The best portable air conditioners you can buy
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Portable air conditioners are sometimes the only option to get the cool air you need, but they tend to be expensive. The Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner stands out from the crowd because it's powerful, relatively quiet, and doubles as a fan or dehumidifier.
Whether you endure hot weather all year long or only for a few months, when it is hot, humid, and sticky, air conditioning (AC) can become necessary to keep your home comfortable. To get the proper amount of AC, people often turn to portable air conditioners, which, like central and window units, can cool your house down.
Portable ACs are easy to move and install. In some cases, portable air conditions are the only option in homes or apartments where there is no central AC and window units are not allowed, or simply won’t fit. As an added bonus, out of all the types of air conditioners you can buy, portable units generally save you the most in your electrical bills.
Things to look for in a portable AC
There are many factors to consider when you're figuring out which portable AC to buy. To start, most portable air conditioners are broken into two categories based on their configuration: Single hose and dual hose.
- Single-hose AC units use the same hose as both intake and exhaust for air. While single hose units will still cool the space you’re using them in, they will have to work harder to do so, meaning they are not as efficient as a dual-hose air conditioner. On the plus side, they tend to be cheaper and are a perfectly adequate solution for smaller rooms, such as a small bedroom or studio apartment.
- Dual-hose AC units have one intake hose and one exhaust hose. Because you have to two separate hoses, these types of portable air conditioner are usually more energy efficient, generally cooling a room approximately 40% quicker than single-hose units, and they are the preferred choice if you’re looking to cool a larger room.
All portable ACs come with window venting kits to help you ensure that the cold air stays in and the exhaust stays outside with all that heat. You'll also need to look for ACs with self-evaporating technology that gets rid of the condensation produced by the unit. Otherwise, you'll have to empty a tank regularly.
How many BTUs do you need to cool your room?
When you’re shopping for portable AC units it’s best to prioritize the size of the area you wish to cool, rather than the size of the actual unit. To pick the most appropriate model, you’ll want to match the British Thermal Unit (BTU) requirements to the room size you plan to use it in.
BTU is the international measure of energy, and a BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit. When it comes to air conditioners, manufacturers use BTUs to indicate the quantity of heat a conditioning unit can remove from a room per hour. (One BTU per hour is equal to 0293 watts.)
As the BTU rating increases so do the weight, size, and cost of the air conditioner, but you have to make sure you get the right cooling capacity for your space. If you purchase a unit that has a higher BTU rating than the room requires, it will cycle off too quickly and won’t remove the humidity from the air properly. On the other hand, if you purchase a portable air conditioner that has a lower BTU rating than the room requires, it will run continuously and never cool the room adequately. Check out the breakdown below:
- A 150 sq. ft. room requires 5,000 BTUs
- A 250 sq. ft. room requires 6,000 BTUs
- A 350 sq. ft. room requires 8,000 BTUs
- A 450 sq. ft. room requires 10,000 BTUs
- A 550 sq. ft. room requires 12,000 BTUs
- A 700 sq. ft room requires 14,000 BTUs
With portable units, you hear noise from the pumps, fans, and motors that make up the unit’s moving mechanical components. Since all portable AC units make some sort of noise, it’s just a matter of deciding how much noise is comfortable to you. Most manufacturers are continually making upgrades to decrease the noise level of their units and if it’s an especially quiet unit, this information will be a highlighted selling point in the product description.
The picks below are based on online research, ratings from tech analysts and experts in the field, authoritative, reliable product testing and ranking sites, along with Amazon ratings and customer reviews. We took price into consideration to accommodate various budgets, as well. Read on to see which of these portable ACs is best for your needs.
Although the Whynter 14,000 BTU Portable AC is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the NewAir 10,000 BTU Portable AC, the Whynter 12,000 BTU Portable AC, the LG 8,000 BTU Portable AC, and the Frigidaire 12,000 BTU Smart Portable AC.
The best portable AC overall
Why you'll love it: The Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner can keep a 700 sq. ft. room cool with little noise or upkeep, thanks to advanced self-evaporating tech.
The Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner gives you full thermostatic control with temperatures between 61 and 89 degrees Fahrenheit. It comes complete with a digital readout, remote control, three fan speeds, a carbon air filter, and a washable pre-filter.
Maintenance is easy with the advanced self-evaporating technology, which consists of an upper and lower direct drain option for continuous operation without excess condensate accumulation or the need to dump out a tank every now and then.
