Top Shelf TSB-2438 Universal Heavy Duty Window Air Conditioner AC Support Bracket -Holds Up to 200 lbs., No Drilling or Tools Required, White

I dont typically write reviews but I had to this time. I dred summer. Actually, I dred air conditioning install time. I have rigged up different contraptions over the years to act as makeshift platforms for my various air conditioners. We recently put in new windows and the problem on only got worse. Nothing to screw into and sudden doom awaiting me if I damaged the windows in any way. Until this year. This adjustable platform from TopShelf is...well...top shelf! Even how it was packaged in the box was professional and all about ease. Some assembly is required so put aside some time...such as a 2-3 minutes. Really. It was ready to put in my window in about 3 minutes after opening the box. I bought a couple for my various ACs. I spent maybe 5 minutes adjusting the first one to fit my window perfectly. After that, I immediately set all the others to the same pin locations when taking them out of the box. The ACs went in like a dream. I have so much extra time I decided to write this review. These are well worth the money. No tools needed. No dread of damaging the windows. Totally awesome!

Ordered 3 of these for rental units and will probably get more for my mom’s house. Yes they are expensive but the ease of installation, the fact that they don’t damage the new vinyl siding, and the solid support they are worth it. I watched the video before putting it together. Literally a 5-min installation for me (female, age 50 with back issues). My husband normally tackles the annual a/c install and removal but this year i did it no problem. And there was no worries that they woukd fall on people below. After one full season of use I do see minor rust on a couple places but a wipedown and a bit of metal paint will keep them in good shape.

This device is strong, well designed and super easy to install IF you have the right kind of windows. Which i did not... Fortunately my ac unit sits in a first floor window (in the back yard and surrounded by fencing) so i was able to make a work around and still use the bracket. I REALLY wanted a bracket that did not require drilling holes in the window frame because i just installed new windows and DID NOT want to put ANY holes in the frames!!! Because my windows were not what this bracket was designed to work with i ran into two problems. Getting the ac unit to sit flush with the window and getting the bracket to brace against the outside wall. You can see from the pix I included how i managed to do that but heres the detail if youre interested: The website specs say you need a minimum of 6 from inside wall to outside wall, which I do, BUT, they dont mention (until you buy it and read the instructions that come with the bracket...) that the measurement HAS to actually be from the inside frame of the window (not the inside wall) to the outside wall of the house. They presume a sill on the outside of the house not on the inside. My windows have an inside sill and not an outside sill. Consequently we had to jump through numerous hoops to get the unit secured so it was relatively airtight to the window. I added a small piece of foam packaging to sit between the metal bar and the window frame, so the metal bar that is supposed to rest directly on the window frame would not damage the frame. I also had to devise a styro fitting to go all around the unit (inside and out) because (as I have heard mentioned in other reviews) there was a huge gap between the ac units wings and the window frame, like 1/2 inch of more! But the biggest problem, if you dont have enough depth between the inside window frame and the outside wall, is the legs on the bracket as designed, will not reach the outside wall, so there is nothing to hold the bracket in place. If you dont have a first floor window then most people have to nail some wood into their outside wall so the legs can rest against that. That means holes in the outside wall of your house (not good) and trying to affix the wood to usually brick or in my case stucco (not easy). So i finally opted to scrap using the legs to the brace and went with a wood brace that extends from the underside of the bracket to the ground. I treated the wood so it will last longer and set it on a brick so it wasnt directly on the ground (to minimize attracting termites). You do have to be sure you get the proper amount of slope so the ac unit tilts down so the condensation will run outside. The bracket is well made and if you have the kind of windows it is made for you are golden. If not there are some things you can do, if you really dont want to put holes in you window frames or house. I sure would like to see them make a couple models so that more people could take advantage of the easy install feature (took us about 4 hours to problem solve and install this baby) but now that its there, i am super happy I went to the trouble of trying to make it work!

