ARC-14S

First of all this air conditioner changed our lives! When I first was in the market for a portable air conditioner I was very careful to research, research, and research. Yes I was slightly uneasy about ordering an air conditioner online, but called Amazon directly and asked about my options if after I purchased it and it didn't work well for us about the return policy's. Amazon ensured that if it didn't work out then I would be able to return it in its original packaging and because of its size they would have a shipping company come pick it up which I thought for a return they would try to make it as hard as possible to return. So Amazon is a win win in my eyes. My only issue was that this is listed as a Prime eligible product and with my limited Prime knowledge I assumed I would receive it in 2 days which I didn't. I took about 5 so that was a little disappointing. I am very glad I purchased this earlier than the summer or we would have been in trouble just in waiting in a hot house on this thing. Back to the unit… So set up was easy. I allowed for it to sit in an upright position overnight only because I was unsure how the shipping company handled it and wanted to be sure I did everything in my power to continue its longevity. (This is also listed in the directions) The hose connections were easy enough and because I have a taller horizontal sliding window I had an opening that I had to fill with particle board which wasn’t too hard to do. After I set it up I plugged it in and let it sit. The set up pamphlet does recommend buying a special filter to put into one of the hoses which honestly I haven’t done because I haven’t made an honest attempt to find them which I am sure you could at a Home Depot or Lowes. From what I have heard you can also buy insulation tape to cover the hose that produces a lot of heat, but this hasn’t been a problem for us. The Cooling… The cooling is pretty amazing. After reading several reviews I second guessed my decision about purchasing it because it seems like people have great success or great failure. However on our end this AC has cooled our lower level 2 story house amazingly!! Our house is less than 15 years old so it is insulated pretty good, but because our house is North facing we get most of our heat in the back of our house. This cooler sits in the front and cools a vaulted ceiling living room, kitchen and small dinning, hallway, and half way cools the master bedroom on the same floor. All of this area is about 1200 sqft give or take. I originally purchased this to cool the living room, kitchen, and dinning room, which is all open floor plan about 420-450 swft btw, but it cooled even more than I expected. To keep track of the temperature I tried looking on my thermostat for my Heater and it was almost always higher than what it really was I am guessing because it wasn’t cooler in other places in my house. It even kept us cool in 100+ degree weather. It was about 109 outside and the cooler kept it about low to mid 70 in the living, dining, and kitchen. As a side note we purchased a Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner that cools a room upstairs and we usually leave the door open just in case it will help with the over all vaulted ceiling space. The Frigidaire is rated for a small room of 250 sqft so I don’t think it is helping too much with the living space, but so you have the full facts to make an informed decision I just wanted to add that in there. This unit is also great and I plan on writing a separate review for this one. However the sum up on the cooling factor for the Whynter is awesome!! We have owned it since the end of May so I can’t speak for its longevity so only time will tell. It is totally worth purchasing for sure! Con’s Honestly these con’s don’t really matter to me because the AC works so well, but I will add them in case they matter to you. As for the noise, yes it is loud. My house usually isn’t pitch quite so it doesn’t really bother me, but if you think about it there is an AC in your house! Central air conditioners are put outside for a reason. THEY ARE LOUD! So to me this doesn’t really stop me from using it. My dish washer is very loud, but you don’t see me scrubbing dishes by hand so I don’t have to hear the noise. Same goes with any other loud appliance in my house. Maybe if it was loud and didn’t cool my house I’d have a problem. The vent on the AC is nothing to be impressed with. I have read that the vent shoots the air straight up. I don’t seem to have that problem. Yes there aren’t very many ways you can control where the air goes, but you can direct it up and down. If you don’t want it shooting straight up you can move it down a notch and it isn’t. Not sure if people thought this would prevent max air flow, but we don’t seem to have a problem. Now the remote is another problem. I have read that if you use the remote you have to keep using the remote because if you switch to the buttons on the unit the remote doesn’t know what the unit knows. This is very true and annoying. However because of where I have the unit positioned behind my couch the remote can’t find the signal to the unit because it is blocked so we pretty much don’t use the remote. Again, not an issue for me because the unit works so well and the only reason I have to push a button is to turn the unit on or off. Not an issue. As for draining due to the dehumidifier. We live in a dry state with low humidity so this hasn’t been a problem. No sure how I would drain it if I needed to, but I have found plenty of YouTube videos on this unit so I am not concerned about it at this point. Portability. Now this is a portable unit per say, but it isn’t really practical to roll around the house for us. I initially thought we could use it for our open floor plan area by day and in our master by night, but to move this, then refit for a different sized window and then do it all over again and again every morning and night it would be a pain in the butt. However if we leave our master bed room door open it cools down enough to be comfortable instead of otherwise sweating as we did before. This AC really did above and beyond what I expected! Now would I recommend this to others?? Heck yes!! It does a great job cooling and we turn it on early in the day so that it keeps the house cool and we don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable. I am able to cook and this AC still can keep the house cooler and us comfortable. We are able to cook/bake for short amounts of time and still be comfortable in 90+ degree weather, but in the 100+ degree weather we found cooking is not an option if we want to stay comfortable and not sweat. We also have blackout curtains and blinds that help to insulate the heat which makes a huge difference so for those that this AC is not working for I would question placement of the unit as well as how insulated your house is not just in between the walls but for window coverings too. We found that using brown colored vertical blinds blocks out the heat way better than the white ones did. I also suggest another unit portable or window-mounted unit to help work together with this unit. If you want a cooler house and don’t want to foot out the bill for central air you should think about other ways to keep it cool because even 2 of these units would be cheaper than central air for us! Hopefully you find your solution because this was it along with the Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner for us!!! Good luck and sorry for the unorganized review!

