Buy Portable Ac
For homes that already have central air conditioning, a portable AC unit can help you lower the temperature of a specific area that you spend a lot of time in. Not only does this keep you comfortable, but you will save on energy costs as you are not having to cool your entire home. This is especially beneficial if you primarily use only one or two rooms in your entire home. Cooling a whole house with the goal of keeping one room cool is far less efficient than simply cooling one targeted area.
buy portable ac
Many portable air conditioners also double as heaters or dehumidifiers and those extra uses will usually tip the cost upward, as will extra features like remote controls or programmable timers. As with most products, going with a brand known for making quality portable air conditioners that will last a long time may cost you more upfront, but save you money on not having to bother buying a new one for many years to come.
Portable air conditioners vent out hot air, which means to you will need to keep yours close to a window. Most portable air conditioners will come with a window venting kit and clear instructions on how to set the air conditioner up so that it vents properly. For the most part, they are all pretty simple to set up, which makes them easy to move from room to room.
To dive a little deeper into the ventilation of your portable air conditioner, you will notice that you have two common hose configurations to choose from. These include single-hose and dual-hose AC units.
If you do plan on taking advantage of the portable nature of this air conditioner and often move it from one room to another, then it may be wise to buy an extra vent kit and install it in the second room. This will simply the process, as all you need to do is set up the hose(s), and not have to fool around with making sure the vent is installed in the window correctly.
The third, and easiest, option is a no-drip air conditioner. These release all of the condensate into the air, so you never have to worry about emptying anything. Obviously, this is the most popular type of portable air conditioner among homeowners.
To bring you an idea of what to expect from different popular AC brands, we looked at the reviews for portable air conditioners sold by several of the top brands on the market in order to provide a summary of what actual customers have to say about their experience.
Koldfront makes portable air conditioners that receive a vast amount of positive reviews. Most reviews say their air conditioners are easy to set up, cool the space quickly and effectively, and are sold at a great price. Most of their air conditioning units seem to garner praise and work well, even with the occasional exception thrown into the mix.
We have a single hose portable ac unit that draws in room air, chills it and returns it to the room. The heat the machine generates in that process is exhausted out the window through the single tube.
Window air conditioners are great, but they require a single- or double-hung window for proper installation. If you don't have one of these windows, a portable air conditioner is excellent for staying cool.
We recommend using window units whenever possible because they have more affordable upfront and operational costs, use less power, and perform better. However, portable air conditioners are not without their benefits. They are allowed in some rentals where window ACs are prohibited and are easier to store, install, and roll where you need them.
We picked the best portable air conditioners based on interviews with two experts and our testing of 12 units. The models we recommend are designed to keep appropriately sized rooms cool, have useful features, and performed well in our tests.
Like all portable ACs, it isn't Energy Star-certified and still isn't as efficient as a window unit. In our energy use tests, it used 13% less power than the next most energy-efficient portable air conditioner we recommend: our budget pick, the LG LP0621WSR.
The LG portable AC didn't do the best in our cooling tests, but it was among the best and only a fraction of a degree behind our top performer. It does an outstanding job of keeping me cool, even when Michigan's muggy heatwaves hit.
The Midea unit did a slightly better job of cooling than the LG and also ran a little quieter in our tests. The main reason the LG earned the top spot is it was much more energy-efficient. The Midea used an additional 0.4 kWh to produce similar cooling results. If you run your portable AC all summer, that would equate to an additional energy cost of about $90 on average. To us, the drastic difference in energy efficiency outweighs the slight differences in cooling and noise performance, so the LG is in our top spot.
Still, it has several smart functions you don't see in our top pick or most other portable ACs. You can turn off the LED to avoid light pollution, set a "sleep curve" that adjusts the temperature throughout the night to balance comfort and power use, set the AC to turn on or off depending on whether you're home or not, as well as airflow directional control.
