Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 11,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 350 Sq. Ft. Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-110WD (5,900 BTU SACC), White

My husband and I needed a portable AC unit for our computer room as it it located upstairs in our apartment and the central AC does not efficiently pump cool air to the top floor. It would be like 5-10 degrees hotter upstairs than the rest of the apartment. With our computer room having several computers and electronics, it became unbearably hot in the summer months, and cranking the AC down did not help (it only made the bottom floor colder and the top floor the same temperature). After much messing about with the air ducts/vents to try and 'funnel' the cool air to the top floor, we gave up and ordered this AC unit. This was a good purchase. It was easy to install with some basic tools (needed a hacksaw to trim the window piece to fit) and we also bought some weather stripping foam to create a better seal around the window piece. We have had it running non-stop all summer and most of the fall with no issues. I routinely vacuum the filter in it for maintenance, but other than that it hasn't needed any upkeep. It cools our computer room (about 10'x10') very well with the door closed, and if we leave the door open to the hallway and adjoining bedroom it will also cool those rooms by a few degrees. We haven't really tried cranking it down to anything below 70 degrees, but at 70 degrees it does a great job keeping the first room constantly cool and the adjoining rooms at around 72 degrees. Previously, we would have to crank the AC to 67 degrees and keep it running constantly to get a cool 72 degrees upstairs. Horribly inefficient. This has saved us a bit of money on cooling costs as the downstairs can now be left at a constant 72 degrees and the upstairs is cooled to 72 degrees with the portable unit supplementing the central AC unit. So far, very happy with this purchase and would recommend as a supplemental cooling unit.

This is a good looking unit and cools my area well. I found the following problems while using it. Problem 1. I am in NC and this unit produces a lot of water when on cool. After one day it shut down and I determined that the internal water collection tank was full. After emptying the tank the unit come back on. However the tank filled again and I had to attach a hose to the back and drain the unit into a catch basin. It is located in my garage so its no problem. I decided to run the intake and exhaust hoses directly through the wall using common dryer hookup adapters. The install looks nice and professional. If you want to see pictures contact me. I am not going to post them here Problem 2. The unit is specified to use not more than 1080 watts and draw a maximum current of 9.5 amps at 115 volts (Power P = voltage in Volts × current in amps) = 115 volts x 9.5 amps = 1092 watts (see the manual on page 16 line 4 and 5). When it threw my 15 amp breaker three times I ordered a Kill-A-watt meter for measuring current draw. Using the meter I determined that the unit was drawing 13.5 amps after operating for about one hour. You obviously cannot have any other current draws on the same 15 amp line. I contacted the manufacturer (Whynter) at 1-888-949-6837). The person who helped me said they had not had the same problem reported by other users and suggested the unit may have a bad compressor. That I should ship the unit to them for service or if I was under the 30 day window to request a replacement from Amazon. I did the latter since I had no box to ship the unit in. I received the new unit via Prime shipping and hooked it up. Well this one blew the breaker after a few minutes. I put the unit on the current and wattage meter and found it was drawing a peak of 14.44 amps which calculates to 1656 watts. Just using the garage door opener would kick the breaker out. I found one other review on Amazon complaining of the same problem. see JW review of March 12, 2014. I have quoted the pertinent paragraph from that review. (quote from JW's review) " Update: My friend purchased an LG LP1214GXR and it's noticeably quieter than this Whynter unit, enough to consider returning our unit. We threw away our box though, so it's moot. Also, we haven't been able to use our unit for an extended length of time because it has been blowing the breaker on the room. We suspect that the unit probably draws 12 amps or more (like most 13,000 BTU units) rather than the stated 10.8 amps (room's breaker is 15 amps and blows easier when it's hot outside). We bought a heavy gauge extension cord to plug it in in another room, not ideal, but don't really have a choice." I did not have the option of running it from a separate breaker so I had to have a new ($225) 20 amp outlet install in my garage to handle the unit. If I had the other box I would have returned both units. Without the box I had no way to box it up for return. Lesson learned. Keep all boxes until the return period is over or you are sure you are satisfied. I don't blame Amazon I do fault Whynter. They should have updated the manual to correct the current requirements. I chose this unit partly based on the low current required. So I was deceived!!! Lesson learned.

