What is the best portable air conditioner on the market?

Central air is nice, but it’s a massive commitment from a financial standpoint, especially if your home is full of rooms that might each have their own climate thanks to a variety of factors (windows, positioning in the house, etc.). So, what do you do when you need to take the edge off the heat and humidity of a room but don’t want to install central heat or don’t have the means to get central heat? The answer is getting yourself a small, portable unit that is as versatile as you need it to be. In the middle of summer, a heat wave can decimate one room while leaving others intact. Or perhaps you want to keep social areas cool during a party.

Portable AC units are the way to go.

But, that doesn’t mean you run out to Home Depot or Lowe’s and buy the first portable AC unit you see sitting at the front of the store. AC units have a lot of mechanisms and moving parts, which means you need something that’s well tuned and well made. In the quickest explanation, AC units pull the air from the room, pull the moisture out of it, and drop the temperature before sending it back into the room. Anyone who’s had a frozen AC unit or experienced the pain of a broken unit knows that any one of those stages can be detrimental for the AC function. So, if you’re going to invest in a portable, easy way to manage the humidity and temperatures of your rooms, you’ll want to do research to get something that will last you.

Some Things to Consider…

There are some elements you want to universally consider across the board when looking at various units.

• Size: they’re all going to be relatively close in height and width, but everyone’s situation is different and you’ll want to measure out spaces where the unit can be placed in the rooms you intend to use it. The size of the unit also determines its reach as a cooling unit.
• Environmental Factors: The insulation in your home is going to affect the effectiveness of the AC unit, so you’ll want to do a look at your home and do any necessary maintenance to ensure you get the most out of your portable AC unit
• Hose Configuration: Portable AC units have hose configurations that run out the window to funnel the hot air out of the room. They’ll come as either single or dual hoses. While a dual hose system is a little bit more complicated, it cools a room more effectively with two hoses working.
• Noise Level: Some units can be extremely loud. Others have more ambient sounds. Know what the sound level is going to be on units before you buy them, especially if it’s going into a social space.
• Energy Efficiency: The whole point of portable AC units is to keep your space comfortable while being conscious of your energy consumption. While most portable units will naturally be good options, some will be better than others.
• Protection Plans: This may not be important to everyone, but if you’re investing in your unit, you might want to go the full mile with it. Not all units will offer a warranty or protection plan, especially the more cost effective ones. But if you want to protect your machine, make sure to get a unit with this option.
• Installation: While most of them won’t require any additional maintenance or hands to get involved, that doesn’t mean every install is going to be easy or without the need of at least a little bit of instruction

Whynter ARC-143MX 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner

This is a great example of the dual hose unit style. This makes it very effective at both dehumidifying the air and dropping the temperature of the space. One thing it does better than comparable dual hose units, however, is provide eco-friendly cooling. It’s very low on power consumption, utilizes a refrigerant that is ozone friendly, and can cool up to 500 square feet of space.

This unit is also pretty user friendly. It’s remote operable for convenient use and has three settings to choose from based on your needs: fan, AC, and dehumidifier. If there is one downfall to this unit, it’s that its noise level can be a bit louder than others, but that also depends on the level of ambience you want out of your AC unit.

Pros:

• Incredibly eco-friendly
• Cools air a considerable amount
• Can cool up to 500 square feet of space

Cons:

• This is not a low noise machine
• The dehumidifier than be overwhelmed in high humidity environments

LG LP1417GSR 115V Portable Air Conditioner

At this point LG tends to have a place in every best-of list for appliances. And this portable AC unit from LG is no exception. This model is sleek and blends in pretty well with any other appliances. It can cool a space of up to 500 square feet and is pretty easy to install. It lacks the eco friendliness of other models but, by virtue of being a portable AC unit, will be more energy efficient than other cooling options for your space.

It does, however, have an auto-evaporator that can run for up to 24 hours on a timer. It’s also an easy install and an easy appliance to move. It’s remote controlled with a convenient LED display to control the climate of a room with ease.

