BLACK+DECKER 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Remote Control, White

Bought it and set it up in a 200sf bedroom in basement last summer. Used it a few times before cooler fall weather arrived. Just set it up and turned it on for the first time this summer. Wow! Unbelievably noisy and ineffective. I’m hoping my warranty is still in effect.UPDATE: Returned it for warranty repair June 2022. The contractor that handles warranty issues for B+D apparently lost it. B+D sent me a replacement at the top of the summer of 2023. New works like a champ now. The defective unit was making a terrible racket while the compressor was running. The compressor is far quieter in the replacement unit. My neighbors and I can now sleep while the unit is running. The replacement also does a much better job of cooling a 200sqft bedroom. Now highly recommend the unit. Warranty issues? Don’t let the intermediary that handles warranty issues keep telling for months that your repair/replacement unit has been approved and is on its way back to you. Skip the intermediary and contact B+D directly when it becomes obvious to you that delivery is well beyond late.

I had high hopes for this unit. The reviews here are generally good, and it was a good fit for the space (roughly 360 sq ft). It did not meet my expectations.The following observations were made by me and my family over the past 24 hours. For reference, I left the box sitting upright for several days after it had arrived (the machine says a minimum of 6 hours, and 24 hours for best performance).1) The air coming out of the unit smells like engine grease. I had hoped this would dissipate, but after 24 hours, it was still strong enough to make me feel unwell when in the same room as the A/C. It doesn't appear to have faded at all. I checked the floor around the unit, and there was no oil (or water) on the carpet, as other users have reported. I suspect the smell is a residue of the manufacturing process, but it's never happened to us before, so I can't say what's causing it. All I can say is that it's painful to be in the same room as the unit.2) It does not cool the space it says it will. After 6+ hours of operation in a ~ 360 sq ft space, the machine stopped cooling at around 73° F, with 55% humidity, instead of the 68° F it was set at.For comparison's sake, the previous A/C in that space was a 11,600 BTU window unit, and it would hold the room within a degree or two of what it was set at.3) It's loud. I know this is typical for window and portable units, but this is one of the loudest I've used in a while. I don't have anything to measure noise levels, so this is entirely subjective.4) It leaks. When I went to drain the unit (after 24 hours), nothing came out. A slight tilt is sometimes needed to drain portable A/Cs, so I did that, and it worked. Water also started leaking out from the grill on the back of the unit, enough that I needed to put a towel under that part of the unit while I was draining the primary drain. This is our 3rd portable A/C, and this is not normal. Note that the top drain was still in place when this happened, and the leak was not coming out of there.I strongly suspect that the "soaked boxes" other people have reported in the comments here are due to this issue. I think the unit they purchased was returned by someone else, where it accumulated water in this leaky reservoir, and then proceeded to spill during the return or delivery process.5) The window adapter for the exhaust port requires cutting in some cases. This is similar to the first portable A/C we owned, and it's an onerous requirement. Our second portable unit (still in use) is an LG 7000 BTU unit for a different room, and it comes with several parts for the window adapter, ensuring a good fit with no cutting required.6) The UI isn't great. It's entirely based on pictures (aside from the temperature) and it takes a while to memorize what each picture means. For instance, a fan with 3 blades means low speed, and a fan with 5 blades means high speed. This is completely non-intuitive.All in all, the problem that's making me return it is the engine grease smell. It's unacceptable and it raises serious questions about the integrity of the unit.

Coming from using both 10,000 and 14,000 BTU units, the 14,000 is the one to get. My bedroom is not that big(12 x 13 feet), ambient temperature is around mid 70's, seemed like it was not cooling the room as much as I expected it to. The 14,000 BTU unit however was a game changer. It felt like a damn cold hotel room it was fantastic, but it died on me in under two weeks so I had to order a new one. Amazon issued a full refund though very smooth process so don't worry too much about my particular experience. The review is about it's effectiveness not my personal experience so I'd get the10,000 BTU unit if the room you are cooling is smaller than mine (and you DON'T have similar expectations to mine where the entire room should feel substantially colder than if a/c unit wasn't present possibly to the point where I need to use a blanket), 14,000 BTU unit if the room is bigger than my personal bedroom and you would like to cool it effectively.

Well it took 3 tries to get a unit that works well. First unit had a very loud rapping noise and housing vibrated. Turned out to be a cracked exhaust fan wheel. Looked like fan was accidentally drilled with hole through a couple of blades and resulted in fan cage cracking. Unit worked great otherwise with cold air. Called Amazon service and got a replacement unit. Second unit arrived covered with oil and oil stain inside of box. Knew right away refrigerant had leaked. Further investigation showed housing was cracked in multiple locations. Appeared unit suffered impact on one side even though shipping box didn't have evidence of damage. Called Amazon service again and another replacement was ordered. Return of the previous two units picked up by UPS as arranged by Amazon. Showed the importance of keeping the shipping boxes and packing material in case products needed to be returned. Third unit arrived and working great, 50 deg. air discharge at 80 deg. inlet, good strong airflow, noise level at highest fan speed around 55dba ear level 6 feet away. Important to insulate discharge hose to keep heat from radiating from hose and move most of the heat out window. Shout out to Amazon Service for their assistance on replacement of units. No hassle, professional, and timely response.