The Best Portable Air Conditioners - Reviews by YBD

[@YourBestDigs]

Our picks for the best portable air conditioner: • Whynter - ARC-122DS Elite: geni.us/Whynter122DS • LG - LP1218GXR: geni.us/LG2018 • Whynter 14,000 BTU: geni.us/whynter14sh • LG - 2015 model (old winner): geni.us/lg12kbtu • Frigidaire 12,000 BTU: geni.us/FrigidairePortable • LG - 2017 model: geni.us/LG2017 • Honeywell - 10,000 BTU: geni.us/honeywellmn10

[@JordanRambis]

I'm trying to find one that doesn't dehumidify

[@JordanRambis]

@Ed G It's for my room and I have sinus issues where humidity helps

[@TRAVIS-L]

Your Best Digs witch is better the arc 122DS or the LG Electronics 10,200 BTU (6,500 BTU, DOE), 115-Volt Portable AC w/ Dehumidifier Function and LCD Remote in White

[@TRAVIS-L]

And what does DOE stand for is it a true 10.000 BTU or a 6.500 BTU

[@WheeledHamster]

Your Best Digs I have a Whynter 12,000BTU dual hose AC, it's trash doesn't even cool my room 2 degree. Don't buy crap from Whynter.

[@Inhumanefool]

Bit of a cop out to just update the name to 2020 when your released it in 2018

[@odysseynyc]

Instant dislike

[@zekeisme1]

so funny

[@scaptal]

@@odysseynyc yeah, I think this is still quite a usefull vid, but I think that I'll have to follow your plan :D

[@neumaticimpact]

Should have at least re-Uploaded the video.

[@anoniem012]

Lol I just realized, clickbait..

[@frank1971ification]

People complain about single hose units being trash and all I gotta say is I have a 14000 btu single hose unit and it’s a beast in the summer

[@ShadowBurn666]

I live in Orlando FL, so it gets over 90 in January. One trick I did to help it was wrap insulation around the exhaust duct, that way the radiated heat could get out better.

[@Thefireslove]

We bought a Heir portable AC in 2008. It is still going strong 11 years later.

[@SuperiorNo1]

Did it Need a Gas Refill?

[@Thefireslove]

Nope.

[@YaaanX]

"The Best Portable Air Conditioner of 2020" Video was made in 2018. Can you look into the future?

[@FEETERPLAYS]

Ik this guy is a bitch

[@JA-qb1mr]

They just changed the name of the video

[@bobhope1122]

Lol

[@TheKingsArmor]

ive noticed that with some older videos as well also phone reviews lol

[@Forsakenzombi]

Did it again for 2021, this kinda shit should be banned on youtube. 100% click bait bullshit.

[@tjray4665]

This video was enlightening and made me scientifically understand why my portable AC didn't seem to work as well as expected - just in time to return it!

[@johnhoward7987]

Did you you have a single or dual hose? Also what brand was it?

[@pblais404]

I have a dual hose unit and I slipped a length of duct insulation over the exhaust hose to eliminate the radiated heat coming from it. Now the room is that much cooler then before. It's amazing what a little inginuity can come up with especially when the unit is not close to the window thus exposing a lot of heat generating exhaust hose.

[@scott83gmail]

I was thinking about doing the same thing

[@raul1899]

Thank you for your work. Every single person that wants to buy a portable unit, should watch this video. No wonder my portable device did not work. Here we get above 90 degrees almost the entire summer. It only cooled the spot where cool air comes out, but the rest of the room was same or even hotter than outside. Here we get up to 110 sometimes.

[@CoupedUpGenny]

watching this because its dumb hot outside in ny. i cannt afford these, but thinking about how cool my room could be is where im at rn

[@spartan23456789]

Look up The King of Randoms portable A/C build

[@Cheepchipsable]

You can cool yourself when you sleep by getting two sheets, making one damp, (not too wet), then when you lie down, put the dry sheet over you first, then the damp one. It works like an evaporative air conditioner.

[@alexanderdeserteagle]

Cris lmao 😂

[@amdz4696]

He said New york HAHA come to the South

[@kimchi_dudez]

Get a portable air cooler like the Arctic air, works fine for my small room. But it’s not as strong as thos big ones

[@KozmoDyne]

Only halfway through and this is the hands-down best review video of portable ACs I have seen after seeing at least a dozen.

[@llwscott5720]

I've used two single hose portable a/c units for several years now. The heat that comes out the hose before it reaches the window is incredible. It's uncomfortable to hold your hand on the hose while the a/c is operating. What the manufacturers need to do is come up with a hose that's insulated, or an insulation wrap sold separately, like the ones for hot water heaters.

[@jonathanmathews8496]

Flex duct is a commonly used item in the hvac industry and is often decently insulated. An easy fix for the heat issue could be to get a length of flex duct that fits over the existing hoses you have. That way you dont have to make any modifications to the unit and the hose should still be just as flexible.

[@747-pilot]

EXACTLY!!!! I'm shocked they haven't thought of that, after so many years making these portable units!!

[@rocketsmall4547]

y don't u just wrap in aluminum foil

[@AisleofCapri]

​@@rocketsmall4547will try, Thanks

[@genesisx4]

* It would be great if you mentioned -- For a dual-hose design - If it's significantly hotter inside than outside (like your space heater case), you can disconnect the intake hose, and run it as a single hose. So it will take inside air and reject it outside. Essentially doing the same thing as single hose. The negative pressure created means, in addition to AC cooling, the outside air pulled in passively will be cooler than inside too. So single hose has no benefit, if you do it this way :)

[@preston2107]

Insanely helpful and thorough. This channel needs more support.

