I recently smashed my portable air conditioner into a million pieces. I always stored the cooling unit in the attic for the winter. The attic stairs are super narrow and steep, making it quite difficult to haul the air conditioner up and down. Plus, the older air conditioner was rather bulky and heavy. Every fall, I struggled to carry the equipment up the stairs for storage in the attic. Every spring, I hurt my back lugging the system back down again. Getting the air conditioner positioned into the window of my bedroom was always a risky and tiring process. This past spring, during the trip down the attic stairs, I lost control of the cooling system. It tumbled all the way to the bottom and was totally destroyed. I was a bit worried about the cost of replacing it. When I checked the selection at the local hardware store I was surprised by the reasonable prices and range of options. Over the last few years, the design and technology has greatly improved. The new air conditioners on the market are far smaller, weigh a lot less and offer a ton of convenient features. I was able to buy a powerful and energy efficient air conditioner for a couple hundred dollars. It doesn’t make as much noise as the old cooling unit and allows me to make changes to the settings with a cordless remote. I can adjust temperature, fan speed, humidity levels and even customize a program for operation. The new air conditioner maintains more even comfort, actively filters the air and keeps the bedroom cleaner. Plus, it’s no problem to carry it up and down the attic stairs.