# 1965 vs. 2007 Air Conditioners-Why The Big Weight Difference?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1965-vs-2007-air-conditioners-why-the-big-weight-difference/659625>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 29, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1965-vs-2007-air-conditioners-why-the-big-weight-difference/659625 "2013-05-29T14:31:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1965-vs-2007-air-conditioners-why-the-big-weight-difference/659625/1 "2013-05-29T14:31:51Z")

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I just hauled the room air conditioners out of storage-and its a pain in the neck. I have two units which differ quite a bit:  
(1) Emerson “Quiet Cool” (purchased ca. 1965-weight 55 pounds, volume: 20"x 13"x28";6000 BTU capacity  
(2) Sharp ca. 2005-weight about 18 pounds, 16"x16"x12".  
Both work well 9the old one is a bit noisier). Why the huge difference in weight? Are AC motors much lighter today? Is the newer machine likely to last 48 years?

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1965-vs-2007-air-conditioners-why-the-big-weight-difference/659625/2 "2013-05-29T15:52:30Z")

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Aluminum weighs less than steel.

I recently removed a dead AC unit and its fins were steel. The replacement unit has aluminum evaporator and condensor, so they weigh less and are also a lot more fragile.