[@scottforman6477]

this is incorrect i live in the desert temps over 101 all the time i have the dual hose wyntair and it was sworse than my lg reason is the dual hose exits right next to eachother so the intake hose is sucking in part of thr hot air from the exhaust because they are so close togather umtil this is fixed its worthless

[@W.Vanderbilt]

Just bought an haier 14,000 BTU. it cools up to 700 sqft and works really good. It was $519 @ Lowes.

[@davidmayhall6567]

Well Ron Jeremy you are always naked! It's no wonder you get cold!🤔

[@UgoTzMaiL]

This was very helpful thank you. I was afraid I was gonna waste my money buying something that wasn't gonna work but now I'm gonna go with the LG

[@DoritosResidue]

A little tip insulate the hose.i use reflectix insulation. Amazon, home depot or Lowes

[@usfanlovesjiwoo1978]

We live in the NE in PA and an AC is needed everyday from late spring to late summer and it is in the mid to high 90's quite often. We have the DeLonghi with 12,000 btu's and one with 14,000 btu's and they do a great job. Never have to empty any water except at the end of the season, we just release the small amount of water which is one of the things I love about them. We recently had a heat index of 118 that lasted 3 days and these bad boys did the job and never stopped blowing cold air. Would not hesitate to buy a DeLonghi. My daughter and my two sisters also own one and they all are very pleased as well.

[@soraidavalentine2969]

Hi, I was looking at those bc of all of the bad reviews on the Whynters ARC-14S, I live in NYC and in upstate NY. What 14,000 btu model is it please?

[@danc2014]

Note the graph show a 8000 btu window unit will out perform the 12000 and save you money by using less electricity. Since you run the ac so much a more efficient design would be better if you can install one.

[@RaoulEvilD]

Very clear and complete enough explanations, very well though test setup and procedure, very well organized presentation, I am suprized by how satisfied I am at going through this video. Thank you very much!

[@elected0nes741]

Loved this video! I was spending hours sifting through inconclusive customer reviews which was getting me nowhere for the most part. But this video gave me actual real world results from extensive & non-bios testing. Thnx! ^^

[@jgwoodworking]

I've have a SoleusAIR lx140 (14k BTU, Duel hose) I got about 15 years ago( Live in So. CA SGValley, Gets hot/cold too). It is a heater, air conditioner, fan, dehumidifier. I personally don't understand why anyone would buy a AC only unit. its called a heat pump. Electric Cars all use this method (My Leaf does) now cause it's soo much more electric effecient. I had to take my soleus apart cause it was leaking water, found out it was fine just needed to be cleaned. saw them at Frys a few days ago... I have no furnace/ or central air and I work a late grave... need heat and cooling. this thing is amazing still. BY THE WAY! DO not roll portables around! man up, carry the thing. shaking the thing is bad for the guts of an AC, any AC.

[@jgwoodworking]

@Brayden Mitchell yeah its in a corner so I can't get to the model tag. did a search and it looks like your right.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@jgwoodworking How well does it heat in really cold weather? Does it actually try to defrost the evaporator in very cold weather?

[@jonathanmathews8496]

One thing i did not see mentioned is that a window unit is more easily able to dehumidify and dump the water outside while a portable will more than likely just dump the water back into the space. And a warmer but dryer room is often far more comfortable then a clammy one

[@YourBestDigs]

Great point! Is it "dumping" water into the air or drawing in moist air from outside, though? Even an inefficient single-hose design should exhaust most of the water it collects, but outside air coming in could have enough water in it to make the room feel damp.

[@jasonk3038]

Wrong. That is why they have separate settings for cool and dehumidify. Your review missed a key element.

[@jonathanmathews8496]

@@jasonk3038 what part is wrong? Anyway in my reply i mentioned that it is mostly an issue with cheeper units and single duct units can struggle with it as well

[@YourBestDigs]

​@@jasonk3038 a "dehumidify" mode (at least on the models we tested) is designed to run without the hoses, so you're dumping the warm-and-dry air back into the room and capturing the condensate. The tanks and drains all work about the same, as far as we can tell. We didn't find models with pumps, like you can get on a dedicated dehumidifier. We're assuming that most people buy these for cooling primarily, so we left all that out of the video. I'll add capacity of condensate tanks to a chart in the written review and description, if you think that'd be useful.

[@jpurvis1]

@@YourBestDigs do these need constant dumping of collected water?

[@andrewfreeman88]

Just bought the New LG (White) unit 200sq for a small room. Great price @ $299 looking forward to using it!

[@SolidSnake4Ever2003]

how did that one turn out? I was considering it since it's slightly cheaper than others

[@andrewfreeman88]

@@SolidSnake4Ever2003 It's really good. Quiet and compact...don't buy the cheap Chinese brands LG has great support too.

[@ryanbertrand4056]

Warning if your Whynter - ARC-122DS Elite fails their only option is for you to ship it to them at your expense. There's been reviews on Amazon that say some have failed in as little as 4 months.

[@froshanddink]

whynter's customer service and warranty leave much to be desired.

[@greenspiraldragon]

Window AC is always more efficient than having the hot air side sitting inside your home. The portable AC's also dump part of your cooled air out unless they have 2 hoses.

[@TaylorExchange]

I like how at the beginning of the video you told which is the best one. Nonetheless, I stayed for the whole video because it was clearly well thought out and put together.

[@SportyChicChick]

I live in Delaware and the portable LG one works just fine.