Pros:

• The output to sound ratio is very incredible, it remains very quiet for a machine that cools as well as it does
• Strong enough to cool a 500 square foot area
• Appealing and easy to blend design for virtually any space

Cons:

• It lacks an energy friendly option or any eco-friendly options
• The price on this one is a little bit high for a machine that only has two fan options

BLACK + DECKER BPACT08WT Portable Air Conditioner

Black & Decker is another prominent name when it comes to household appliances and their portable AC units are no exception to their line of impressive appliances. This, like all their appliances, is another user-friendly, consumer minded piece of machinery. This unit has great airflow and is very easy to clean. It combines all three components, fan, dehumidifier, and air cooling unit, into a machine with an easy to install window kit.

It also utilizes a a remote control system for easy use and is a fairly attractive model that’s easy to blend into any decor across a home. It can cool a room up to about 200 square feet which makes it ideal for single rooms or dorm room use where applicable. The settings on this one are also pretty customizable.

Pros:

• User friendly design
• Aesthetic makes it easy to fit into virtually any room

Cons:

• Meant for smaller areas
• The price for the power and cooling output is a little high

Honeywell CO610PM Outdoor Portable Evaporative Cooler with Fan

What this unit lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in versatility. This unit is designed for large, open areas and partially outdoor areas. It’s designed for patios, three-season rooms, and garages. It is also, of course, a fan and dehumidifier as well as an AC unit. It’s got a light body, is low on energy consumption, and has an easy to handle water system.

If there is a downside to this unit, it’s that the mechanisms aren’t entirely durable or longlasting. The good news is replacements and update parts are fairly easy to come by thanks to Honeywell’s customer service assistance, but you might want to look at something that doesn’t require further maintenance.

Pros:

• Versatile and highly mobile
• Cools large areas
• Quiet

Cons:  

• Not a long-lasting, durable piece of equipment

 

Frigidaire 12,000 BTU Cool Connect Smart Portable Air Conditioner

We live in the age of smart appliances. While it’s not a necessity, it’s very convenient to have a smart optimized piece of appliance for your home. And if smart technology is already in your home, having a smart AC unit would make it that much easier. The smart optimization on this unit allows you to turn it off remotely if you’ve left it on. Again, not something you normally look at when researching AC units, but it’s a nice little perk for a machine that’s already pretty great.

This is an effective and compact unit that’s easy to install without professional assistance and dehumidifies the air with ease. If the smart technology doesn’t appeal, there is a traditional remote for user friendly controls within the home itself. If there is a flaw, it’s in its mobility. It’s easy to install but not easy to cart from room to room which is, unfortunately, something you want in a portable AC unit.

Pros:

• Smart compatible with both Android and Apple OS
• Easy to install
• Powerful cooling abilities

Cons:

• Not as portable as other units

EdgeStar AP12000S Portable Air Conditioner

The design on this one isn’t as attractive as some of the others and it has a bit of a steeper price tag, but boy does that price tag pay for what you get. The dehumidifier on this one is powerful and not only pulls the humidity out of the air for comfort but will discourage the growth of mold in high humidity areas. It’s easy to install, easy to move, and might actually be one of the more beneficial units on this list for sensitive groups when it comes to air quality.

The trade off is that this unit knows what it’s worth. It’s a pricey unit. But you do get a lot for it.

Pros:

• Very powerful as a dehumidifying unit
• Easy install and mobility
• Powerful cooling radius

Cons:

• Pricey unit
• The touch controls can be a little overly sensitive at times

 

SPT WA-1420E Portable Air Conditioner

We’ll admit, this one looks a little bit like a paper shredder, but it’s 700 square foot cooling radius will certainly make you rethink judging the book by its cover. This unit is so good at what it does that it might even make you forget you’re not using central air. It’s also fairly energy efficient, especially for all the work it does to cool large spaces. It’s also got a programmable timer so you can effectively time your cooling for maximum efficiency.

That being said, it does have its limits. And those limits have less to do with space and more to do with conditions. It’s not helpful that atmospheric conditions being too extreme will trigger an out shut off on this unit.

Pros:

• Powerful unit that can cool 700 square feet
• Powerful dehumidifier
• Easy install and mobility

Cons:

• Clunky design
• Auto shutoff can hinder use
• Overheating on the unit can negate some of its effectiveness

Frigidaire FFRA0511R1 5

Now, you may be looking at this and thinking “That’s a window unit, that’s not what I’m here for.” While they’re the mobile AC units of days gone by, there’s still some relevance in certain units and this is one of them. Its reach is small, designed to cool a single bedroom or home office as opposed to an open, social area. But if that’s all you’re trying to cool and want to stay under $100, then this unit is a great buy.

