Whynter ARC-142BX Portable Air Conditioner Review

Last Updated February 5, 2018
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Vital Statistics

  • A full 14,000 BTUs of audacious cooling power.
  • Auto-evaporative system removes condensation so you don’t have to.
  • Environmentally friendly R410A coolant leaves the ozone alone.
  • Capable of cooling above average sized rooms of up to 500 square feet.
  • Removes up to 71 pints of moisture a day from the air in dehumidifier mode.

This hands down winner of the “top rated reviewed portable air conditioner ever made” award also happens to be an excellent example of the age-old adage “You can’t judge a book by its cover”. Because under the fast food joint trash receptacle exterior lies the heart of a cooling lion. This is one of Whynter’s most powerful portable air conditioners and they’ve spared no expense in creating a unit that eats heat and humidity for breakfast, lunch and dinner, even if they need to fire the design staff and start over.

Sometimes Dry is Good Enough

Sometimes you really need to bring on the cool and sometimes you really just need to dry the place out. The ARC 142BX lets you do both. With an industry best 14,000 BTUs of cooling power you’ll never need to swelter through another August scorcher with the fan practically glued to your face. Instead set up the 142BX near the most convenient window, kick back and enjoy every minute of the year’s first preseason football game on the big screen. You may even be tempted to reach for a blanket! If the weather is not too hot but just plain dank ramp up the dehumidifier and dry things out.

Pros

  • 14,000 BTUs – That’s a lot of cooling power. More in fact than most any consumer grade window unit and enough to easily cool 500 square feet. If you’ve got a home with those new larger rooms you’re no longer at a loss for how to keep them cool without running 2 or 3 window units. The 142BX will take care of it for you without breaking a sweat.
  • Effective auto evaporation technology – Some portable air conditioners claim to utilize auto evaporative technology but in practice they come up way short and you wind up emptying condensation pans 2 or 3 times a day. With the 142BX however auto evaporation means auto evaporation. It’s one of the most effective deployments of this technology we’ve seen to date and will allow you to take a nice long nap in your nice cool, dry room without having to wake up to empty the pan.
  • Multiple operational modes – Take advantage of the outstanding cooling ability of this unit, or engage fan-only mode and keep the air moving in your room, or initiate dehumidifier mode and dry the place out in short order or program the unit to come on and off over the next 24 hours when you want and need it. It’s a full service portable air conditioner that’s here to serve. While some will claim that the dehumidifier allows you to set a humidity level like you set a temperature, don’t believe it. Portable ACs are advanced, but they’re not there just yet.
  • Smart restart – Few things are as frustrating as power outages and what makes them even worse is having to go around resetting all your electric devices and appliances. The 142BX however constantly monitors your settings and keeps a record of them so if the power goes out you’re covered. When the power comes back on the unit starts itself at the exact settings that were in play when the blackout hit.
  • Easy to setup/Easy to operate – The 142BX from Whynter comes completely assembled. Just remove it from the box, use the enclosed ventilator kit to set up hot air ventilation through the window of your choice, plug it in and turn it on. Then grab a brewski, kick back and enjoy! Should you want to change things up a bit once the room is cool that’s no problem either. You can input commands directly into the control panel on the unit’s top or use the handy remote to adjust things from the sofa and then go back to your nap. You can even leave settings up to the AC by choosing “auto” mode.

Cons

  • That look – The degree of disconnect between the functional excellence of this portable air conditioner and the unfortunate design is as big as we’ve ever seen. Look, we don’t expect portable air conditioners to be paragons of style and grace. Their job, after all, is to suck heat and water from the air and cool things down, not to wow the paparazzi from the catwalk. Still we’d be willing to bet that there have been plenty of folks who, unaware this was a portable AC, have tried to use it to dispose of their trash.
  • Noise – While the paperwork claims this unit never gets above 53 decibels we’d be willing to bet otherwise. 14K portable air conditioners are always going to be a bit noisy but we wouldn’t want to try and sleep with this one running in the bedroom. It’s fine though for the living room or your large kitchen; anywhere someone isn’t trying to sleep.