It's the noise of window air conditioners that bothers me more than anything else. My hearing is average, but for some reason I get annoyed by noise more than others. This is true when it comes to everything from restaurants to commuting (walking, subway/metro, etc). I also don't get why people like earbuds over headphones when you can block out so much noise!
I have earplugs, but prefer just not using the A/C.
There's always minisplits - the noisy part stays outside the window. Though it can get annoying when you're outside and multiple neighbours are blasting their ACs.
I have earplugs, but prefer just not using the A/C.