser fins and the white sheet metal pan on the bottom of the unit on the rear outdoor side. This will act as a wick to wick up the excess moisture and drain it out onto the ground with no drilling needed.
Inserting the string of a tampon to do the same thing is another method but I think the gauze would work better. Change it out as needed or replace it if it blows away. You can secure it with a magnet but be advised that the magnet will rust.

Thankfully I live in a fairly dry climate and I hope this won’t be a big deal; but if you live in a humid climate, say FL for instance (sorry Florida man…) then this appliance might not be the right pick. Sure, you can install it with a certain degree of rearward tilt and all that, but moisture gonna do what it does. From condensation to the collection of rainwater, I’m saddened to know that this expensive unit could become a petri dish for mold & mosquitos. If Midea is going to think far enough ahead to include extra hardware and make the remote buttons glow in the dark, why not include a condenser drain?!

Closing thoughts: Would I buy this again? Perhaps, but knowing the rigor of installation would have me reading more reviews. Would I recommend this unit? Yes, but… with the caveat that installation could be the deal breaker, and if that doesn’t do it, be mindful of the condenser drain issue.

Arrived on time, UPS guy struggled to get it up the steps. Packaging was in tact. The packaging was great, foam packaging that fit the parts perfectly, zero damage. The instructions were also great, written by someone who speaks english as a first language. Installation is tedious, but straight forward, maybe 2 hrs. Much of the fiddling with foam and blocks was do to its unique “window almost closed” design and meant for for keeping the noice outside: which it does wonderfully if you carry through with all the steps, 1/8th the sound of our previous thru-the-window unit. This is close as you can come to a “split system” without the added hassle of exterior wiring, and plumbing. Comes with all the bells and whistles, but I’m not into WiFi Control or Smart Phone control, I like to (old school) walk over and make any adjustments. The shut-off time is great though, so you can set it to shutdown an hours after bed time. Easy C/F degree adjustment (Canada, eh). All-in all very happy, just hoping we are not into another “heat-dome, here in Vancouver.

Build quality is good, and unit is extremely quiet, because of the design with the noisy part outside the partly closed window. I was able to adapt the unit to a vinyl window only 19.5 inches wide, by installing a small wooden block on the inner window sill at just under 22 inches away from the vertical edge of the inside window opening, see photo. Tilting the unit slightly downwards outside the window, with the levelling procedure described in the manual is important for allowing water to drain. Sliding out and screwing the “anti-tip bracket” inside brace (see third photo) worked OK, and required some additional holes of be drilled in the metal.
Note that some of the installation features are to prevent theft, and entry by burglars, and omitting these makes the installation simpler, and is OK if you live in a safe neighbourhood. Would be good if these were listed in the Manual as “optional” installation tasks.
The supplier was good in being prepared to take back the unit if needed. In the end this was un-necessary because of my addition of the wooden block to my sill. We kept the unit and are pleased with it.

Heard all the great reports about mini split AC units. And stumbled across these “mini” Mini Split units set up as window A/C. We bought 1 of these as a test, and put it out in our enclosed sun room, which we could never cool down with a conventional window AC. It has performed great!

The 8,000 BTU unit only draws about 9 amps max, so you can plug it into regular 15 amp outlet. (as long as you don’t have something else big on same circuit). We have a breaker box Energy Monitoring system, and watched the power consumption for a few days. Ours never draws more than 5-6 amps (only when it’s first turned on).
The unit will slowly decrease power usage as the room cools down. I just looked, and it’s only drawing 2 amps now.

Our Central AC is 13 years old, and runs constantly in the Florida heat.
(we need more insulation, but that’s another project)
We researched going to ductless mini split unit with 5 indoor units, but they were as expensive as the Central AC quotes we got.
So, rather than replace it, we decided to keep installing these units to be able to tame the summer electric bills.

2 months later, we have 5 of these units installed, and have turned off our Central A/C unit in August heat!
Checked on the Power company website, and we have lowered our electric usage 31%.
AND the savings allows us to lower the thermostat another degree so the house is cooler.

The another plus is you now have control of what areas your are cooling (just like Ductless mini Splits).
We only run the bedroom units at night, and main house units during the day, so we are not having to cool empty areas of house. (more $ savings).

