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#1 MIDEA MAP08R1CWT 8,000
The compact nature of this air conditioner allows it to be housed in almost in any apartment, studio, or house. You don’t have to worry about where you’re going to store it. Its dimensions measure 17 inches (height) x 28 inches (width) x 13 (length). Despite its compact nature, it can cool and circulate air in a region of up to 350 sq.ft.
One of the things that make other air conditioners that are on the market expensive is the need to constantly buy new air filters for them. However, with the 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner, this isn’t a problem you will encounter because this MIDEA model features washable as well as reusable air filters. Because you don’t need to buy replacements, this will likely save you lots of money.
The A/C cooling rate of this Portable Air Conditioner is 8,000 BTU/hr with the ability to cover up to 350 sq.ft. This MIDEA model also offers 4-way air circulation, and as if that wasn’t enough, it’s portable, and so if you move rooms, you can take the air conditioner with you.
It also has an automatic shut off so you don’t have to worry about the constant use of energy. The 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner also acts as a humidifier and in that capacity has the ability to remove up to 2 pints of moisture a day.
#2 LG 6,000 BTU
Portable air conditioners can be loud, and many models won’t even mention how much noise they generate. But the LG Portable Air Conditioner can be as quiet as 49dB, which is akin to the sound of quiet rainfall—so in a real sense, this air conditioner can be whisper quiet when it’s on its best behavior. (Don’t expect it to sound like the pitter-patter of actual rainfall, of course; it still sounds like the usual white noise of an air conditioner.)
This LG unit is also surprisingly strong – reviewers had mention that even though small in size this LG can cool off a fairly large room in minutes. It have a 3-in-1 OPERATION (Cool/Fan/Dry) – Cool mode provides powerful cooling and dehumidifying in hot days. Fan mode circulates air and dry mode is ideal for rainy and damp days.
Another good thing about this air conditioner that is fairly quiet indoors when being compared to other portable models. It won’t be as quiet as standard AC unit but it won’t wake you up in the middle of the night.
#3 Black+Decker BPACT10WT
While you don’t want an underpowered air conditioner, one that delivers too many BTUs is wasteful. The Black+Decker BPACT10WT’s 10,000 BTU ASHRAE (6,000 BTU DOE) is well suited to small rooms up to about 250 square feet (though it might struggle in a space that large and will do much better with rooms up to about 150 square feet).
It can operate as an AC unit, fan or dehumidifier. More importantly, its bucket-less design that evaporates the condensation from the air conditioner without the need to dump water keeps maintenance simple and easy. Pretty much the only thing you need to do is clean the filter about twice a month.
The BPACT10WT rolls around on casters for easy placement and features an LED display with controls on the top panel, but you can also operate this air conditioner using the included remote control. You’ll also appreciate the fact that it’s largely autonomous; it’ll run for 24 hours at a time with an automatic sleep timer.
#4 Whynter ARC-14S 14,000 BTU
Have a large space you’re trying to cool? The Whynter ARC-14S Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner is near the top end of what portable AC units can do. That said, you should probably be sure you need this much air conditioning before you invest in the ARC-14S; it isn’t inexpensive, weighs a formidable 80 pounds and the lack of handles makes it challenging to move on anything but smooth flat surfaces (where the casters can help out). It also doesn’t look like a typical air conditioner. It looks like Darth Vader’s portable AC. That’s not a bad thing, but the aesthetic is quite different than most other portable air conditioners.
But this unit means business. Unlike most portable air conditioners meant for the home, this is a dual-hose model, with one hose serving as an input and the other as an output. That makes it somewhat more efficient and better able to cool your space without unintentionally sucking more warm air into your room. It has an impressive 14,000 BTU ASHRAE (9,500 DOE) that can cool a 600-square-foot room with ease, moving 253 cubic feet per minute. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a portable unit able to cool a room faster.
Better yet, it can dehumidify an impressive 101 pints of water per day from your home. And if you’re concerned about air quality, it has a washable pre-filter and activated carbon air filter to keep your air fresh. Unlike some of the other options in this roundup, the Whynter air conditioner has a temperature setting between 61 degrees Fahrenheit and 89 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing you to set your desired temperature and let the device do its work.
#5 SereneLife SLPAC10
Evaporative coolers like the Evapolar Personal Evaporative Air Cooler mentioned above might technically be cheaper than the the SereneLife SLPAC10, but it earns its status as the best affordable portable air conditioner thanks to its moderately powerful cooling power with a real compressor-style cooling system and its overall versatility. choosing something like the Evapolar as the lowest cost AC feels like cheating; Evapolar isn’t a real air conditioner and can’t cool an entire room.
Not only does the SereneLife SLPAC10 operate as a simple air conditioner, but it can be used with a circulating fan (the fan automatically swings around to spread the airflow) and a dehumidifier. It comes in a variety of capacities from 8,000 BTU to 12,000 BTU. This particular model is rated for 8,000 BTU ASHRAE (4,000 BTU DOE); it’s able to keep rooms up to about 250 square feet cool with an airflow of 290 cubic meters per hour.
The SereneLife stands just under three feet tall and has a 17 x 13-inch footprint. It has easy-rolling casters, though, and the sides are easy to grip, making it a snap to move around the house. Don’t expect it to be the quietest air conditioner on the market—with a rated noise level around 57 dB, it can seem louder in actual operation, sometimes whining like a vacuum cleaner. Nonetheless, it’s fairly compact and comes with a remote so you can operate it from across the room, though there’s also a simple control panel on the top of the unit as well.