[@makaylaholman2451]

No

[@cmillz4080]

Makayla Holman why no

[@immortalsoul5404]

@@makaylaholman2451 fuc u

[@EliteOnTheBeat]

@@immortalsoul5404 Cussing at someone because they like vanilla ice cream and you like chocolate? Bro brow TF up!

[@douglaswilliams6834]

Central Heat & Air (dual unit indoor/outdoor) > Window AC > Dual Hose portable AC > Single Hose portable AC

[@YourBestDigs]

We're investigating mini-split portables this summer. Fingers crossed!

[@phototristan]

Not sure why you didn’t include Black + Decker in your test.

[@kzgc8y3n]

Very much appreciated the graphs and breakdowns.

[@Koioseter]

We live in Minnesota, where last summer we hit 100 on June 1st. In addition, we have horrible humidity and dewpoints (many days dewpoints are 65-70 deg). We moved into an 850 sq ft house and last summer was our first here. We've no central air so we decided to get the LG 14,000 BTU unit. We moved air through the house with 2 box fans. If you're going to get one of these, you can get a lot more mileage if you wrap the exhaust hose with reflective duct wrap. Also, since there's so much humidity that gets pulled, you'll need an automatic condensate pump to get rid of the water. This did really well for us, and only struggled on the hottest of days. This year we'll have a window unit, but we'll put the LG in our bedroom for nighttime use.

[@llwscott5720]

I just wrote a comment complaining about the heat from the hose and asking about insulating the hose, then I read your comment about reflective duct wrap. THANK YOU! it's on my shopping list now!

[@rebeccajohnson7957]

I love the helpful video, BUT, I would have really liked to have seen the estimated prices for these portable air conditioners, thank you so much

[@eisenkreuzmusik]

yeah, vs. a central unit

[@nickyoung630]

What would you recommend for a small bedroom? I need one because my family insists on keeping the house at 80 degrees and I can’t stand that

[@YourBestDigs]

A single-hose 10,000 BTU air conditioner (smaller than most of what we've tested) would be big enough for most small bedrooms, but you'll be heating up the rest of the house even more than normal.

[@noritanorita2478]

We live in AZ and the window units work just fine for the rooms... And is not that bad on the pocket, we do need a portable unit for the living room though... Just Because it doesn't look so ugly 😂

[@eurovisie2010]

@CEN CAL Because the mobile airco blows out air... So new air has to come in,.. otherwise you would get a vacuum in your hous.. So when you have sealed the tube very well as you should in the window ,.. the air has to come from the other room(s) in your house next to your bedroom.. And sucking air by your airco will then suck air from outside in your other rooms to replace the air that went out of the window in your bedroom... And that air from outside will be hot(te) tnag the air in those rooms.. So it would then be possible to heat up the other rooms.. somewhat.. If the outside air is warmer than the temperature in your other rooms... That's why mobile airco's suck with hot weather..!!

[@MikeYoungeasytravel]

Great video, but it would be helpful to list the 2nd place units in each category (one and two hose). Thanks

[@mustafa3169]

Mike Young well make your own video🧐🧙🏿‍♂️

[@thesenamechangesareallowed4119]

Mustafa but we wanna kno in the vid not make our own 🤔

[@jennifer_reyes_9490]

I live in SoCal thank you for the review i bought myself the whynters portable ac it was pricey but a perfect investment i will clean it every 2 weeks and turn it on for a while to not waist electricity since im broke now

[@svpvxtct]

Same I’m in California it’s like 110

[@jasourwnjl]

I work odd hours so the in room AC makes it easier to keep it dark it does struggle on those hottest days tho, maybe 15 to 20 days a year on average. The exhaust hose is thin and radiates a lot of heat back into the room lasting into options to I insulate the hose

[@James-ke5sx]

These days you need a dual hose air conditioner even in Canada. It's the middle of January and 7° above zero Celsius outside normally it's -20° Celsius. I think we have a very hot summer coming up.

[@gracedell]

watching this because i get migraines almost everyday from the florida heat

[@elitefew8537]

Grace Dell I’m in Florida too. We about to die out here

[@juanitasullivan3372]

Great video. I live in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia where past our summers were pure bliss. Hardly got up to 80F and no humidity. I've lived in San Diego and Phx so I know what you're talking about where the heat is concerned. Last few summers here have been getting hotter. Last summer the stores couldn't get enough a/c's in fast enough of any kind. This year I already bought 2 portable a/c's. I live in an A Frame rental. The upstairs is horrid in the summer even with the windows open. I'm noise sensitive UGH. So I have to sleep with windows closed and two fans blowing directly on me. This morning I installed one of the a/c's and it was easy. Cooled off things fast. Small upstairs. I'll hookup the one downstairs if needed. The fan noise will not bother me at all because I use a noise machine now to drown out, outside noises. I just won't use the noise machine lol. The brand is Midea and it's a 6000BTU unit. This old place is still on fuses believe it or not so I had to watch the power draw. I won't ever have both units running at the same time. I was restricted to this one brand because of the BTU's but I think it's going to be fine.

[@qwertyui90qwertyui90]

Wrap the hoses in bubble wrap for insulation, that way they don't heat the room up as much. With dual hose design. Make sure the hot exhaust is higher than the intake hose. otherwise the hot rising air from the exhaust will get sucked back in. Also on the outside of the window you should put in a splitter between the exhausts to further make sure you seperate the air pockets. Coreflute does well at this.

[@wishingb5859]

Wrapping the hose in bubble wrap sounds good, except that my hose falls off every 3 days, as if it works itself off and I think wrapping it will cause it to fail faster.

[@finchharper4647]

I love Port AC. but they make the room very damp and swell up all the Kleenex boxes. How do you keep the the dampness out of the room?