So Far I really like this air conditioner, it lives up to its promises, it doesnt leak like another air conditioner I had, that made the claim it reabsorbed the water, and used it for cooling the unit as it worked. Instead it leaked out the bottom from some indeterminate location. This one I am very happy to say doesnt, in fact it has two drain plugs. I tested them out after running the unit for 4 hours on an upper 90 degree day in Seattle, I opened the top drain and had a bowl ready to catch the water, not much water drained out, I opened the lower one a few hours later and the same, not much water. I then ran the unit for another 4 hours with no issues. This unit will automatically shut off if the water gets too full, so you can empty the drains, but so far that hasnt happened, it uses excess water pretty efficiently it seems, the dual hose pipes seems to help this unit work more efficiently too. It cools a 600 square foot room quite well, with the excess cool air leaking into the rest of the 2000 sq foot house keeping it overall cooler.

Update: I decided to hook this up again for the summer of 2016. The blower motor is making a loud, grinding noise. I would lower my initial score of 1 star if I could. We bought this to use occasionally for cooling an upstairs bedroom. With our central air conditioning on, the upstairs doesn't cool as much as the main level. We thought this would be great to supplement the central air conditioning and get the bedroom close to the temperature of the main level. Our plan was to run it at night and make it comfortable for sleeping. The problem relates to this being an over priced fan more than an air conditioner. To quote from the manual: The temperature setting range of this air conditioner is from 61°F to 89°F. To set the temperature, press the or buttons. This air conditioner has a 5°F temperature cushion which if the set temperature is within 5°F of the ambient temperature, the unit runs on fan only mode. This saves energy and prolongs the life of the compressor of the air conditioner. Once the set temperature is achieved, the fan runs continuously. The first sentence sounds great. It can cool all the way to 61°F! This sounds like it would meet anyone's needs. As you continue to read you realize that this will not cool a room that has heated up already and the temperature outside is lowering. Instead it will just run the fan continuously. The room is currently in the 70s, and the compressor will not stay on despite having it set all the way down at 61°F. Our central air gets the room to about +5°F of the main level, and we set this unit to the same temperature. The room will cool to +5°F of the set temperature. Then you hit the "5°F cushion" and the compressor cuts off and it just runs the fan. This essentially means we paid almost $400 for a fan that has to be put in the window and is very noisy. The effective cooling range is really only as low as 66°F, and not the advertised 61°F. We already had a ceiling fan, so this adds nothing for us. This is very deceptive in their marketing. They should offer an override for this setting or let you adjust it to something more reasonable like 1°F. I think it is telling that they claim this is to prolong the life of the compressor. The warranty on the compressor is only 3 years. If it hardly turns on, I'm sure it will last longer. My guess is that this is designed to run as little as possible so that it meets the warranty period. I wouldn't expect it to last much longer. I would suggest buying another brand and researching whether it has this 5°F cushion defect, I mean "feature." Even better would be like an old window unit where you can just pick Low/Med/High and decide when you want it to stop cooling. What a concept?

These portables sure are convenient for places where you only need them a month or two out of the year. And if you've got young ones or for older folks who don't do so well in heat, these are your ticket. They roll around easily on hard floors, much easier to setup than window units. Maybe not as efficient, but they make up for it in mobility. I've test run this 110WD both in a small bedroom and a medium sized living room. I've used it in both dual hose mode and with a single hose. It does seem to work better with dual hoses. At the time I ordered it was the lowest cost dual hose model. I am glad I spent the few extra dollars over some of the available single hose models. Overall its not so bad in cost. I mean btu for btu this 110WD was pretty much the same cost as a window unit! I did have a window unit years back, and portable prices were much higher back then. This 10k unit makes quick work on a smaller bedroom, but takes time to really feel cool in the larger living room. This goes along with what I was expecting. Good part is: even before you really feel cold with these things, you do feel better. They dry the air out, and that combined with a few degree drop really lets your sweat do its job rather than just sit on top of your skin. I should mention that you do NOT** have to drain the water from the 110WD. I think it only requires that on the dehumidify setting, not on the regular cooling setting. It blows the humidity outside through the hot air hose. I recommend leaving the "remote" attached to its perch to prevent loss of the remote. That is how I use it, and so far I've never needed to take it off of there. The 2nd thing, besides the slightly lower cost, that is nice about these 10 or 11k units versus some of the more powerful models is the headroom you have with amperage. On a 15 amp circuit you still have 5 amps left over for your TV or lights or whatever you want to power. You won't blow breakers like maybe a 12k or 14k unit would with multiple appliances. This may or may not be an issue.. I know with my old house and its wiring, it definitely is. For a newer house, or for a larger area I would go 14k.

