Initial review:
Received unit. Per others suggestions, I made my own window insert out of 3/4" plywood with the holes further separated. I then used window foam sealer to fill the gaps to the window frame and I caulked around the holes cut for the hose inserts to the plywood to be airtight to inserts. I covered the hoses with insulated hose covers from home depot, and fitted an filter in the air intake from outside. Whynter provided a carbon filter for the air intake going into condenser from inside air which is exceptionally thin and folded in half. At first I thought I only got half a filter till I realized it was folded. So, unfolded and inserted. Unit ran flawlessly first few nights keeping room cool.
Updated review after day 3:
Purchased Whynter air intake filter which clips into the unit before the air intake hose and provides an added screen. This is when I realized the clip in areas allow air leaks. No biggie on air intake but air removal then puts heated air into the flow of air going through carbon filter and being used for room cooling. A little bit of duct tape solved the problem. With these mods units is solid, quiet and fully efficient. I was previously trying an LG single hose unit from the Orange Big Box Store (name omitted) and there is a big difference. This unit cools room quicker, is more quiet and kicks on the condenser less since it is using only inside air to recirculate through coils rather than pulling all the air in and pushing half outside causing room to need air replenish from other hot rooms of house which are warmer. Highly recommend. Can upload pics of mods if I get and replies that request it but they are straightforward. Thanks
Bought this as a means to cool my kitchen. Up until a few years ago we used a standard 8000 BTU window unit but when we got new windows they don't open up high enough to even accommodate a low profile ac so a portable was the logical alternative. This was the second day of use and it does pretty well. My only beef is I wish it blew the cold air more outward instead of upward so the cold air would reach the dining area of the kitchen but that can easily be taken care of. The unit arrived very quickly and well packaged and no damage.
Installation was pretty straight forward. I read several reviews where folks stated the window kit was flimsy. My take in that, I've seen much worse on some models. The only provision I had to make was to cut a piece of furring strip to length and place it under the window kit so the hose connections could clear the high lip of the inner sill. Bingo! Perfect fit and no having to cut the sliders.
As for performance it definitely does blow pretty cold air...and a lot of it and fairly quietly. No louder than the window unit we used in there before. Something I found kind of neat about this machine is this. Since it's a dual hose configuration, it actually has two independent blower motors instead of a single motor driving two blowers. One blower is on the cold side and the other handles the condenser side (where the hoses connect). That fan is tied in with the compressor so when the compressor cycles on and off as needed, that fan does too. Display is pretty easy to read and controls both on the front panel and remote are easy to work with. Appearance is nice too with it's black front panel with silver side trim. The soft blue backlight in the display makes it easy to read and the fact the backlight goes out after a short time would be nice in a bedroom for folks who like total darkness for sleeping. I like the idea the place on the back where the hoses connect is angled upward rather than straight rearward make it nice when the window is higher in the wall and the hoses don't need to bend as much. Filter access is pretty easily accessible for cleaning. Haven't had to drain it yet so I can't comment there although drain plug is easy to remove and drain.
Final verdict, this seems to be a pretty decent machine. If well taken care of it should last a good long time. Would I recommend this unit? Yes I would.
We finally installed and turned on this baby for the very first time. San Francisco hit an unseasonably warm 80 degrees today. The window kit worked well for the most part.
We had to cut out some Styrofoam to obtain the custom window fit we needed and also used window sealant to weatherstrip the small openings, but otherwise it was good to go.
Bottom line? The unit delivers very cold, clean and filtered air conditioning in spades. We set the cooling thermostat at a very comfy 72 degrees. The unit had no problem reaching and maintaining this level, while also being relatively quiet in medium speed. Our entire hall way and living room was quite enjoyable and comfortable throughout the afternoon, while the outside was baking big time! Overall, thus far, we are quite pleased with the unit's performance. The Whynter 14,000 BTU AC unit delivered as advertised. We attached a few pictures of our unit in operation. Best regards.