Only (slight) Cons are
1. The outside drip hole is located on the underside (in the middle), so pay attention to where drip water is gonna land. (Hope Midea changes this on future models). We bought AC drip pans to control where the drip lands.
2. When you finish installing AC & supplied window bracket, there is a gap between AC and bracket,
but supplied foam, and a tube of window caulk has cured that.
3. No heat – I hope that Midea will install reverse heat pump valve on future units.
We’re gonna have to turn Central AC/Heat unit back on when winter gets here.
4. They sell out quickly. We had to wait a month for 1st one to arrive.
When the new shipments come in, you can get usually get one in few days.

Also, your ceiling fans, and floor fans can interfere this unit’s cooling ability. We have one in living room blowing into kitchen and noticed the kitchen was hot. Found out living room ceiling fan was pushing down the cool air, and not allowing it to get into kitchen. Guess this is true for any wall unit.

Oh, and by the way…. “eco mode” with both fan & cooling set to “auto” seems to be the most energy saving.
In Eco mode the unit will auto change fan speeds, and turn on/off as necessary to keep room at desired temp.

Just ordered 3 more units for my Mom’s house. Will be here in 4 days.

—————————– 9/22/20 Follow-up ———————————————-

We just got our first full month electric bill running our whole house on Five of the 8,000 btu units.
Total $ saving is now 40%. Mom’s house first partial month bill showed a 27% savings. We’ve only installed 3 in her house so far. (2 bedrooms & living room/kitchen)

Have now completed the 8th install of this unit. (We are only installing 8,000 btu units due to small room sizes)
Still believe this unit is the future of cooling, and so happy we took a chance, and bought the first one.

I will say that yes, we have had a couple of units (#2 & #7) show up with signs of rough handling, but even those units worked just fine. I decided I didn’t want to go through the time delay of re-boxing and returning the ones with a dent in the cover, and kept those two as well.

Out of the Eight Midea 8k units we have bought, most of them make a soft clicking or knocking sound for a few minutes when you first turn them on. The soft knocking sound always goes away after a few minutes.
After seeing the way the delivery drivers handled them, I decided that when I received unit #3, I would start doing a “soft startup” by turning it on for about a minute or two then turn off, and wait a couple of minutes, then repeat, I remembered reading somewhere that compressors have oil in them, so maybe it needs to get distributed through the system. Out of the 8 units received, I have found the shipping boxes on my front porch sitting upside down, on the side, and on the ends.
I decided to always let the new unit sit overnight (in upright position) to allow the coolant and stuff to settle back down in the compressor before turning it on. No idea if it made a difference, but I now have 8 for 8 running just fine.

I occasionally hear a “thump or knock”, but its seems to be when the compressor turns off.
I am used to hearing the same kinda thump from my old (much louder) window A/C that I had in my office.
The inside unit being so quiet must lets some of the machinery noises get through.

As for the crickets, yup they all make the sound. I think it’s the way this new technology works. You will notice the cricket sound slows down as the room cools down, so I guess it’s the compressor rotary pump sound or something. We have 4 units installed in bedrooms, and after a few days most of family don’t even notice the cricket sound anymore. When I do notice it from time to time I just smile and say it the sound of me saving money. I’m thinking if your sensitive to high frequency sounds, you may want to look at ways to deaden the sound coming from the outside unit through the glass by adding R3 insulation panel or try installing the AC in a window that puts the left side of unit (if looking at front on AC) away from where you will be sitting/sleeping. This will put the compressor on opposite side of you. We can tell a difference on the units where the compressor is away from where people are.

We have tried to install all of the units so they blow toward the room doorways to cool hallways and bathrooms.

If you are installing one in a small bedroom you may want to monitor the humidity.
Our only “problem child” install is the smallest bedroom. It only measures 10ft x 11ft (110 sqft).
This family member keeps their unit set to 73 degrees and the door closed all the time.
I remember when we were researching installing a full blown mini split unit, there were warnings about not oversizing the units because they would not run often enough to remove the moisture from the room air.
We noticed this room has a 67% humidity in the morning after running all night with the door closed.
We first started running the unit in “dry mode” for a hour to get the humidity back down to 45-55%, but decided to take a cheaper approach, and just open the door with the ceiling fan on. This seems to help. Still tinkering with this one.

Be sure to measure your window twice, and make sure your window opens approximately 14 inches high so you can get the unit in opening. We had one window that did not open high enough, and had to get a window guy to partial take apart the window until we got the A/C through the hole.

Lastly, Definitely a 2 person job. The install can be kinda tuff (balancing the Midea support frame out the window while you adjust the legs, and put the A/C on it . You may want to get a friend, neighbor or relative to help you install it.
Make very sure it is leveled the way the install video shows to keep the drip water flowing the right direction to outside unit.