[@YourBestDigs]

If the air conditioner is cooling off the room, but sucking in humid air from outside to replace the air it uses to keep itself cool, you can wind up causing extreme humidity problems. You can take the hose off a portable and use it in dehumidifier mode, but that will heat up the room rather than cool it.

[@johnperry2133]

Thanks for saving me money and time. A portable AC unit just won't work in our conditions. I will have to get a window or full outside system and deal with the price. The best explanation I have ever seen....good work!

[@joetylerdale]

You guys deserve a sustainable channel, well done!

[@GuillaumeB7]

I can't find the LP1218GXR anywhere in Canada, except refurbished on shady stores. Would the LP1217GSR be the next best thing in a single hosed? My bedroom is 13x13 and we are two people in it. Would the LP1017WSR be a better choice (or is the Honeywell the king of the 10,000 BTU)? I will sometime move it to the living room that is 16x13, but which does not have a door. We are often 4 people in it, but it does not need to reach as low there (as long as on a 95C evening we can reach a temperature of at least 82F, I would be happy).

[@YourBestDigs]

The 1218 is quieter and has the best features (for remote and cable storage) but cooling performance is fairly similar between them. New TCL models sold at Rona in Canada may be based on the 2020 LG designs, but it's hard to say for sure.

[@exgenica]

I noticed a likely significant parameter probably affecting the consistency and reliability of your results; the exhaust tube placement and orientation. Manuals from several portable units I've read just today stipulate clearly that the exhaust tube should not be bent more than 45 degrees at any point. At least one manual cautions that bending the tube more than 45 degrees could potentially result in damage to the unit itself (not the tube). I can only assume they are alluding to some sort of increased stress on the compressor. It is also known that the length/extension of the exhaust tube can make a meaningful difference in the efficiency/effectiveness of A/C units. You appear to exceend the 45 degree limit at times and the amount of extension you provide for the exhaust tube appears to vary a bit as well. I don't know HOW much the length of the tube impacts performance...but it does impact it according to the literature. At least one cautioned against adding extensions to the exhaust tube. I hypothesize this is due to static pressure changes similar to those one finds in ducted A/C systems. I would hypothesize the geometry of the tube would also impact this parameter (e.g. diameter and whether accordian or "smooth" tube). The diameter changes a bit as one changes the length of these accordian-style tubes, and the granularity of the internal surface also changes depending on extension. For example, maximum diameter and smoothest internal surface is found when the tube isn't extended at all...also less static pressure due to the short length and energy required to push the air out of a long tube (or duct). You should probably also note that you verify whether the filters are clean and free of any defects which would affect airflow. On the other hand...if these factors turn out to NOT be as significant as the manufacturers seem to suggest, that would be useful information for us as well.

[@YourBestDigs]

Interesting thoughts! Thanks for the comment. My assumption about hose bends is that more resistance could cause heat buildup in extreme operating conditions. Whynter specifically says "Only extend the hose to the necessary length, keeping it as short and as straight as possible." LG just says not to use extensions. Obviously, less bend is better for airflow, but the little bit of testing we did didn't show a significant difference in airflow noise so long as the bend was less than 90 degrees. So, in our test setup we tried to minimize length while also keeping bends at less than 90 degrees. We were able to do that consistently across all the machines we tested, and it seems unlikely anyone would move an air conditioner more than a few feet from a wall to meet more stringent angle requirements.

[@peepers4763]

Hey, what about humidity, condensation and water vapor elimination. Do we have to empty a bucket? What about overflow protection?

[@YourBestDigs]

It's not humid enough here to test those features extensively, but all of these models are designed the same way. All will shut down when full, all need to be drained if it's humid enough.

[@peepers4763]

Living in San Diego, we don’t have those high dew points like much of the country but, we can’t get monsoonal moisture from south of the boarder. Some model say they eliminate water vapor through the hose. Did any of the models tested make that claim?

[@YourBestDigs]

@@peepers4763 All the air conditioners we've tested claim to evaporate through the hose. In four years, we've only seen the "tank full" warnings one time in San Diego with the old LG and one time in Irvine with the old Honeywell. (On especially humid days running for a long time.)

[@JeffreyJSantiago]

helpful video, thanks! i tried to sort through all comments looking for information on the window kit used/seen at 3:50 but no luck. can you tell me if that baffle kit is included for an LG? or where do I buy that kit for my open-sideway window. thanks! leaning towards an LG only because they seem consistent in build and quality, although a HiSense unit from Lowe's is available too with Smart capabilities. Window kit right now is only thing that will help me decide.

[@tripjet999]

Why pull in HOT outside air? Let the unit recirculate, just like your vehicle A/C. Much more efficient.

[@jediwookie9240]

Have you done this?? Seems much more reasonable, especially if there's fresh air intake currently eh?

[@skh1825]

Hi Daniel…could you please clarify something about a single-hose unit vs. a dual-hose unit? You said if you live where there is scorching heat, you should get a dual-hose unit. I then went to the Whynter web site (under FAQs) and it says: “If the outside temperature is much higher or more humid than the room, the intake hose can be covered with the included cover and it will function like a single hose unit”. I’m confused why you are saying to use both hoses but Whynter said to remove the intake hose and run it like a single-hose unit? P.S. We live near Dallas and it will probably be in the 90-100 degree range and humid for the rest of July and August, so on hot July or August days, we’re trying to make the whole house about 79 degrees but make one room (with the portable unit) about 75 degrees (but without making the whole house 75 using the central unit). Do you think a single-hose unit would work OK or would you still recommend a dual-hose unit? Thanks, Steve

[@YourBestDigs]

Hi Steve, the statement from Whynter to this question doesn't make sense, and we're pretty sure it's a mistake. On an Amazon question they responded to a question about hoses with "If the outside temperature is much higher / cooler or more humid than the room your are trying to cool..." so it looks like the FAQ was a badly-corrected revision of an older statement. You'd want your dual-hose to function in single-hose mode if you get home in the evening and your room is hot while the outside air has cooled off. That's when it makes sense to draw in outside air.

