Best portable air conditioners

The solution to summer air and all its discomfort is the portable air conditioner, a small appliance that uses an ice-cold metal coil and a fan to convert hot and humid air into dry, cool, comfortable air.

Just as quiet as our top pick, this version costs less, has a little less cooling power, and does not include a heater. This portable AC has an efficient variable-speed compressor, a built-in hose for easier setup, and a convenient storage pocket—but it lacks a heating mode. This popular model matches our other picks in cooling performance but feels cheaper—it has chintzy buttons and lacks conveniences such as cord storage. The Midea Duo MAP14HS1TBL delivers better cooling performance than other portable ACs while using less energy and making less noise, thanks in part to its variable-speed inverter compressor and its hose-in-hose design. In our tests, it was good at distributing the cooled air, never leaving more than a 1-degree temperature difference across the room. The Frigidaire FHPHAC1 impressed us not only with its ability to maintain a steady chill throughout the room within one-half of a degree but also with its surprisingly low-volume performance.

Best portable air conditioners

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The Wave 2 comes with a variety of hose connections that you can hook up to any of the air exhausts or intakes.

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Home » Lifestyle. Everything you need to know before getting a portable air con to cool your apartment, home or office. Every year as the Australian Summer starts to heat up typically hotter than the last , split-system air conditioner specialists are run off their feet and often booked up well into the New Year. That's why so many Australians turn to a trusty portable air conditioner to get the job done. Especially popular with renters, portable air conditioners can be moved from room to room and are easily installed and operated. But as many people who have previously invested in portable air-con would tell you, some products simply don't have the power required to combat the harsh Australian Summer, and sometimes the ones that do can do some serious damage to your energy bill. With that in mind, we've rounded up the best portable air conditioners currently available in Australia based on their coverage, noise levels, budget and cooling features. However, it's not the cheapest model out there. That said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a truly silent portable air conditioner, so expect the usual humming and fan noises.

Best portable air conditioners

Learn more about it. As most of us are aware, the Earth continues to get warmer; summers are longer and hotter and likely to become even warmer. In most areas, keeping indoor spaces cool and comfortable requires the use of air conditioning. As well as keeping us cool, air conditioning, when installed and used correctly also helps mitigate ambient household air pollution. To help end this worldwide health epidemic caused by poor air quality and toxic indoor environments, Michael Rubino, a mold and air quality expert and environmental wellness advocate founded a company called HomeCleanse. For central systems, this can even compromise the pressure of the building, creating a negative interior pressure that pulls in moisture from the outdoors, he explained. HVAC technicians use something called the Manual J calculation to help them decide the best-sized air conditioner for a specific space.

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That's a big benefit due to the dual inverter compressor on this appliance. After we set the temperature and fan speed, it was blowing ice cold air before we could even return to our notes. It should make the room feel more comfortable. That leaves you with a lot more flexibility in its location. If you have the floor and window space for a normal portable unit, you should get one of our other picks. Even the compressor was hardly noticeable when it first kicked on, adding about 2 decibels of low rumble to the fan volume on average. We prioritized models with a CEER of at least 7. But in the kinds of situations that the Wave 2 was designed for, it can make a major difference. You can also use it outdoors or in a semi-enclosed space such as a screened-in patio and direct the exhaust air away from you. Like our top pick, it also offers a heating option. This Frigidaire portable AC was also better at maintaining a consistent temperature, with our monitors measuring less than a half-degree difference between them. Roy Berendsohnh. You can save space, money, and energy with this appropriately-sized air conditioner from Midea. For some people, this could be a fair trade-off, especially considering the cost savings.

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Some portable air conditioners have one hose while others have two. Like most portable air conditioners, this Frigidaire model requires you to twist the plastic accordion hose onto the back of the machine and then feed that exhaust tube into a plastic panel that fits into your window—a cumbersome process on both ends. It has the same inverter compressor and dual-hose design as our top pick. By pancake shape, we mean something like the iconic Honeywell wall thermostat: round and simple. There are two of these. Not the Hisense. The LPIVSM comes with a remote control, as well as Wi-Fi capabilities so that you can set up all the standard smart-home features, which all work decently well. Best Window-Mounted Air Conditioners. Care and maintenance. Since, it's far more portable than air conditioners that are window units , you can roll a portable air conditioner to the room where it will do the most good. As for the Hisense, it goes about its work quietly and very simply. Known as condensate, the water that was condensed out of the air may be disposed of in any number of ways. Its Auto setting will cycle the appliance from cooling, to heating, to fan, depending on what temperature it senses in its operating area and the temperature to which you have it set. We also considered the ease of removing the unit and storing it in between seasons, as well as general accessibility considerations for people with limited mobility. Some of these dual-hose appliances are configured as a hose within a hose so that only one hose is visible.