Designed for both home and commercial use in rooms of up to 550 square feet, the Kuhl KVCS12B10A is a 12,000 BTU AC built with premium commercial-grade components such as sound-blocking insulation, 20-gauge steel inner walls, and oversized compressor mounts for vibration-free operation. At 15.9 by 25.9 by 29 inches (HWD) and weighing 110 pounds, it is bigger and much heavier than the GE AWGP12, which measures 14.9 by 18.9 by 20.4 inches and weighs 50 pounds.
(Credit: John R. Delaney)
As with the Midea Duo Smart Inverter ($599.99) and the Hisense 10000-BTU Inverter Wi-Fi (AW1023TW1W) ($449) units, the KVCS12B10A uses an inverter compressor, which is more energy efficient than a regular compressor because it will automatically change speeds based on need. It offers two fan modes (auto and continuous), four fan speeds (low, medium, high, and max), and two operating modes (cooling and fan-only), but it doesn’t have a heating mode like the GE AWGP12.
This air conditioner can be installed in a through-wall configuration or in a double-hung window. The window must offer at least 16 inches of height clearance and 26 to 42 inches of width clearance. It comes with mounting hardware, side and top rails, a piece of Masonite for creating side curtains, weatherstripping foam, a six-button remote, and a user guide. You can use the included remote to turn the AC on and off, set the target temperature, and change the fan mode, fan speed, and operating mode.
(Credit: John R. Delaney)
The front panel has two air outlet grills on top that run the width of the unit. Each grill can be adjusted to move air up, down, left, or right. Below the grills is an onboard control panel with a small 3.5-by-1.5-inch monochrome screen that displays the target temperature, operating mode, fan speed, Wi-Fi signal, and the current schedule (if programmed). Here you’ll find buttons for setting the fan mode, fan speed, and operating mode. There are up and down arrow buttons for setting the temperature and scrolling through settings options, and off to the right is an IR sensor for receiving commands from the remote control.
Just below the control panel is an airflow slider, which you can use for exhaust control. Slide it to the left to bring in fresh air while in fan-only mode, to the far right to exhaust inside air to the outdoors, or to the center position to recirculate the air.
Behind a fold-down panel on the bottom half of the front is a removable carbon filter, a Menu button, and a Return button. The Menu button activates the Wi-Fi radio, updates the firmware, and runs diagnostics.
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The KVCS12B10A has an embedded 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio for connecting to your home network and to your phone. You can use Alexa and Google voice commands to turn the AC on and off, change modes, and set the target temperature, but Apple HomeKit and IFTTT integrations are not supported.
The FriedrichLink app lets you control the AC from your Android or iOS mobile device. The AC gets its own panel on the app’s home screen, where you can see the name of the air conditioner, the current room temperature, target temperature, fan mode and speed, and operating mode. At the top of this screen are local air quality and outdoor temperature readings, based on your location.
(Credit: Friedrich/PCMag)
When you tap the AC panel in the app, it opens a screen with a slider for adjusting the target temperature and buttons for selecting a fan mode, fan speed, and operating mode. At the bottom of the screen is a Schedule button that opens a screen where you can create daily and weekly cooling schedules with specific day, evening, and night settings. Disappointingly, there are no usage reports like you get with the GE AWGP12.