This is the AC I use in my bedroom. The white noise it produces helps reduce the traffic sound from the busy road that runs by my house. It's easy to install, though the hose doesn't stay clipped into the window slider. I use duct tape to keep it in place. Another negative is the oddly shaped hose is too bulky for an insulating sleeve. Hose insulation is important for keeping the portable AC's heat from seeping through the hose and back into the room before it can get outdoors.
GE APCA10YZMW: This is a lower Btu (6,700), non-smart version of our pick for best portable AC for medium rooms. It didn't cool nearly as well as the GE APWA14YZMW but used less electricity. Installation was quick and easy, and I was able to uninstall it and reinstall it in a different room in under a minute.
Whynter ARC-122DS: With its handles and smooth-rolling casters, this portable AC was among the easiest to uninstall in one room and reinstall in another. But, at 76 pounds, it's very heavy to move between floors. The cooling power was in the middle of the pack in our tests. It was one of the quietest at just 55 decibels while on high power, but only fits windows up to 46-inches long, which is limiting.
Friedrich ZCP08SA: There's a lot to like about this Friedrich portable AC. It was easy to install and move from room to room. It runs quietly and has an array of useful app-controlled smart functions. We don't recommend it because it did poorly in the most crucial category: cooling. In the two-hour testing period, it only lowered the room temperature by 0.7 degrees.
I have tested and reviewed air quality, cooling, and heating devices for the past five years and tested 12 portable air conditioners for this guide. I also consulted with Enesta Jones, a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson, and Joanna Mauer, the technical advocacy manager for the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.
Based on my research and interviews, the main features to look for when shopping for portable air conditioners are how well they will fit your window, energy consumption, and cooling abilities. Our testing methodology encompasses the following evaluation criteria.
Cooling: I set my home's heating system to 75 degrees. Once at the setpoint, I cranked the portable air conditioner to its highest fan speed and lowest temperature. Using a digital thermometer placed on the other side of the 550-square-foot testing room, I compared the before temp to the temperature 2 hours later to see how well the unit cooled.
Power use: Using a smart plug, I measured how much energy each unit used while running on high for 2 hours. The least energy-efficient window air conditioner I tested still uses less power than the most efficient portable unit.
Extras: All units in this guide have at least a one-year warranty, fan, and dehumidifying modes and remote controls. ACs needed to have more than this to get extra points. For instance, a heating mode, WiFi connectivity, foam seals for efficient cooling, and a longer warranty contribute to a more favorable assessment of a portable air conditioner.
Window slider: This is the long, adjustable piece of plastic that comes with your portable AC and goes in your window's opening. The hose from your portable AC connects to the slider to send the hot air emitted from the unit outside. Installing the window slider is the main step in installing a portable AC.
This powerful portable AC from Whynter has a dual hose so it can cool down a room faster than other portable units. "Dual hose" means it uses outside air instead of inside air to cool down the internals of the AC, helping it to cool the room quicker and more efficiently. Our engineers were impressed by its year-round versatility; in dehumidifier mode, it removed up to 101 pints of moisture in a 24-hour period, and you can opt to go for the upgraded model that includes a heater, generating heat up to 77F.
Precise temperature control sets this portable AC apart from the competition. We tested the brand's more robust 10,000 BTUs SACC unit, which has enough cooling power for nearly any room in the house, so while this smaller one's sound and output may vary slightly, we trust its performance.
When our testers set it to 64º F and returned to measure the temperature, the room had quickly reached 65.6º F. No other portable AC came that close to achieving the proper ambient temperature. The air coming from the TCL also came out faster and reached farther than other tested models, though the tradeoff is some expected noisiness. Our experts also like the WiFi connectivity, allowing you to control the unit via a smartphone app. But if you don't feel like downloading the app, it also comes with a remote.
It only weighs 11.2 pounds, making it easy to move around. The included remote is an extra bonus so you can control it without needing to leave your bed. This air cooler pulls less power than any of the other units on the list, meaning you could plug in multiple and still use less energy than a single other portable AC. 041b061a72