13 Best Portable Air Conditioners (Ultimate Guide 2018)

You cant deny it, no matter how hard you try—LG just makes better electronic equipment. From cell phones to portable AC units, they hit their mark on just about everything they try. We fell in love with this unit for a dynamic combination of reasons.

You get cooling up to 300 square feet, which is optimal for most bedrooms for a quick cool down. For larger rooms, such as a parlor, it will do the job, though it will take a little bit longer. The dehumidification process blends cool and warm air, while removing up to 1.2 pints per hour. You get a 7,000 BTU standard operation on 115V input, while dually benefitting from the lightweight, portable nature of this AC.

Apart from the stellar design ,the entire unit is simple to move around. LG really took the time to use as little exterior material as possible and streamline the build, without compromising on structural integrity. One issue many portable AC users have is setting up that aggravating hose—you don’t have to struggle with this one. Simple setup, simple function.

Altogether, LG LP1215GXR is the ultimate solution for cooling your bedroom or guest room quickly, and enjoying the perfect atmosphere. LG products have notoriously long lifetimes while performing at maximum efficiency; their portable AC model is no different.

Black and Decker have been one of America’s top brands for decades. Quality builds, long-lasting, time-tested products, and a unique way that they build their machinery all play a part in their success. When it comes to building portable air conditioners, they’re one of the best. With a keen eye for user-friendly aspects, their 5,000 BTU unit comes out of the gate swinging.

This unit has a vertical ventilation system, offering a substantially better airflow than most competitor models. This allows you to cool off your spaces relatively quickly, even if they call for a slightly-higher BTU output. Paired with the attractive pricing (and the fact that the ventilation filters are absolutely simple to clean), we fell in love with this model.

While 5,000 BTUs (thanks to the 2017 regulation change) isn’t the highest, what this unit lacks in power, it makes up for in additional features. The window kit is a breeze to install, while the configuration settings make it easy to determine a preset preference, and flip to it the moment you get home. If you plan on moving this around a bit, you’ll be delighted at how easily the wheels move.

Overall, this is an excellently-priced, superior quality portable air conditioning unit for any occasion. 5,000 BTUs of power is ideal for bedrooms and smaller common areas. Black and Decker consistently delivers high quality products, and to say the least, our expectations were exceeded with this one.

Frigidaire Cool Connect 12,000 BTU is one truly epic piece of tech that pushes the boundaries. Al portable AC units will need to output the hot air created by the motor, but this is the closest we’ve gotten to seeing a unit not requiring window slats. You can leave this in the center of the room and activate fan settings, or pull the hose over to the window and enjoy cool, refreshing air.

Frigidaire was the world’s first consumer refrigerator brand, bringing innovation to the frontlines—with their portable AC, they’re reinvented comfort. Use the Wi-Fi control function to manage your AC from across the room (or house), while keeping it more towards the center of the room for utilize the 360-degree airflow feature.

It can be a bit dodgy when you’re trying to get the full use out of this unit. While you want to utilize the 360 airflow, it’s inevitable that you’ll end up having this unit closer to the window rather than the center of the room. This is going to create a few cold patches, and a few hot spots in the room. With a killer 12,000 BTUs of power, it will quickly even out, and turn your room into an ice chest, but keep the 360 function in mind when deciding on where to place it.

This unit also takes three pints out of the air per hour, helping you to cool the motor during use. You very sparingly need to access the small bucket (accessible via the back) for draining. Download their app on the Play Store or App Store, and control your comfort right out of the box.

LG will always be one of our favorite electronics providers, especially when it comes to in-home appliances. From air conditioners to stoves, fridges and beyond, they’ve become an American staple in every home. This portable AC unit comes into play to complete your space, and seriously cool down your medium-sized rooms with ease.

With some killer dehumidification power and auto an auto evaporation setting, you can completely control the comfort levels of your space, while providing up to 5,500 DOE BTUs of cooling capability. With the potential to withdraw 1.8 pints of humidity per hour, you ‘ll find yourself in heaven with the auto evaporation system taking care of the buildup. You also get a programmable system to control cooling—initiate it just before you get home, and walk into a cool, calming space right from the get go.

We were a little disappointed with the rear build—the metal vents that control the filtration and intake system are easy to dent/damage, which can interfere with air intake, proving problematic for extended use. Keeping the AC away from children, and ensuring it’s not jut up against the wall/baseboard radiator should help prevent these issues from occurring.

You’ll be able to move LG LP0817WSR around freely with a six-foot power cable, and simplistic window mounting system. Made of lightweight materials, this is easy to move around the room, or into a new room for guests/moving bedrooms in a flat. Even with a few minor issues, LG still dominates the field in home appliances.

The Honeywell 10,000 BTU features a minimalist design and extraordinary cooling ability. It’s as easy to set up and put to work as it is tough on hot, humid air. This portable ac unican handle a room up to 350 square feet and, unlike a fixed window unit, can be taken with you as you go from the dinner table to the living room to the bedroom.

The Honeywell 10,000 BTU Unit does an outstanding job transforming your hot, humid interior into a cool, dry sanctuary. It’s extremely easy to set up and operate and that ease of operation is enhanced by the fact that there’s no drainage tank to empty. As a dehumidifier, it’s capable of pulling an astonishing 70 pints of moisture from the air every 24 hours (although to be sure you’d have to be living in the tropical rainforest for your air to be that humid).

Winter (or at least a reasonable facsimile) is right around the corner with the Whynter ARC-14S 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner. Don’t spend another day sweltering in the summer heat. The Whynter ARC-14S can turn damp, stuffy air into dry, comfortable air in no time and this portable air conditioner can cool a 500 square foot room as long as environmental parameters are not exceeded.