[@blasphemousmasochist8339]

I salute you for the effort put in to this video sir. Thank you very much!

[@cooldude2245]

Imho why don’t they make an automatic one that turns on and OFF like a real air conditioner? Also some are so loud and really use a lot of electricity.

[@llwscott5720]

Just running one from 3 pm till the next morning makes my electric bill jump over $120 a month. And that's to cool a 12x12 room.

[@jamcountrymusic]

The reason that they run all of the time without cycling, they have to get rid of the condensation in the drain pan. This is done by cycling water over the hot condenser coil which allows the water to evaporate through the exhaust hose. It also helps with the efficiency by cooling the condenser coil down..... So, if you actually cut the unit off and don’t let it run enough? Then the unit will eventually cut off itself and show a code for a full drain pan. If this happens, you will have to physically drain the pan through the drain line in the rear of the unit in order to get the unit to run again. I used to be an HVAC tech before I retired, hope this helps?

[@kcaegis45]

Unfortunately, your review of portable acs does not discuss the water condensation or collection/draining of the condensation water. Since there are two type of systems, fully and partial evaportive. Fully evaporative system do not require any draining and therefore will not auto off which is cause by too much condensation water. Partial system require draining if too much condensation water is collected in the unit and if not drained the unit will auto shut off. It will only restart untill you drain enough water out so it can restart. You did not state what type of system the units you tested are. In the future, can you test both fully and partial evaporative systems and state which units are which.

[@YourBestDigs]

Sadly, the documentation about this distinction is now clear as mud. :/ It seems that all the new systems we tested are fully evaporative, since there's no indication that they require draining in normal use. We've only had a few days humid enough to really put that to the test, though, with the older LG and Honeywell both filling up on one occasion each.

[@sietievdw5404]

The newest lg has the hose not on the backside bottom but strait from the backside top. Model lg pa11ws

[@azeissler1987]

Have you tried insulated piping for these portable units? I have done it in the past with a single hose unit and it was way more efficient. Like night and day with how much colder it got my room. Those hoses don't do a good job holding in the heat from the condenser.

[@Imjustheretomakeyouthink]

did you put the insulation on the inside of the hose or around the outside?

[@azeissler1987]

@@Imjustheretomakeyouthink I bought flexible insulated ducting. It has about an inch of pink insulation around the hose and silver mylar wrapping around that. It's amazing stuff. www.homedepot.com/p/Master-Flow-4-in-x-25-ft-Insulated-Flexible-Duct-R6-Silver-Jacket-F6IFD4X300/100396934

[@Imjustheretomakeyouthink]

@@azeissler1987 ok great thank you for the response.

[@bosede-nage8467]

You mentioned the difference between dual hose and single hose quite a few times but did not compare any with a window mounted unit

[@YourBestDigs]

Performance comparison chart is here: 2:30 Here's our post about Window ACs: www.yourbestdigs.com/reviews/best-window-air-conditioner/

[@Dumbluck14]

It usually doesn’t get too warm in PNW but the humidity stays high. Portable just hates humidity. I use it because it is better than nothing but still doesn’t cool very well

[@christopherkirk9100]

What part of San Diego are you located? I’ve lived here my whole life, and it def gets 90+ in some areas wayyyyyy more than a couple days a year lol

[@911S]

No kidding I live here too he's smoked out or lieing.

[@ScottDreyfus]

I'm in south GA, unfortunately I don't know if this is a viable option. It's 100 all summer with crazy humidity. We get indexes in the high teens up to 130 on the most extreme summer days. It'll be 84 in the house and the ac doesn't shut off from mid April until the middle of October.

[@nathaniel.04]

Scott Dreyfus You should get a Portable air conditioner from Air Blade Co. It cools SO well

[@strictlybangers]

dont care this was made in 2020. it's thorough and informative. thanks for making.

[@Captain_Terp]

Hey man question, can you run a dual hose unit without the intake hose attached and effectively make it run as a "single hose" type and achieve the same results? If so, then one could mount the unit so that on mild days, you run it as a single hose unit, drawing room air and cooling easily, and when its hot, reattach the intake hose and run it as designed, taking outside air to cool the condenser. If I have something wrong here, let me know. I've battled with these units trying to get results out of them in extreme conditions and the only difference i could make to the performance was insulating the exhaust hose so that the heat being exhausted wasn't leaking back into the room through the hose walls. That probably gained me 2-2.5c more cooling power once I used roof-grade heating duct R2.0 to run the exhaust air out.

[@thomaslehnerd6073]

Well done comparison. Would really be great to see a comparison between equal BTU portable vs mini split.

[@randomtuberhandle]

Great video. I would be interested in seeing how single hose, dual hose, and window seated ACs performance compares during summers in hot and dry locations like Pheonix, Arizona versus hot and humid locations like Orlando, Florida. Humidity is a factor that these videos never seem to consider and compare for indoor AC units. Maybe they all compare the same in each type of environment. But I think that the evaporative capability of the environment could possibly change your test results and conclusions... possibly. Would be interesting to see.