Since I'm bending the rules on the practical use for this thing, I think a fair review is due. I bought this to cool off our 600 sq ft garage for a couple of reasons. (1) I didn't want a window unit hanging out of our new home we built in Oct 2017. (2) We had a stray male cat take up with us a few months back and he's not allowed in the house because our 17 year old female cat says...NO WAY. So "Cletus Ledbetter" the male cat comes in at night to his cozy little cat cave, aka the garage. We live on the coast in Southeast Ga and let me tell you it gets HOT and HUMID down here...ya'll. So at 96 degrees and 85% humidity it's a wee bit uncomfortable in the afternoons. (Meanwhile back at the review) This little unit actually keeps our uninsulated garage at a very pleasant temperature. I also have 3 small fans running 24/7 to keep the air circulated. Now granted it's not going to drop it down in the 70's but last I checked it was 82-83 when it was 94 outside. We normally turn it off late night and crank it back up in the mornings. With the humidity here I find it's best to drain the holding pan every 2 days. The unit isn't over the top noisy as some have suggested, but when I'm in the garage I have the music on anyway. Yep this little unit is doing OK. Cletus the cat is in from his morning hunt and stretched out in nap mode. So I guess it's a keeper.
Really good. It cools my living room. I live on the third floor of an 650 sq. Ft. Apartment facing south. Today the temperature only reached about 70 and was the first time we turned on the a/c. We will see how it works when temps. Reach the 90's. The a/c is attractive though. Only thing that I wished it had longer extension or add ons because my window measures 57" and the unit's extension only measure around 43"
Feature Product
- * AWARD WINNING : 1. Good Housekeeping's "2019 Best Overall" and "can cool down a room faster than other portable units" 2. Consumer Report's 2019 Highest Score
- * Three operational modes: air conditioner, fan or dehumidifier. This unit can cool up to a 500 square feet space (ambient temperature and humidity may influence optimum performance)
- * Full thermostatic control (61°F - 89°F) with digital readout, 24 hour programmable timer; Eco-friendly CFC free Green R-410A refrigerant; Patented auto drain function fully exhausts all condensate automatically in most environments
- * Remote control, activated carbon air filter, washable pre-filter, and product manual packaged inside exhaust hose; Noise level (dBA): <56
- * Full installation set includes extendable exhaust and intake hose (up to 60") and window kit (up to 46") Max. window kit length = 46" , Min. window kit length = 20".
- * Maximum power consumption: 1250 W / 10.8 A . Power supply: 115 V / 60Hz / 1 Phase; Dehumidifying capacity of 101 pints per day; 3 fan speeds; Air Flow (at high speed): 360 m3/h / 222 CFM
Description
Whynter is going GREEN! With this new Eco-friendly CFC free, lead free and high enery efficiency portable air conditioner, you can stay cool while keeping with better environmental standards and reducing energy consumption. This Whynter GREEN ARC-14S portable air conditioner features the ECO-FRIENDLY CFC free GREEN R-410A refrigerant and lead free RoHS compliant components. This unit features the patented advance auto drain technology, which uses and recycles moisture collected during the cooling process to produce cool air. The dual hose operation provides fast cooling. This unit can cool up to a 500 sq. ft. space (ambient temperature and humidity may influence optimum performance).
We just purchased our second unit this spring. Dual hose is the most important consideration and I won't take a lot of space explaining why (you can look it up), but single hose creates a vacuum in the house drawing outside warm air in through vents, cracks, etc.
That said, we've been pleased with the performance. We live in a Western WA area with mild weather (though increasingly warm in summer) and these would not be effective in, say, Arizona. We have about 3,000 sq/ft and keep the upstairs livable (down is never a prob) with 2 units going at various times of the day. I disagree with the post that says you need to make big "tweaks" to improve efficiency. In fact, I'd suggest they'd have de minimis, if any noticeable impact. Use the maximum thickness window seal sticky foam for the top and bottom third of the window insert to improve that piece, and its thin design is immaterial in performance. Use 5/8" backer rod for the gap in the open vertical window.
