Place your air conditioner near a window: Regardless of the type of unit you select, reducing the hot air expulsion time helps the machine perform efficiently.

In a dual hose system, the same process occurs. The unit may not intake exactly the same amount of air from the outdoors as it exhausts. In addition, it may also intake a small portion of cooled indoor air to cool its condenser. All of this may create at least a small pressure gradient between the conditioned room and the outdoors. In a dual hose system, heat added to the room via infiltration air is not nearly as substantial, but it still needs to be accounted for. Duct heat transfer My favourite function is definitely the fan function. The air comes out of the exhaust hose as well as the vents at the front of the unit which means you have a major bonus of having a pipe which you can position where you need it so you could for example have the air coming out of the unit itself and the pipe pointed in a different direction providing additional airflow and cooling in a different part of the room – This is an absolute godsend because I can point the hose at the dog in her bed whilst I’m keeping myself cool too!

Warranty

Rated the “Best Portable AC unit to Buy” by Good Housekeeping, the Whynter ARC-14SH, which also holds Consumer Report’s 2019 Highest Score for portable air conditioners. The Honeywell is surprisingly quiet for an air conditioner without an inverter compressor. It produces only 51 dBA on the high setting, so I could see myself using it in a bedroom. You’re advised to use the heat function for supplemental heating only as the portable air conditioner heats a smaller coverage area than it cools, even at full speed. Another value-adding factor is the ARC-122DS’ low power consumption, matched only by the Midea AC unit. With a 12 SEER rating, this portable AC can keep your home cool without impacting your energy bill that much. The higher the BTU, the higher the kW/h a 12000BTU air con, which can cool a moderately large room will typically use around 1.35Kw per hour.

The Honeywell matches the Whynter AC units in features. It comes with three fan speed settings and can operate in AC, dehumidifier, and fan modes. There’s no sleep mode, though, so if you need that, Dreo or Midea might serve you better.Out of all the air conditioners on my list, this is the only one that comes with refrigerant leak detection — supposedly. I couldn’t figure out how it works, but at least it’s there. For the 2023 recommendation, I swapped out the De’Longhi Pinguino PACAN112 Silent which is no longer available with the De’Longhi Pinguino PACEX120 Silent. There is also the well-reviewed De’Longhi Pinguino PACEX100 Silent but there is not much price difference and the PACEX100 is only 10,000 BTU/h vs 11,500 BTU/h. Types of air conditioner Your budget shouldn’t stop you from living in a nicely cooled space. Whynter ARC-122DS is a relatively affordable dual-hose portable air conditioner that brings plenty of value to the table.