[@brycering5989]

Most air-con units will cause the room to become less humid (Less water in the air) recirculating the air in the room (Dual hose or window mount) will mean you are not continually condensing the water out of the air/ looking at the chart presented in this video, you can see how the room quickly gets cool, with that the room will be less humid (Not drawing new humid air in) so does your question to ask more to the point, is there more heat energy in humid air or dry air? or does it ask, without knowing about humidity drop due to condensation, which will use more power humid environment or dry air environment? If you plan on the single-hose unit, your question may be more important, but if you use the duel hose or window mount, its just an initial conditioning. where new heat only enters the room by radiation through walls windows sunlight entering the room etc. (IE now new air coming in, or much less than the single-hose units) physics.stackexchange.com/questions/45349/how-air-humidity-affects-how-much-time-is-needed-for-heating-the-air I can only assume withing natural reasoning that the reverse effect is the same energyforums.net/hvac/how-humidity-affects-heating-and-cooling/ this one speaks specifically about cooling and heating.

[@brycering5989]

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/building_america/ba_climateguide_7_1.pdf Airconditioning is not my profession. I am an amateur, I enjoy learning about things like this, so I may have something wrong or not accounted for.

[@brycering5989]

But I think that the evaporative capability of the environment. with this I want to be clear. your talking about the ability to radiate heat into the air?

[@Kmobful]

Any window ac will easily outperform a portable

[@Kmobful]

@Mark Gibson wrong. Portables just aren't efficient as heat is returned to the room they are trying to cool. Do your homework kiddo

[@esqueue]

Outdated video uploaded in 2018 doesn't include the best portable A/C on the market. the lg lp1419ivsm which happens to be a single hose model. I got this after my Haier dual hose 12,000 BTU AC was outperformed by a 5,000 BTU window ac. That means that it was using 12,000 BTU but only putting out less than 5,000 BTU and could only keep my room tolerable if the ac was running all day. I got the LG LP1419IVSM and it can cool down my room even if I use it late with the room already very hot.

[@walterwillis5351]

I've been using portables for years - live in Washington State, near Tacoma, so weather is mild during summer. I have found the main source of heat from these unit is not hot air being drawn in, it is the hot air being blown out the hose. The hoses have no insulation on them so the heat radiates off the hose into the area around the AC unit. The rest of the room cools off well, but near the AC it can get kind of warm. I usually cover the hose with a curtain to prevent some of the heat from coming back into the room. The hose length is also a drawback - my one window opens on the right side, and my work area is on that side of the room, so one of my desks is kind of cramped space wise when I have the AC setup.

[@YourBestDigs]

I get what you're saying, and a window or split system is always going to beat a portable for that reason. But the difference between single and dual-hose are dramatic as soon as you track heat build-up over time.

[@ynotjf]

Walter Willis - Greetings from NE Tacoma Browns Point. After 16 years in our brick house, My Wife and I just bought our first portable on our neighbors recommendation. So far so good..

[@LaChocolatScorpio]

I got the LG 12000 btu and use it in my bedroom. One thing I’ve learned is with these if ur room isn’t sealed off from the other rooms and u don’t have a window cracked ur room WILL NOT cool off. The AC is sucking all the hot air out of ur room basically turning ur room into a vacuum. So the hot air from the other parts of ur house is being sucked into your room thru any open cracks like under ur door or even the vents from ur home ac/heating. (They have magnetic AC vent covers at Home Depot for like $3)...A lot of people think these portable AC don’t work but they do. We just aren’t being told how to properly prepare the room for them to work. Seal off the room and crack a window and enjoy that lovely ac 😃

[@KyleJPie10]

But wouldnt cracking a window just suck in hot air from outside instead of inside?

[@LaChocolatScorpio]

@@KyleJPie10 I thought the same at first but it actually creates a nice cool draft. If u don’t crack a window or something the room won’t cool and It will get really stuffy because it’s sealed off. U need fresh air coming into the room while the AC is blowing the old hot air out of the hose in the window.

[@InterWebGuy99]

Great review and just bought the LG 12,000 portable through your link. Thanks for the excellent information and evaluation of these air conditioner options. Much appreciated.

[@YourBestDigs]

Thanks for supporting our reviews!

[@windps1410]

Heir brand was a low cost choice, didn't realize that it has great quality. Never see anything similar. Inexpensive but fine quality.

[@patdennis3751]

where does the water removed from humid air go?? My window ac drips as it removes humidity from the house. Do these portables have a water tank like my basement dehumidifier?

[@YourBestDigs]

Portables evaporate the collected water in the hot exhaust airstream. Typically, they can run constantly and not need to be drained. There's also a dehumidifier mode on most of these, and in that case you'll have to empty the tank out of a drain on the back of the unit. (Which isn't much fun unless you've got a floor drain.)

[@JAD0113]

I'm less than 4 minutes in and you've not only answered my questions, but you're giving me answers to questions I wish I'd thought of! Actually amazing, subscribed.

[@fritzgod_]

for single hose applications, during a heat wave what would happen if you were to detach the hose from the window? would it have the potential of cooling off the room if its not pulling in fresh air?

[@skip123davis]

you should do one on portable heat pumps. i've had 2 over the years, and run them year round in sw washington state.

[@marthamurphy3018]

skip davis How do I find the store that carrys them are they easy to hook up and the price please. I live in Alabama and degree can get up into 105/120 temp outside.