When I bought this it was to keep my dog cool for the summer, she's a medium coat malamute and when the temperatures start getting past 85-90f you can tell it makes her really uncomfortable. I did not expect it to actually cool the house down other than a small area for the dog after reading some of the reviews on it's cooling potential.
So far I have been *very* impressed, it is 88f outside right now and the whole 1500sqf house is 68f according to the furnace control. I have no other AC systems running at all, and yes all of the interior doors are open so it is having to cool the entire area.
I live at around 4200 feet, so most houses around here are fairly well insulated as it can get sub-zero in the winter, but my place is by no means perfect. The house is a barn style with 10" exterior walls, an unsealed front door (I know, I need to fix that), one small single pane window, three large double pane windows, three small double pane windows, a massive four foot by twelve foot double pane skylight, and two double pane sliding glass doors. Made in 1980. With all that glass area, the unit still cools down the space around 20 degrees +/- 3 degrees below the outside temperature. That's a win for me.
I was originally considering adding a HVAC unit to my forced air furnace for around $3000, but this unit is working perfectly for what I need it at 1/6th the cost. I will probably still add the HVAC in the future for property value and longevity but it has moved to the bottom of my things to do list.
For people worried about the sound, it sounds like a standard fan, plus it has a mid-to-deep hum when the compressor on (yes it's louder than the fan portion) I like it myself because it drowns out my tinnitus quite well and provides me some pink/white noise to put me to sleep.
The window kit works, but you will want to make a custom one to fit your window as it leaks air like crazy, there will be daylight around both hose connections and the sides will have flat out gaps between the window/wall and the blocking plate 1/8th inch wide. Not taking any stars off as there is simply no way they could design a sliding mechanism to fit different windows that didn't have this air gap.
I just recently bought this at the time of this review, so I can not speak towards the units longevity.
All and all really happy with this purchase.
I use this to cool my finished, dormered attic. The central A/C on my old bungalow can cool the rest of the house ok, but it's not quite large enough to cool the attic too. So I shut-off all the ducts to the attic, and installed this up there. My attic is probably 25'x50', and this unit handles it just fine. I also didn't need to install it in the window, on a support bracket, as the in-window units require. Pretty easy. And way, way cheaper than installing a second central A/C unit, or replacing the existing central A/C unit with a bigger one.
So far this unit has performed flawless! I bought this back in February 2019 and no problems to report. I use this unit in a uninsulated garage, except for garage door which is insulated ( Man Cave ) down in south west Florida and yes, it gets hot down here even in the winter months. So let me give this info- I have run this unit on low fan speed and temp set at 77 degrees and believe me when I say it keeps the temperature at 77 degrees, electric use ( running 8-10 hours per day around $3.00/$6.00 per day depending on outside temp and your electric supplier in a 400 sq. ft garage. After researching many portable AC units this was the right choice because of the 2 hose system which allows this unit to run more efficiently. Remember just like any other appliance, this unit has to be mantained ( Cleaning filter ) monthly. Set up was very simple when taking time to read directions. You May think it’s a bit pricey, but when you have options like a $1750.00 Mitsubishi split system it makes more sense. Also this is a portable unit. Looking forward to summer to see how this unit performs.
I have a west facing apartment, about 450sq feet, up on a hill. It gets INSANELY hot, into the 90s inside with the blinds closed all day. My old portable ac wasn’t big enough so I gave this one a shot. It’s expensive, but worth it so far. It does a great job of circulating the cold air throughout my entire apartment. It would still get to 81 with my old one. This one? It hit 92 outside with the sun baking my apartment, and the max it got inside was 70. 70!!! I put a sweater on. My dog no longer hates living there in the summer. It was worth the cost.
Noise: it’s as loud as any ac unit, but more like white noise than other units, it’s about average.
This thing is huge too, just a warning
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