10 Best Portable Air Conditioners For 2016 If you're looking for the best portable air conditioner units, we've looked through some of the top portable air conditioner reviews to figure out what will work best for your needs. A portable A/C can make all the difference in your spring or summer experience, giving you a useful and mobile device to help keep you cool and hydrated. Let's take a look at some of the top portable air conditioner ratings to figure out the best portable air conditioner for you and your family's needs. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. The Shinco portable air conditioner is a 12000 BTU unit in a sleek, modern case that provides powerful and cost-effective cooling for a very reasonable price. The unit can keep a room of up to 400 square feet cool and comfortable even in the hot summer months, letting you relax and enjoy a refreshing room any time of the year. Additionally, the Shinco comes with a programmable 24 hour cycle, which you can use to automatically turn off the machine while you're asleep or at work - all of which helps you save electricity and lower the costs of running the machine.

Reviewers praise its effectiveness, noting only one or two small issues with some sticking fans that are easily fixed. cost of window ac vs central airOne user talked about the unit cooling down their bedroom and master bathroom by about 10 degrees over the course of an hour, eventually creating a cool 67 degrees when the weather outside was 90+.problems with unit root It may look like a sleek gray robot from the future, but the DeLonghi PAC W130E pumps out 13000 BTUs of cooling power - enough for very large rooms and very hot temperatures. installing a window ac unit in the wallWith its useful side handles, intuitive display, and excellent programmable cycle, the DeLonghi PAC W130E packs an enormous amount of power into its frame, letting the user experience the comfort of a modern luxury home without having to invest in household air conditioning.

Though it's pricier than the Shinco, that extra cost goes into an extra burst of power and cooling capability for your home, which will be worth the difference. The DeLonghi PACAN140HPEWC - better known by its last two initials, WC, which stand for "Whisper Cool" - is like a sibling of the previous DeLonghi unit, able to work with up to 14,000 BTUs of cooling power to cover about 500 square feet of space. Its Whisper Cool name comes from its special Whisper Cool design, which creates less noise than other similar portable air conditioners - a fact that many reviews mention as a particularly useful feature. Powerful and quiet, this DeLonghi is an excellent place to start looking for your own portable air conditioner. This Honeywell is an excellent choice as a budget-priced portable air conditioner. With its compact design, clear display, and 10,000 BTUs of power, the Honeywell is a more affordable cousin of the previous portable A/Cs. Though the features it offers number slightly less and the space it cools is slightly less, the reviewers tout the Honeywell as being an excellent value and worthwhile purchase.

The older sibling of the previous Honeywell, the Honeywell MN12CES pumps out more power (12,000 BTUs) and can cool a larger area than the last one. It's also slightly more expensive and comes in a sleek black finish instead of the white. It's an excellent step up from the last Honeywell while still being in the budget range of portable air conditioner units. The Whynter bills itself as a more eco-friendly portable air conditioner, offering 14,000 BTUs of cooling power while taking in less electricity than other models tend to. At right around the same price as the last Honeywell, it's a worthwhile competitor and peer to the budget model, creating a similar amount of cooling effect while advertising itself as more environmentally friendly. Frigidaire is well known for its cooling systems, so it should come as no surprise that its miniature 5,000 BTU portable air conditioner is a powerful and effective little machine. While covering a smaller area and providing less cooling power than the other machines listed, it's a more environmentally friendly solution and may be perfect for you if you don't have large spaces to cool.

Imagine the previous Frigidaire, with its 5,000 BTUs of power and low price, as a window-mounted unit with an even lower price and the same amount of power - then you've got the Frigidaire FFRA0511R1! This unit is a highly efficient and budget-friendly alternative to previous models, all while taking up less floor space than the others. The Koldfront is another economically-minded portable air conditioning unit with a low entry price and a very solid 8,000 BTUs of power. It also offers the benefit of being on wheels, making the device much easier to move than some of the other units listed here - and the more portable a portable A/C is, the better! Another small portable air conditioning unit on wheels, this Shinco offers 10,000 BTUs of cooling power and easily portability for a relatively low price. Buyers rate their experience with this portable A/C very highly, citing its ease of assembly, portability, and efficiency as some of its top features. Which is the best portable air conditioner for you?

