[BeetleB]

We may just have different standards on what "cold" means :-)

Let's say it's 35C outside. Just using a window AC alone, I want to cool the room to where I'm uncomfortably cold (not quite shivering but close) - within about an hour of turning it on (2 hours max). I can't do that with my wooden house in the US when the outside is that hot. I can make it comfortably cool, but no cooler.

(I had better experience in a wooden apartment building, but that's likely because the walls between apartments have insulation).

Actual numbers: If I leave the AC on at max cool all night, I can get the temperature down to 20C. Keep in mind that it's cool outside at night (and actually will dip below 20C at some point at night).

I've never gotten it below 20C.

When I lived in a concrete place, we would never set the thermostat on the window AC to the coolest setting - it would get too cold!

(Yes, I clean the filter and have even replaced the AC - the unit wasn't the problem).