This is my first time buying a portable A/C unit, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Upon arrival and set-up, I was somewhat disappointed to discover its flaws, but most of these shortcomings seem to be inherent to portable units and not to this machine. For what it is, this A/C unit does an OK job. It's just important to have realistic expectations. The good: * It's relatively cheap as of the time of this review. Comparable units from physical stores near us might run $600 or more. * It dries out the air effectively. As far as I can tell it is as good as a window unit in this respect. You can also run it in dehumdifier mode, which dries without cooling. * It has a remote with a backlight, handy for adjusting the temperature from the bed at night or around the room. * It's self-draining -- condensed water from cooling is eliminated effectively, so I have not had to drain it all summer. This is in NYC and may vary by your local climate, and does not apply to the dehumidifier mode (that would defeat the purpose). * The two hose system works well and seems to be critical to efficient cooling. * Since nothing is exposed, you can't damage the condenser's metal fins that you so often see bumped and flattened on window units. The bad: First, I'll get my critiques out of the way that are inherent to portable units. * It is much less efficient and effective than our old 12k window unit. It struggles to cool our ~350 sf bedroom + bathroom area, and certainly cannot cool the whole 900 sf apartment. No Energy Star rating is a bummer too. Portable units are not at all comparable to window units, it seems. I figured that our current apartment is on the ground floor and has excellent insulation, but this is not enough to compensate for its reduced effectiveness. Take the square footage recommendations seriously! If I were buying again, I would choose one of Whynter's 14k BTU units, which are not much more money. * It's big. 80 lbs is no joke, though it's on casters. To roughly convey its scale: it is as big as a side table and as tall as a child. * It is moderately loud. All the moving parts are in the room with you, so it's gonna be noisier than a window unit. It also has the extra whooshing noise of moving air through the hoses, which a window unit does not do. That said, we've gotten used to it and happily sleep with it running. * The exhaust hose gets quite warm, leaking heat back into the room. We have draped a towel on ours to insulate it, which makes it substantially more efficient. This particular unit has a few quibbles as well: * The remote is the ONLY WAY to adjust the temperature, fan speed, and operating mode. If you break it, I do not know whether you can order a replacement. There is a power button on the front of the unit itself that turns it on and off, but it uses the last configured mode. There is another button on the unit, but comically, all this button does is turn on and off the mode indicator light. I have relegated the remote to sit in its home on top of the unit so I don't accidentally drop it on the floor (which I've already done once; that was a scare). * There is no way to set it up to turn the fan off once it reaches a particular temperature. There is an "eco mode" where it will get the temperature to 85 F, then turn the fan off, and only turn back on once the temperature gets warmer. However, there's no way to adjust this to a cooler target temperature, and as far as I have tried it out, it doesn't seem to do the right thing anyways. Our Frigidaire window A/C unit did this just fine. * The window installation kit comes with a faceplate for the hoses, plus two adjustable filler pieces for expanding to fill the remaining window gap. You may have to cut the longer piece to fit your window, and if you move or move the unit, the longer piece may no longer work in a different window. I don't know if there is a cleverer way to do this, but it's something to keep in mind. To summarize: this unit has lots of quibbles, but none of them are dealbreakers. And sometimes you must buy a portable unit. If you are cooling a smaller space and want an affordable option, this may be the right unit for you.