It depends on your budget, room size, and portability needs - focus on how much space you have to cool (the more space, the more BTUs you'll need!) as well as how portable you need the machine to be - consider the benefits of wheels! Do your research and plan your pricing and you'll be very happy with the portable air conditioner you pick out. Sign up for our newsletter Please insert a valid email address By signing up to The Jpost mailing list, I herebyYup, this all seems about rightPACs typically fall in the middle ground compared with the costs of other cooling options. Portable air conditioners offer a distinct alternative to complex HVAC systems and basic cooling fans. These self-contained, mobile systems cater to spaces ranging in size from dens to garages, provided you have a nearby window through which to vent hot air. Like any electric cooling solution, however, the benefits provided by PACs come at a cost. The impact your PAC has on your electricity bill depends on the size of the unit, your utility provider's rate and other factors.

Energy Estimates Portable air conditioners range from compact, rolling boxes to mini-fridge-size towers. Likewise, they vary greatly in energy ratings, which are measured in British thermal unit, the amount of energy needed to cool or heat one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. This measurement translates to how much heat your PAC can remove from the room each hour. Especially compact PACs cool about 150 square feet and feature a BTU rating of about 7,500. Mid-range models cool about 300 square feet and output 10,000 BTUs while the largest PACs cover roughly 500 square feet and run at 14,000 BTUs. Converting Energy to Cents Converting BTUs to kilowatt-hours, a measurement equal to one kilowatt of power consumption per hour, you'll find that a 7,500-BTU PAC consumes about 2.2 kWh, a 10,000-BTU unit 2.9 kWh, and a 14,000-BTU unit 4.1 kWh. As of 2014, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that one kilowatt-hour of energy usage costs about 16.18 cents in California, for instance.

At this rate, running a small, medium or large PAC for eight hours a day would cost roughly $2.84, $3.75 or $5.31, respectively. For 30 days of use, these figures come to $85.20, $112.50 and $159.30. Considering the Variables In addition to BTU ratings and hours of use, location plays a major role in PAC operating cost; for example, the EIA estimates that electricity costs 21.75 cents per kWh in New York, 9.78 cents in Tennessee and 12.74 cents in the District of Columbia, with a national average of 11.88 cents. A longer hose causes your PAC to use more energy, as it diverts hot air through the length of the hose. Similarly, MSN Real Estate estimates that a 10-year-old air conditioner is only about half as efficient as a newly purchased unit. In Comparison According to 2013 reports from the “Rapid City Journal,” running a portable air conditioner uses as little as one-eighth of the electricity required to run a central air-conditioning unit, which roughly translates to one-eighth of the cost, as well.

Unlike central cooling, which cools the entire house, PACs cool only one room at a time. In 2013, Home Energy Pros -- “Home Energy” magazine's website -- noted that PACs offer roughly half the cooling power of window air conditioners. Duke Energy estimates that ceiling fans consume about 23.4 kWh per month, placing them at an average operating cost of only $2.78 per month, according to EIA's 2014 national averages. However, ceiling fans only provide a breeze; they do not actually cool air. References Sylvane: Knowledge Center: Portable Air Conditioners Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)U.S. Energy Information Administration Independent Statistics and Analysis: Electric Power Monthly: Table 5.6.A. Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State, February 2014 and 2013 (Cents per Kilowatt-hour)Rapid City Journal: Is a Portable AC Unit Cheaper Than Central Air?Duke Energy: Electric Appliance Operating Cost ListHome Energy Pros: Warnings About Portable Air ConditionersMSN Real Estate: 27 Cheap Ways to Keep Your House Cooler Photo Credits Polka Dot Images/Polka Dot/Getty Images Suggest a Correction