The unit is heavy, but I was able to manage to get it i to my house just fine. It is a large unit and it will take up room, so pay attention to the measurements. Overall, it is an excellent machine! I have been using it for just about a month. I am in NY where the summer has been humid and in the upper 80’s. I did have to use adhesive velcro and plexiglass in the window. I bought this specifically to use in my casement windows that open from the top and out. The plexiglass was used to act as a window frame to keep the outside out. I was able to get the velcro and plexiglass at Home Depot. It did take me time, but I am happy with home it turned out. The unit works well! It kept our living room cool during these hot days. When the fan is on full speed it is loud. I only had to connect the outtake hose. This way, the air from inside the house was being cooled and then exhausted out the window. The only issue I have, and this may be user error- the screws to attach the hose to the window plate are the improper size. They do not secure the hose to the plate at all. I was able to place it just right to connect it, but now it will not stay attached.

To start, I never had any portable AC’s before. I recently moved to CA and the place I moved into does not have central AC. So as CA turns into an outside oven again and my house turns into a sauna I needed something to cool it down. I invested into two AC units, this one and a cheaper Soleus Air 8k BTU one. I will be comparing the two after using them for about 4 weeks now. My rationale behind this purchase: I use the Whynter in a fairly open space, from a small dining room, connected kitchen and connected big living room. I purchased the highest BTU rating I could find for the price with a good rating and at the time it was this Whynter. I figured I would need most of the BTU’s I could find as I am using it to cool a little more than the directed sq ft. The unit itself: The unit is solid, well built and seems to be made of very high quality material. The hoses are very sturdy and definitely of higher quality then the Soleus ones. Where the Soleus seems hose seems wrinkle a quicker and tends to lose its shape, the Whynter one is sturdy. I take the window kit off sometimes and have been moving it around the house for different setups to see where I could get the maximum cooling. Taking down the window kit and collapsing and expanding the hoses almost every day seem to have 0 effect on the hoses. The hoses stay in shape, no wrinkles, no tears, nothing. Window kit however seems out of place with the rest of the unit, lower quality plastic and missing utility (read more below). The AC itself though is HUGE, I forgot to check the measurements prior to ordering and was kind of surprised when the package came in. It’s like the half the size of an average refrigerator and pretty heavy. It’s definitely not that portable and does hog up quite some space. Sure it’s got wheels and the wheels do their job just fine. However I wanted to place it in the living room to see what it would do there, but my living room is lowered and there are 2 steps down from the rest of the house. No way I’m trying to get this thing down (and up again) those steps by myself. Compared to the Soleus that (with a much lower BTU rating!) is super small and lightweight, very portable this Whynter unit is not that super portable. That said I can totally understand the size, this machine packs some serious cooling and all the power needs to come from somewhere. The more power the bigger the unit. Oh yeah, it comes with a remote. I don’t know why, it’s a very limited in functionality, super simple remote. All the controls on the unit itself are good enough; I don’t use it at all and will probably loose it. Compared to the Soleus one that has allot of functionality on the remote itself, including a display, timers and settings that aren’t available directly on the unit. The cooling: This unit cools well, I’ve tried two things: cooling a bedroom where I could close the door, within the directed sq ft and my 3 open area’s well above the directed sq ft. I tested the bedroom by letting the room itself heat up well above 30 C (86 F), rolled the unit in and start it right up. The room I tested is about 6x6m (20x20 ft), has the full afternoon hot sun, just blinds (closed), no outdoor sunscreen and about 38 C (100 F) outside temperature. I closed the door to the rest of the house and set the Whynter to about 22 C (72 F) and let it run. In about 30 to 40 minutes I could hear the compressor shut off and just the fan running, which means the Whynter cooled it down to the temp I set it on. The room was fresh and cool when I walked in, it easily cooled it down in a short amount of time. From time to time I could hear the compressor run for about 5 to 10 minutes again to provide the room with another shot of cold air and shut off again. Perfect. Cooling my 3 open areas however is a bit different. I knew the