If you operate this portable air conditioner by the book it will deliver plenty of cool even in the largest of rooms. If you just need to remove humidity from the air to protect furniture and carpets and discourage the growth of mold it will do that too: to the tune of more than 100 pints a day! And on those days when everything is copacetic and you just want a little bit of air movement switch it to fan mode and relax. The unit also sports patented auto-draining technology which turns collected moisture into cool air. If you have some large rooms that could use an injection of cool dry air this is the one for you.

There’s capable, there’s good and then there’s the Honeywell 12,000 BT. The unit is capable of handling 163 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air and can remove up to 79 pints of water from the air in any given 24 hour period. It’s quiet, efficient and you don’t have to be a football player to move this unit around the house.

If you’re looking to keep a large room cool and dry this is the unit. While the advertised 450 square feet might be pushing it a bit the unit will in fact keep a large room of a few hundred feet cool and dry without much effort. We found the remote to be maybe the most important component of this portable air conditioner because in a big room you become aware of how short the power cord is (the exhaust hose too for that matter). And if you’re seated 20 feet away you don’t want to have to keep getting up to adjust the settings on your AC. That said performance was right in line with expectations and we found ourselves flipping between air conditioning and fan mode pretty regularly, which indicates the AC was doing its job.

Make no mistake about it, this model is not cheap. It redeems itself though by being as effective as all get-out at cooling down your room and transforming it into a cool, dry, healthy environment where the deer and the antelope may not play but you and your kids certainly will. With the dehumidifier pulling an unbelievable 90 pints of moisture a day out of the air you won’t have to spend any more time worrying that the dampness is ruining your furniture.

The Edgestar has an edgy design that may at first seem a bit self-conscious but will eventually grow on you. The unit itself is quiet and effective, fairly lightweight and easy to move around and the venting system is easy to set up and move with the unit. When set up in a room of appropriate size and environmental conditions this portable stand up conditioner will make short work of the heat and humidity and have everyone in the house breathing a bit easier.

This SPT 14,000 BTU isn’t going to win over many with its somewhat clunky design but it will earn legions of fans once they get a feel for how well it can cool down a substantial sized room. Whether or not the laws of thermodynamics will actually allow such a unit to effectively cool down a 700 square foot room is open for discussion but the fact is the unit does a great job on some great big rooms and for that you should consider buying it for your home.

While this portable air conditioner has a look only its designer could love it nonetheless works like a charm and that’s all we really care about. You can set things up by running the fan for a while, switch to dehumidifier to dry things out and then switch to air conditioning mode and cool things down to boot. The finished product will remind you of central air effects and you won’t have to wait hours to reap the cool, dry benefits. It’s not the cheapest or the quietest portable ac on our list but it works like nobody’s business.

The LG 14,000 BTU brings the cool to large rooms that used to swelter. It’s designed to effectively cool up to 500 square feet and does so well as long as environmental parameters are not exceeded. Should the weather not call for full on air conditioning switch to dehumidifier and remove up to 3.1 pints of moisture per hour from the air.

This model sets to work on your larger rooms and doesn’t stop until they’re cool and dry. It’s a beast of an AC with 14,000 BTUs of cooling power so don’t waste it on tiny rooms. Overall the unit is dependable, easy to use and effective. It also has an attractive minimalist design some will find very appealing. If you’ve been at a loss over how to keep your larger room cool on those hot summer days the wait is over. The LG 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner is here to answer the call.

The Frigidaire 5,000 BTU Window Mounted is one of only 2 window units on our list. It earned a spot by virtue of its reliable performance, ease of setup, highly effective cooling abilities and the fact that it can be had for just over a hundred bucks. This is not a unit built to cool banquet halls. It’s a bare bones unit built to create a cool, dry environment in your smaller rooms. It will do an excellent job as long as you stay within the parameters laid out in the specs.

While our list has been devoid of window units up to now we simply couldn’t ignore the exceptional utility of this portable air conditioner. From the effortless setup to the long power cord that reduces dependence on extension cords to the fact that it does a great job cooling smaller rooms without sending your electric bill into the stratosphere the Frigidaire 5,000 BTU unit will make a believer out of you the first time you use it.

The feature that really sets the Frigidaire 8,000 BT apart from the competition is the smart features that allow you access to the unit from practically anywhere. Imagine being at the airport and realizing you forgot to turn your portable air conditioner off. Most people would be stuck. With this portable window air conditioner though you just pull out your smartphone and turn the unit off remotely.

We love the way this air conditioning unit looks. We love the job it does cooling the room. We love the fact that it can be installed in minutes and doesn’t require the presence of the HVAC guy or electrician. We love that it’s so effective dehumidifying the air. We love that it’s quieter than most every other options. And we love the remote control even though the company could afford to put a bit more effort into the user interface and the app only works on Apple and Android handsets.

The Koldfront 8,000 BTU is a compact beast the delivers an extraordinary amount of cooling power. As long as you don’t exceed the operational limits of the unit it will cool your room down in minutes and keep it nice and cool for as long as you like.

When used within the parameters laid out by the manufacturer this Koldfront 8,000 BTU will keep any room cool and dry. There’s no need to have the HVAC guys over to set it up and when you move from the living room to the bedroom you can just take it with you. The cooling power of the unit is impressive and it does yeoman’s work as a dehumidifier, removing 61 pints a day. The thing that really seals the deal for us with this unit is the price. At less than $300 it’s a truly affordable. All in all a great value product.