As another reviewer said, prepare the window baffle by screwing in the tube adapters first, and then prepare the tubes by screwing all four endcaps onto the appropriate tubes. This makes things SO simple later on when you are ready to turn the unit on. We have a non-standard size horizontally-scrolling window, and I had to cut the longer baffle piece. I was prepared to use a Dremel for this, but a simple handsaw also sufficed, but was much slower. Just be patient and measure twice, and it will work fine; the PVC is relatively forgiving but not brittle. Also, if the window is a bit high and you just barely have enough clearance with the A/C unit on the floor, the exhaust/inlet tubes will pull quite hard on the window baffle and cause it to bow in. This can be resolved (at least, for me) by placing the unit on a table that is stable and that is definitely capable of supporting about 80 pounds. This means a four-post table that is level, and has been put together well. Do NOT use a metal shelving unit, or single-pole table, or anything that could be unstable in any way. You do not want this thing falling over, because the instructions state that it should be kept upright even after shipping for about 2 hours before turning it on. Cooling performance: stellar! Okay, I've only had this thing running for about 2 hours, and our downstairs area is cool and comfortable, and it's 90 degrees outside. I have a feeling this thing will be seeing a lot of action, so if anything else happens (for instance, the self-evaporation feature that I REALLY hope works), I will update this review.

Was looking for an in-room, my final resort for cooling my basement. This was it. 11K BTU for $300 works for me, for one of these units. Ordered it Saturday, arrived Monday morning at work with my UPS delivery, two days ahead of forecast. No opening instructions. When you cut the straps, the whole top and sides want to lift off. Don't. The accessories will all fall out. Cut the flaps on the top open. Start from there. They did not seem to be wrapped. Otherwise packed well, was double-boxed. Arrived intact. (Had it delivered to work so I could refuse it, if it was beat up.) Installed it using a 22W x 11H window, using a block of 2" thick firm packing foam I had saved from another shipment. Used the caps as a template to cut some just-tight holes into/through the foam, and poked the hose ends in. Done in less than 30 minutes. Might add some duct-tape. There's enough room in the foam to add an opening for a small fan, if I want to try that. (But it would need a cover also, for when the AC is on.) It's first night running. What I like: It works. Cooled an 11x11 room, a 14x3 hallway, and a 10x11 room at the other end of the hall. (Used a fan to help circulate.) Give it time to do the job, it works well. Felt cool and comfy within an hour. What I don't like: The ~ONLY~ control on the unit is on/off. Lose the remote, it's last-setting only. Hope that's 'cool' with you... The LEDs don't tell you what they actually indicate. Fixed that with a post-it. The wheels don't lock. Mine is on top of a surface. I don't want it to roll. I put the long extension plate that I didn't use under it so it can't roll forward, May get wheel-cups. The LED-light-button seems to light up the one-button front panel with blue, but does not affect the 2 indicator LEDs on it. Basically useless, unless you don't want to trip over the unit on a floor in the dark. I could hear it, but I did not have to turn up the TV when it was on. No louder than many other window units.

cools area quickly, fairly quiet, easy to install

- There are many unheard of brands of portable ACs that you will see on Amazon, but in my opinion all these are just products that are made in china (nothing wrong with that) and sold in north america by small businesses in the US, that imports these products puts their name on it, and sell it to us! - I think these products that have reps only in the US should not be sold in Canada! - The problem with this is that these small businesses can not support their own product compared to well established brands that have service centers around the globe. Businesses that you don't know even where they are located, and at most they only have a phone number and sometimes only email. - For example, I figured after buying it that I am responsible for paying the shipping fees to the US if it broke I mean, even if it within the warranty period. So paying almost 600 dollars for this unit, plus shipping of around 300 dollars is just not worth the trouble! Now, talking about the AC itself, I can confirm that my window unit of 5000 BTU produced the same if not better amount of cool air. Add to that the portable ACs are known to be noisy. And I read many reviews of water leaking problems, I haven't used mine long enough to confirm this. If you can install a window unit then just go with that, but if that is not possible, and you don't mind spending a couple of hundreds knowing that it may not be worth it, then go ahead and try to find yourself a good one! It is like gambling but who knows it may work for you! My final advice, if you must buy one then at least, buy a well-known brand that has a service center in Canada!

An excellent air conditioner and easy to use the remote control. 11,000 BTUs is the perfect strength and the size of the air conditioner is not cumbersome for my apartment.

Only cooled down area in front of AC Did not help at all..,,, Lots of work to set up and out a window