Ive tried allot of different style.. even made some myself. As a retired engineer this is far above anything on the market

The bracket is awesome! Love that there are no screws and everything clicks together simply. It has a lot of adjustability. Worked in our old wood double hung window frame (wood constructiion). It does need a flat wall for it to provide proper support. We have one window above a roof eyebrow and the shelf didn’t work there. At first I was afraid it would be too small for the large 10,000 BTU unit, but it sits very nicely and securely on it. The bracket is better quality and construction than the AC (which arrived with a cracked plastic cover).

I was very impressed with the apparent quality and workmanship of this unit (very versatile for just about any size and application) so I was very disappointed when my contractor tried to install it but said it would not work with my new Frigidaire window a/c unit. Im not a contractor so I cant say for sure why not, but I believe it had to do with the way the base of the a/c was made. They spent a lot of time trying to get it to work, but could not. Amazon return was smooth and painless - but I wish it would have worked. My a/c was installed in a window right over the street and if for no other reason but for visual assurance I wanted a beefy looking shelf unit to support it, and I am sure this would have been perfect -- even though Frigidaire said the a/c did not need any additional support. My 18,000 btu unit was very heavy and the contractor ended up fabricating his own supports for my peace of mind :-). I wish I could give further detailed information as to why it would not work with my a/c (it fit into the window perfectly) to help those reading this review decide whether to purchase - but Im not exactly sure what the contractors were up against but I do know they tried very hard to get it to work.

Things you should be aware of: 1) According to the manufacturer, even though it appears on Amazon as if this is being sold by the manufacturer it isnt, and shame on Amazon for not including.... 2) The product is not compatible with the type of heavy window unit where the sleeve and the chassis (the guts of the AC) are two separate pieces. The only way you find this out is by visiting the manufacturers store page on their website. 3) Product is dead easy to install but you will need to insulate the trough behind the adjustment brackets otherwise youll have free flowing air through your window underneath your AC. 4) Excellent customer service from the manufacturer despite the fact that I did not buy from him. The three stars is less for the quality of the product than it is for the experience I had with purchasing then finding out I cant use, or now return because the packaging is already gone.

I tried supports from Home Depot and Lowes but none of them worked with Vinyl windows, they required that you either screw into the window frame or the mount was too far on the inside of the window to allow the side panels to work. This product is very sturdy. No tools required and fit almost perfectly. Leaving a nice sturdy channel to rest the bottom of the air conditioner into. I took one star off sturdiness only because the bottom bracket does have a slight bow to it with the weight of the AC unit. Nothing I am overly concerned about though. Very pleased with the frame and would highly recommend to anyone with vinyl windows and a 10k btu or higher window unit. My windows are 36 wide and this worked great. Note: I had to install the bracket further in with the tabs on the window casing not on the window frame as instructed. There is only about 1/4 inch or so on each side that the metal tabs could rest on the window frame, which the adjustment holes on the sill bracket did not have fine enough adjustment for and I would not have felt comfortable with so little (1/4 inch on each side) holding the AC unit in. So using the foam strip on top of the AC unit and some Duck brand foam (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GKC2WQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) it works fine.

Fits our very difficult-to-fit for other supports Brownstone window. Took all of 5 minutes to get it set up and installed, and it supports the AC perfectly.

First, this went together very, very easily. I had it assembled, adjusted, and in the window in a few minutes. Sliding the A/C unit in place was very easy. But a couple thoughts on making it a bit better 1) The alternating pins are very clever, but need to be called out in the instructions. I thought something was wrong for a moment, until I realized how it was walking into place, moving one detent at a time. 2) its not clear in the instructions how the wings that hold the inside of the window frame are supposed to fit up against the window frame and trim. I ended up extending the wings as far as I could within the window (based on the flat portion on the bottom), and let the tabs reach as far as they could. 3) I padded the support against the window with some foam, and put some of the foam that came with my A/C unit (meant to be applied to the window sill) to the shelf in a few contact points to reduce the amount of metal-to-metal contact and vibration (its noticeably quieter, now).