[@skip123davis]

@@marthamurphy3018 just do a google search. i've been using the ones from soleus, and have bought 2, both at a local appliance store for around $4-500. all you do is hook up a dryer type hose to the window, with the included framing around it (to fill in the window). i have mine up on a couple of blocks so i can have a drip pan underneath it, since it also acts as a dehumidifier, and can throw off a lot of water since i live in the very damp pacific northwest.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@skip123davis How well does the portable heat pump do in very cold weather? Does it actually attempt to defrost the outdoor coil? Do you heat your entire home with them?

[@skip123davis]

@@gregorymalchuk272 they've worked real well for 15 or so years. i've had 2 places, both with 800 sq ft open style main living area. the first place had a wood stove, so they were great complements. the heat pump would recirculate the heat from the stove. the place i'm in now has no wood heat, and both places had baseboard electric. both pumps were 15kbtu, and frankly cool better than they heat, but both the winters and summers are mild here in the coastal pacific nw. if it's snowing out, you're going to want another form of heat. what you get from the heat pump though, is quite inexpensive. the first one was a soleus (i liked it better) and the one i have now is a mitutoyo i got from amazon.

[@skip123davis]

@@gregorymalchuk272 also: there is no outside coil or other components.

[@Shiro642]

5:50 WOW!!!! that graph shows the portable ACs are literally useless? They only dropped room temp by 4F? is that correct?

[@Shiro642]

@@omi_god true but i did not see that condition on the graph? Also the pressure or the room would be very low since the entire machine is in the room. I dont know… i think the design is hugely flawed.

[@KingArtexerxes]

I’ve used the DeLonghi Pinguino eco for several years now. Single hose. 12,000 btu. It’s worked fine so far, but extra hot days, not so much. I typically use it plus a fan at the same time.

[@jaydarian]

I live in San Diego and this whole month it’s been around 90+ degrees

[@mactobarry]

Dying in santa barbara

[@SliceofParadis]

I live in San Diego, and I've been miserable for two weeks. I'm from Massachusetts where it gets much hotter than here, and the heat lasts for longer periods of time-not to mention the humidity. But here I am, miserable haha! So spoiled by the 95-percent-of- the-time perfect weather. I research air conditioners every year around this time, and before I can make a decision it cools down again and I forget how miserable I'd been.

[@mactobarry]

@@SliceofParadis yea like I just moved in this new apartment, but the design is so cancer for my unit, bcuz im in like the center of this place, and i'd been surrounded by all other units, so there is absolutely no air flow from window to window, so even outside temperature is fine, inside the room is hell of stuffy. I gotta do like 3 fans in the bedroom in order to keep me alive lol

[@SliceofParadis]

@@mactobarry hope it cools down for you soon!

[@MRRANDOM1]

Looks like I’ll be buying a window unit. Thanks great information. 👍🏻

[@chezsylvie007]

What about Canada...each year the temps of 30-32 C are becoming common but it is only off and on ....it is June 10th & we have had 2 mini heat waves...July/August are bad but I had AC in my home built in to furnace and it did a good job but the heating cost was extremely high so we only used it during the heat waves and used fans for the 25-28 C days... also my question is with portable AC dual unit...how often do you have to drain the dehumifier component of the unit? I expect it is relative to how much humidity is in my apartment? But in general during a heat wave would I have to drain it every day? Thanks

[@888tru6]

Do you have a portable ac window install video?

[@Ironbuket]

LG dont sell portable AC units in the UK? Do they use a different brand name in Europe?

[@laurens7431]

Do you have any suggestions for installing the hose in a small horizontal sliding window?

[@dougrogers956]

I just read a Consumer Report on portable A/C's and they are not a good choice for cooling your home for all the reasons described in the video . Your best choice is a window unit. I almost made the mistake of getting portable, now I am glad I did not. Yes a window unit is a pain to put in and remove each season but they are much more energy efficient and will cool your home much better.

[@mikemoseley3007]

Hopefully you can answer this for me: I live in Sunnyvale Ca, temps around 75-90 most days in the summer but inside the rooms the temps are at about 80-95 degrees or more due to sun beating down on the roof. We have a left to right slide window and the main room we would want to cool is 10x14 so the room is small but the length of the hose has to be from 5-7' in length due to our bed being directly next to the window. Generally at night we are able to just leave the window open and no need to run an ac. One of use are in the room almost all day. Can u suggest a model of AC and something that is under 400?? Oh yeah one more thing, it should be the thinnest possible. THANKS!!

[@vernonhunt3311]

I just got a refurbished 14 BTU LG LP1417SHR from Groupon. no instructions to sync the remote with the unit. No customer service avl. Can you tell me how to get the remote to work with the unit after the batteries are put in?

[@KManuelle716]

I live in NY where it is humid all summer long. How does humidity affect the performance of these units? Are there different units you'd recommend?

[@YourBestDigs]

They all handle humidity about the same as they handle heat. Infiltration of outside air is a big problem with single-hose designs, and a window unit is far more efficient. But if you don't have a choice, sitting in the cool dry airstream coming off one of these portables is better than nothing.

[@fadidan84]

Awesome Work! Thank you so very much for going through all these tests and sparing no expense. This was an amazing video.

[@AlkalineGamingHD]

If dual hose systems work less in moderate heat...why not just not plug in the other hose end?

[@YourBestDigs]

The LG has a nicer case and a better remote, plus it's often less expensive (though that can vary seasonally. Dual hose is our top pick overall, and you're right about converting it into a single-hose design if you've got a lot of heat generated by something inside your room.

[@AlkalineGamingHD]

@@YourBestDigs Thanks for the follow up. considering a unit for a small computer room. 2-3 machines pump insane heat into the room.

[@mattys8525]

I am confused. You say the dual hose never caught up, but was superior? I live where it gets 110-120 degrees. I would think a dual hose would be better, but now I am not sure... Help?