Whynter was never going to cool this down as easily as the smaller bedroom. Technically it requires allot more BTU’s to cool then the 14k of the Whynter. However I seem to be able to keep a 9 C (18 F) degrees difference with the outdoor temperature. Some tricks required though (read more below), like an outdoor sunscreen, supporting fans for air circulation and a further reach (Vornado’s are awesome in pushing air around) and starting the AC when the room is still cool in the mornings. It runs all the time in a setup like this, as the unit never reaches the configured temperature anymore, I don’t mind that it’s a fair trade off against sitting in a sauna and waiting for someone to throw some water on the stone. The room remains fresh and much more bearable then without the AC. The AC actually performs beyond my expectations. I did not expect it to keep my space cool at almost 1,5 times the advertised sq ft. The noise: It’s an AC and well AC’s make noise. The noise level is loud, but given this has 14k BTU cooling power I also expected it to make noise. The noise may be loud but I do not find it annoying, it doesn’t have any high pitches, rattles or grinding noises to it. Compared to the Soleus unit that sounds like a hamster is trapped in it with its training wheel. It’s a white noise, low static sound of the fans and a fade sound of the compressor. Sure you will have to pump up the volume on your TV if this is in the same room (or wear headphones) and you probably do not want to do a conference call within 3 ft of the AC when it’s running. But it is manageable. The less good: Okay, so I am very satisfied with the Whynter. Why did I give it only 4 stars and not 5? There are 2 things that annoy me enough to deduct one star: 1> The window kit is made of out cheap plastic. It is not in the same build quality as any of the rest of the Whynter AC and the hoses. I have sliding case window that are 44” high and I have to use both of the extension panels. The fact that you have to screw the extensions on with two, actually too small, screws is quite a downer. Other than that the window kit is barely long enough to fit into my 44” windows. According to the instructions you have to ‘cut’ the extensions if your window is smaller to the size needed. The fact that the AC is portable means I want to move it around and not all windows are the same size. Unscrewing and re-attaching the extension panels are just too much of a hassle to easily move it and if you where to cut it you would be out of luck. Which kind of defies the fact that this is supposed to be portable. Compared to the Soleus AC unit, which came with a brilliant window kit, the Whynter one is just a joke. The Soleus one has butterfly bolts on both extension panels, so you can quite easily chose the length and is about 60” (I could even fit it in my sliding doors). I wish Whynter could come with a similar window kit as the Soleus one. 2> The exhaust air duct. It is situated on top of the unit and can blow directly up or with a 45 or 15 degree angle. I guess this is fine if you want to use it for just one room. However the reach of cold air of this unit is not very far and in my case I want to direct the air to a specific location. Having an exhaust air duct that is from the middle of the unit and that blows straight forward out of the unit with more guiding capabilities I could get allot more cool air on the specific spots then right now. Instead I have to use Vornado fans to push the cool air out further where the unit itself can’t bring it. Conclusion: The unit is well built, hoses are sturdy, It is slightly heavy but it rolls well enough to move it throughout the house. It makes noise, but none of the irritating rattles or squeaks that annoy me. It’s more static low humming and blowing of the fans. The window kit is a bit wonky and isn’t up to the same standards as the rest of the material. But the unit cools really well for me, it works like a charm and way beyond my expectations. Tips and tricks: - Keep the heat out. That what doesn’t come in doesn’t require cooling. I picked up a white sunscreen from ikea that you can setup to avoid direct sunlight into my living room. This made a huge difference. - Avoid direct sunlight, close those blinds and curtains. So that the room itself doesn’t heat up that easily. - Use extra fans to get the cool air where you want it to go, create a proper air circulation, I picked up two Vornado fans and they do a great job. - Start the AC when the room is still cool. Keeping a room cool requires less cooling than cooling down a hot room. I start the unit at around 10am/11am before it heats up outside and it can keep a bigger space cool. - Try to avoid generating more heat where you can. Things like running a dishwasher (they have heated dry’s at the end of the run) or using the kitchen generate allot of extra heat. That extra heat requires extra cooling on top of what the AC is already facing from the outside.