——————————6/15/22 follow up ————————
Wow, almost 2 years!
1st 8k BTU unit was installed 7/17/20, bought rest of the 8k herd over the next 2 months in 2020.
Still have not turned the main central AC back on since 2020.
Actually put a cover over the outside unit to keep the leaves out.

This week has been very hot, but our five 8k units keep us cool!
In the winter we use 5 oil heaters in the same rooms as AC units. (small house)

Our electric bills 2 years ago were $300+ peaking to almost $400 in Florida August heat.
We now see average bills around $150.

Some suggestions…

– Clean the filter and front cover when the filter lite turns on.
I clean the filter in the kitchen sink running water through the filter 1st, then soap up my hands with dish soap and put the filter between my hands like I am washing my hands, but actually soaping up filter.
Then run clean water through the filter to flush soap. I put out 4 paper towels on counter top prior to starting, and then put the clean wet filter on top of the paper towels and use another couple of paper towels to pat dry the filter.
I clean the front cover with the wet paper towels.

– Resist the temptation to clean the cooling coil, the little foil fins bend even when paper towel brushes against them. I have use a vacuum a few times. I use the nozzle with no brush. Just vacuum the dust as best as you can without touching the coil with the nozzle.

– The outside portion of the units are my only complaint. Controlling the drip water is a challenge.
I have wooden window frames, and didn’t want them to get water damage. We went with the drip pan that fits under AC units and capture the drip water, and funnels the water into a drain hose.
Did not find one made for this Midea U-shaped unit. Just measure unit and browsed for one that was approximately same size. I had to drills holes in it, and tie wrap it under the Midea support frame.
Also had to cut out space for window support frame legs. “Yea, I know. But it worked”

– The outside section keeps a little pool of drip water. For cooling the coil I guess.
Well, mosquitoes like it a lot.
Had a really big batch of mosquitoes after I started installing these units, and found it was that pool of water in the outside half that they were breeding in!
Mosquito Dunks and Bits solved it, but they can be messy too. Had to get creative with straws and a thin hose hooked to a wet/dry vacuum to clean as best as possible. I am debating on trying strips of screen covering the air vents to keep the mosquitoes and leaves out, but would have to be cautious of screen getting clogged and blocking air flow.

– A significant r for whether you love or hate this unit is avoiding buying a unit too big for your room size. Especially if you live in a humid area.
I live in Florida, its very humid.
I was lucky to stumble across an article on Florida Mini Split installation issues, that talked about issues with controlling humidity for comfort, and to some degree black mold.
The article talked about keeping you room humidity in the 50’s for best comfort and moisture.
The article mentioned a common AC install issue is having a unit that exceeds the recommended room size. This AC being too large will cause it to cool down the room quickly, but more importantly the AC fan will not run for sufficient amounts of time to remove the moisture from the room air. I can speak from experience, room humidity in the 60’s will feel muggy.

If I go to bed at night with bedroom at 53% humidity, and leave the door shut with Midea 8k running all night at 76 degrees, by morning that room will still be 76 degrees, but the humidity will be in the mid 60’s, and the room will feel warm and muggy.
The great thing is that these units have built in de-humidifiers!
Just put the unit in dry mode for 30-40 minutes and it will lower the humidity level.
(yes, you will have to do this periodically).

As I have mentioned, I have 5 of these Midea 8k BTU AC’s through my house, so I tend to have areas that are prone to having higher humidity levels when I run that AC. Also, I have AC units that seem to do a better job of lowering the humidity in “Dry Mode” for an area of the house. Some of the articles suggest installing the AC so that it’s fan air is pointed across the room towards a room opening, or doorway. This pointing the AC air towards another area seems to help with humidity.
I had a small bed room that we put a 8k BTU unit in, but picked the window that only blew the air towards a blank wall. This bedroom was our biggest issue with excess humidity in the high 60’s.
I never was able improve the high humidity by leaving door open, or adjusting the settings on the AC.
I finally read the article about fan air direction, and moved that AC to another window in the same bedroom, but this window points toward the bedroom door.
Now, this room’s overnight humidity will only be in lower 60’s versus high 60’s when the door is open.
So room placement does seem to make a difference in performance.

I will summarize by saying these Midea U-shape units are the future of AC, and these are the 1st, so as technology improves, so will these Inverter AC units.

Yea, I clean and tinker with these AC’s a little more than usual, but I am saving approximately 50% of our cooling cost with no changes to attic insulation.
The home run will be when they produce these AC’s with heating.