The AC unit can also be used as a fan or dehumidifier, and it has a higher than average dehumidifying capacity of 101 pints per day. It can be programmed with a 24-hour timer to turn on or shut-off at pre-set times. It also features an auto-restart function, which is triggered in the event of a power outage. The AC uses an environmentally friendly coolant called R-410A. Unlike alkyl halide refrigerants that contain bromine or chlorine, R-410A contains only fluorine and thus does not contribute to ozone depletion.
The Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner is the runner-up pick in The Sweethome's guide to the best portable ACs, and it has a 9.3 out of 10 rating from Portable-ac-experts.com. It’s listed in Popular Mechanics and Consumer Search as one of the best portable ACs around. On Amazon, the unit has an average 3.8 out of 5-star rating.
Many Amazon reviewers state that the portable air conditioner works well, such as this reviewer who writes, "I have ZERO trouble with it." Another buyer states that it is made of high-quality materials and is easy to setup, while some others remark that it has lowered their energy bills. The critical reviews tend to center around the fact that the customers aren’t satisfied with the amount of cooling the unit provides, or that the unit is larger than expected.
Pros: Cools large areas, programmable unit, specialized filters for cleaner air, dual hose, self-evaporating technology, environmentally friendly
Cons: Takes up a lot of room, cooling isn’t as powerful as other types of AC units (such as window and central)
Buy the Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner (ARC-14S) on Amazon for $440.95 (originally $599.99)
The best portable AC for small spaces
Why you'll love it: The NewAir 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner is compact, weighs just 50 pounds, and provides multiple cooling options for a 325 sq. ft. room.
The NewAir 10,000BTU Portable Air Conditioner cools rooms measuring up to 325 square feet. Ideal for smaller spaces, this 50-pound air conditioner is easily transported from room to room. It has self-evaporating technology that eliminates condensation collection, making maintenance easy. The AC improves cooling efficiency by using water from the air to cool the compressor coils. The device is versatile, with the ability to cool, dehumidify, and work as a fan.
It uses an environmentally-friendly R-410A coolant. The NewAir AC has two fan speeds, adjustable louvers that give you multiple cooling options, and a remote control that makes programming easy. Programming options include a 12-hour timer and a sleep mode. It comes with a window kit that fits windows up to 42 inches, and you get a 59-inch exhaust hose.
The NewAir 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner is recommended by Faveable, and TopTenReviews gave the unit has a 7.28 out of 10 rating. On Amazon, the unit has a 3.3 out of 5-star average rating, which includes a variety of mixed reviews.
The positive reviewers generally say the unit does what they expected and cools properly. Many like how compact the unit is, such as this reviewer who highlights that the device is portable. Others comment that they love how quiet the AC is: “Quieter than any other portable AC out there,” writes one pleased buyer. The critical reviewers tend to have issues with defective units.
Pros: Compact and more easily portable than most, built-in dehumidifier and fan, quiet, environmentally friendly
Cons: Questionable longevity, lemon products
Buy the NewAir AC-10100E Ultra Compact 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner from the Home Depot for $361.99 (originally $491.00)
The best high-end portable AC
Why you'll love it: The Whynter Elite 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner makes cooling easier with 24-hour programming and wheels for enhanced mobility.
The Whynter Elite 12,000 BTU Dual Hose Digital Portable Air Conditioner is top-of-the-line. The air conditioner has a compact size, but it offers powerful performance with a dual hose system to provide optimal space utilization and more efficient cooling. The unit is portable and easy to set up.
It's ideal for providing cooling relief for any area where excess humidity and heat exist. In addition to cooling, the unit has a fan and dehumidifier built in and it's equipped with a remote control so you that easily control the speed, temperature, and dehumidifier settings from a distance.
It has a carbon air filter and washable pre-filter, as well as a non-ozone-depleting R410a refrigerant. Using both an upper and lower direct drain, you can run it continuously without excess condensate accumulation and cleaning needed. The self-evaporative system exhausts most condensate under average ambient conditions, plus it has a unique LCDI (Leakage-Current Detection and Interruption) plug. The 24-hour programmable timer means you can program it to meet your needs, while caster wheels allow for easy mobility.
The Whynter Elite 12,000 BTU Dual Hose Digital Portable Air Conditioner is the runner-up pick in The Sweethome's buying guide. It also holds a 9.3 out of 10-star rating on Portable-ac-experts.com. On Amazon, the unit has an average 4 out of 5-star rating.
Amazon reviewers say it's a premium product at an affordable price and it's relatively quiet. Critical reviews cite issues that the product was delivered with missing pieces, such as this reviewer.
Pros: Dual hose system, compact yet powerful, self-evaporation system, quite, strong cooling system, environmentally friendly
Cons: Shipment issues, price
Buy the Whynter ARC-122DS Elite 12000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner on Amazon for $425.99 (originally $600)
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