Excelente producto. Funciona muy bien, es silencioso y enfría las habitaciones rápidamente. El proveedor es uno de los mejores con los que he tratado en Amazon: responde de inmediato, resuelve tus dudas y supera las expectativas para garantizar tu satisfacción al 100%. Altamente recomendado.

The air conditioner is well made and good quality. Instructions were easy to follow for set up and installation. The timer function is great. In addition to being an air conditioner it is a fan, dehumidifier and heater. Offers temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. I have an odd window to attach the hoses to, but with some creative thinking the set up was fairly easy. It is bigger than I anticipated and louder than I expected. Overall I am very pleased with the product and would buy this brand again in the future.

Context : My previous window AC broke, a 10K BTU that was one of the best in the market at the time I bought it. I was moving in a bigger apartment that wasn't as easy to cool down because of the way the rooms are placed. After a little research to find the best portable AC, I had decided on this one. I've been using it for a few weeks now and I LOVE it. I'm seriously considering getting married to this AC. It's one of my favorite thing I bought this year so far. I was a little worried since I like to look at the stuff I buy, try them in the store and stuff like that, mostly on expensive stuff. And since it's heavy, I didn't know how it would work to return it if there was an issue with it. Also had very bad luck with portable AC in the past. But this one is awesome. The dual hose make it so that you don't loose as much BTU power as with other portable AC. It's very easy to put together, and I didn't even really sealed the area around the smaller slider thingy because I cannot be bother about it, but it still works like a charm nonetheless. And we've been having some heat wave lately, but I feel fine and cool. I mostly let the AC in my by bedroom, and even then, with a fan, I can redirect easily the cold air in the whole apartment. The apartment is ~620 squart feet, I have 9 feet ceilling. I mostly close the bathroom and the hall though, the hall is maybe 12 square feet (very small) and the bathroom around 45 square feet (anyway, once the bathroom is cool, it stays that way for a long while). My previous AC couldn't cool down more than ~350 square feet. Also, I love the fact that it can go lower than 64 F, even thoug the room feels a little hotter than that, it's still very nice and cool for me. So you really don't loose much BTU even if it's a portable AC. As for the noise, it's perfect for me. The cooling device makes as much noise and the fan made on my previous AC. So I sometimes wonder if it's working properly because I think it's only the fan when it's the cooling mode that is full on. And I always put the fan at the highest power too. Also, for me, it's good that it at least makes a little noise because it works as white noise when I sleep, so I don't have to hear the neighbors. The only thing I'm still worried about it the draining, but so far, I didn't have to do it. Thing is, the plastic plug that is on the draining hose on the unit is very very hard to open. Will see when it comes to that, and if I have issue with it, I'll come update this review. TL;DR : buy this portable AC, it's a marvelous device, 10/10 would buy it again

Posting a review after owning for 5+ years. It's a beast, big, heavy, cools really well. This has been the best portable AC experience we've had. A bit louder than newer units in 2024/2025, but the compressor still going strong and consistent. Ours runs 12-16hr/day on coolest setting, steady for 8 months a year, going on 6 years. Does a great job to cover 1200sq/ft. Get a good window seal and you are solid. Would buy again. Only downside is the black and silver trim looks like a bad boom box from the 90s, if that's your style.

The comments on Amazon were mixed with many saying this was underpowered device. I bought it anyhow based on other reviews that continuously show it to be #1 in the field. I am NOT DISAPPOINTED. This Whynter is placed at 111% by EnerGuide (as compared to comparable units) - and I can see why. Installation was surprisingly easy, even in my odd-sized "crank-open" window. Once I turned it on, it just immediately blew a strong blast of freezing air on me. You don't hear the compressor at all, but just making that much WIND.. well, you're going to know a fan is going, that's for sure. Not so loud as those hotel units, but still, you know it's on. After the first couple of hours, I turned of the A/C and just put it on dehumidify mode. JUST AS COLD!!! It has an indicator that shows you the FEEL of the temperature. So when it is 25 in the house, the Whynter dehumidifies it down to 23, then it slows to a pleasant hum of air circulation only - then if the humidity goes up (and you do feel it getting warmer in the room) it kicks back in and blasts out that icy air again. Cool feature: you never have to drain the de-humidifier; it boots the moisture out the vent hose as hot, moist air - the blast outside feels just like your clothes-dryer vent, but moister. If you keep in mind that this is a 110V unit, and that God only allows 110V to create so many BTUs (physics, you know), then this is hands-down probably the best unit available to cool a small apartment or, in my case, to supplement central air conditioning in a larger home. Anyone saying it is under-performant just doesn't understand physics - they needed CENTRAL Air Conditioning because they are trying to do the impossible with 110V.