It’s easy to set up, you probably won’t need an extension cord to use it, and generally won’t have too much of an effect on your electric bill if you use it smartly. Essentially this is the option for small, single rooms as opposed to wider spaces or entire apartments.

Pros:

• Easy to install without further assistance
• Energy bill friendly
• Great for smaller rooms
• Budget friendly price

Cons:

• Can only cool a single room
• Not incredibly easy to move between rooms

Koldfront PAC802W Portable Air Conditioner

This unit is tiny but it sure is mighty. It can cool a room down in a matter of minutes and maintain that temperature for an extended period of time. It’s good at keeping rooms cool and dry, it’s an easy install, and it’s easy to move around. It’s also priced so you won’t break your budget.

The one thing to keep an eye is that this unit has its limits. It’s powerful and works but there are parameters you have to keep it operating under. It also has a downside to its abilities as a dehumidifier: you’ll need to constantly keep an eye on the need to drain the unit.

Pros:

• Very powerful for its size
• Compact and easy to fit into a space
• Easy to move
• Great price for the power

Cons:

• Need to maintain ideal environmental factors for optimal use
• The unit requires fairly constant draining after dehumidifier use

Honeywell Indoor Portable Evaporative Cooler

This one is a nice middle ground between the cheaper window unit and the full blown standing portable unit. It looks like a tower fan but is more powerful at cooling a room and has a dehumidifying unit. It’s another one that’s going to be best utilized in a small setting but it’s got a bit more power to it than a window unit without all the bulk and cost of other units. It’s very low on power consumption and has an easy to remove detachable tank for emptying. It also has the added bonus of working in reverse as humidifier in winter months

Pros:

• Compact and easy to move
• Low power consumption won’t break your utility budget
• Versatile across seasons
• Low cost

Cons:

• Will only operate in single rooms
• Is only designed to work best in environments of 60% or less humidity  

Price Guide

So how, much should you expect to pay for a portable unit? As you can tell from the above units, you’re looking at anywhere between $100 to as much as over $500 depending on the brand and power of the unit you’re looking at. Small window units run on the lower end while the sleek and powerful standing units will run higher.

The other price point to consider is the cost of actually running the unit. They’re energy efficient, but there’s always the danger of overusing your unit because it’s so efficient. Depending on the BTU, you’re looking at anywhere between $80-$150 on an energy bill from the fairly constant use of a portable AC unit.

Some Follow Up Questions…

Does the number of people in a room matter?

Body heat in closed quarters plays a fairly big role into the temperature and humidity level of a room. Think of this way, for every person (a person here being a toddler or older) add 750 BTUs of power level to keep the room cool. If it’s going in a shared bedroom, keep that in mind. If it’s going in an area that will  be frequented by a large number of people, take that into consideration as well.

Are they hard to set up?

Yes and no. Set up is designed to be fair more painless than setting up a central unit or a wall unit. And as most units are designed to be fairly portable, setup on them from room to room is meant to be easy. But, there are always exceptions to the rules. The units generally come with window kits to vent air out of the room and they can sometimes be tricky to set up for the novice. You probably won’t have to hire a handyman to set up your units, but you might have to check out a few DIYA video tutorials to get it right.

What is the maintenance on a portable AC unit?

This can depend on the unit. Some are going to be more future proof than others and the warranty info will let you know how easy or difficult it will be to get new parts for a unit. But one piece of fairly constant maintenance on some units is draining the dehumidifying unit. How often you have to do this will vary unit to unit. Some have auto draining, some don’t.

Is it better to get a standing unit or a window unit?

When you think of portable AC units, you probably think of the units that are wedged into apartment windows and insulated with towels or other fabric stuffed into the open spots. One of those is on this list and they’re fine units for what they are. But you need to think about your needs and what you’re looking for out of a portable AC unit. If you just want to cool one bedroom of a single person, this might be the way to go. If you’re cooling larger social places, looking for something more user friendly, or even smart enhanced you’ll need to look a little deeper and, unfortunately, pay a little more.

Conclusion

There’s more than one way to tackle the climate of your living space. Central AC is the traditional route but it’s far from the only option. You also don’t need to have a tower fan running in every room. Portable units will help you keep rooms cool as you need them, save on energy bills, as well as your overall eco footprint. So do your research and get the unit that’s going to work best for you and your space.