[@amandapethel6285]

Which one does well in high humidity environments? Did you test the humidity in the room when you ran these tests?

[@jaeshasway]

How do you keep bugs from coming into the house through the cracks and hose? I live downstairs and all my windows are about 10 inches off the ground. I’m afraid critters will crawl in.

[@2Timone7]

Great information, but I don’t understand why the unit has to draw hot air in from the outside. Wouldn’t it be better to draw in the already cooler air from inside your house?

[@YourBestDigs]

If your goal is to make the spot in front of the unit cool as quickly as possible, yes, a single hose design like the LG works better for a while. See the dip on the graph at 2:32 After you replace all the air in your house with outside air, you're fighting a losing game. (Unless the source of heat you're dealing with is in the room with you; in that case a single-hose is great.)

[@2Timone7]

I think I get it. An AC makes warm air cold, but can’t make cool air colder?

[@Dave-sw2dm]

I'm looking to put one of these in my insulated cargo trailer for comfortable sleeping at night. I'm guessing dual hose will work better but I will have to see what the price differences are. I am only really looking for comfort and reduced humidity while sleeping.

[@davidebacchi9030]

What about portable "split systems" like ARGO Ulisse 13 DCL? Ok it's not an american model but this type wasn't even listed.

[@MissJ224]

I wrap my hose in insulation bags that I get from my hello fresh deliveries. It seems to stop the heat coming back into the room through the hose.

[@bobbydelamar606]

Thank you. So I should be good with Whynter unit in Texas?

[@kageofkonoha]

putting insulation around the dual hose worked wonders..... also... fellow San Diegan here.

[@petermaz701]

I have also bought and tested both these units. The Whynter is much quieter than the LG. I tested the 8000 BTU version of the LG (same model as your 12,000 btu) against the 12,000 BTU version of the Whynter. The Whynter is much quieter.

[@ZeFoxii]

When you realize he isn’t wearing pants and you immediately get more confused as to what the hell he is wearing

[@peteriskrumings8771]

2:16 apparently you haven't seen shorts before :D

[@petermaz701]

I find it a bit strange that the Friedrich (dual hose) units were not rated? Friedrich has always been regarded as having the best performing air conditioners. I also find a flaw in your testing theories what difference does it make if you’re testing the Whynter with the heaters inside the room and saying that it failed yet it was good with just outdoor temperature being high and yet the LG single hose unit performed better I find the testing a bit biased. Did LG make a contribution here?

[@YourBestDigs]

Thanks for the feedback! Friedrich is popular in some retail channels, but hard to find in the big box stores. There was relatively little data available on their products when we did research, and we only tested brands that were the very most popular. We're working to expand our testing, but it's expensive and time-consuming so bear with us. Can you clarify your question about testing? I'm not following you. Just to clarify, though, we're not representing any of these air conditioners as perfect. We like the LG for what it is, but we don't want to misrepresent the strengths and weaknesses. That's why we did data logging in the different scenarios and make two recommendations based on the findings.

[@petermaz701]

Your Best Digs I just didn’t understand why in a heated room that you use the electric heater the Whynter had an issue and yet with outdoor temperatures being high it didn’t? I’ve tested many portable air conditioners myself I buy them and sell them I do with portable washers as well, just as a hobby. I must say that single hose units of any brand will introduce humidity into the rest of the house while trying to cool the room you’re in and you can actually feel the air getting pulled into the room if you close the door almost all the way put your hands there and you’ll feel it. Dual hose hose units cause less of this affect. Now I found that there is no portable unit that can compete with even the cheapest and worst window unit. The portables that were good that are now discontinued were made by Sharp. With their units the condenser fan motor slowed down as the room cooled so it would introduce less negative pressure due to the reduced volume of air that was getting pushed out by the condenser. I did enjoy your reviews. I was just nitpicking being that I’ve done some experimenting myself.

[@YourBestDigs]

I think your results agree with ours! The variables are tricky to control, and we're trying to interpret them as best we can for real-world use. If the heat is coming from inside the room, the dual-hose is just being tested for cooling efficiency alone. Portables aren't very efficient. But even though we taped doors and vents closed, the gaps in the window bracket seem to have allowed the single-hose designs to replace hot room air with cooler outside air during our first round of tests in the spring. In a real-world use case, this would be air from other rooms in your house, which should usually still be cooler than outside air when you're running AC. That will give a single-hose design a boost for a little while. (A boost for cooling a small area, not for efficiency of keeping your whole house cool.) If you want to minimize impact on the whole house for long periods of use, the Dual hose wins hands down. (Relatively speaking, of course. Not compared to better AC systems.) If you just need spot-cooling on a moderately hot day, a single-hose design still works OK, and the boost from using cooled house air helped the LG move more heat out of the test room in many of our tests. (The 12,000 BTU LG kept up with a 14,000 BTU Whynter in our first test group in 2016.)

[@Dr.Unsteady]

What if you live in Northern California where the weather is on average in the summer 99-105

[@YourBestDigs]

Dual-hose units will be more efficient, so that's our top pick. If you want less hose in your room and you like the look of the LG, it still blows cold air.

[@helenporter9750]

Hi thx for the testing but there was no mention of cancer or reproductive warnings l recently bought 2 air conditioners after getting them home l noticed these warnings on the boxes so what components has these harmful items and do all air conditioners have these components or chemicals the state of CA do not allow these so what do they use instead?

[@incan87]

Nice video. I have a 2 year old winter arc 14 sh but thinking of getting the whynter elite model bc of the noise level. The one I have is so damn loud. I like its performance though