The Best Portable Air Conditioner - A Buying Guide

Always amazing in giving us just the right information to educate us on how to choose the product rather than just a video that says "THIS IS THE BEST". Helps us shop smarter. Thanks!!

After three days researching thoroughly I'm buying the LG LP1419ivsm based on your recommendation. Thanks.

Amazing work. I didn't expect to learn so much about a portable A/C. 😀

Thank you for your thorough videos. I bought our air purifier based on your video’s recommendation and am extremely satisfied with it! I plan on doing the same for the purchase of our portable air conditioner. 👍🏻

Great video and finally I can send this to people that don't believe them when I tell them about the single hose versus dual. I still think dual is best no matter what. Quick story: I first purchased one back in 2005 for my Class A motor-home. The roof top units worked great but were older, power-hogs and very loud. It was mid day, the roof top A/C had been running and the interior was comfortable (and loud) as I unboxed and setup the new unit. I put it in the front area near a window and sealed up all cracks with tape as I hooked up it's single hose. I sat in front of it and felt how cold it was and how quiet. I turned off the top A/C and let the new unit take over and it seemed to be doing great. I then went further forward and sat in the drivers chair, to do some paperwork, while my fiancee laid on the couch. It was 95 outside, in the Florida swamp heat, but so much better inside. Life was good. After about 30 minutes I found my self starting to sweat and could have sworn the unit stopped cooling. I asked my fiancee and she said it was still blowing ice cold. I went over and stood in front of it and sure enough, it was still blowing cold. I went back to the front and felt, at least, a 20 degree difference and scratched my head. I went to the mid and then the rear bedroom and it was just as hot as the front now. I quickly realized what was happening; the unit was creating a negative pressure and every-bit of the motor home was becoming an oven, except for right in front of the new unit. Life was loud again as we reverted back to the roof top unit. Back then I just put it in my garage and eventually sold it with the warning. I had no time to research it and also figured they did not make any dual hosed units since I had never seen one for sale. Not till a decade later did I find one but no longer used the RV. It was for my garage where there used to be a wall A/C from the previous home owner. It was an actual rectangle opening in the wall (not a window rigging). I took the board that was cut to fit the opening after they removed the A/C, installed holes large enough for the two intake and exhaust hoses and began to cool my garage workshop for the first time. Life was good.

Dual hose units are great for small grow rooms/closet grows because you can attach/duct a carbon filter with the second hose, instead of using it as it was intended. If you do that, its best to cover the secondary compressor cooling vent so it doesn't pull in the smelly air you are trying to filter before exhausting.

Very informative review. Thank you. I've been using a portable unit in my bedroom for years, and one thing I've done has helped a great deal--I insulated the exhaust hose. I used a "duct insulation" picked up at my local home center. It's mylar foil-wrapped fiberglass that is meant for round ducting. I cut it to length to match my hose, and secured it at both ends of the hose with duct tape. I protected the thin mylar foil with heavy-duty plastic sheeting (3.3 mil) and used lots of duct tape to also secure that. I cannot detect heat loss through the sides of the hose now, and before the insulation, the hose got noticeably hot to the touch. I think this must increase the effiiciency of it in my room, although I have no way to quantify that. For a smail cost in money and time, it has been very beneficial. I move this hose daily (I can't leave the AC hooked up when not in use at night), and it has not torn or been damaged in any way. If I get another portable unit, I'll do that to the new one too.

Very informative, thanks. Would be fantastic if you include DB readings on each unit at the same distance at peak settings for relative comparison ...

Excellent analysis. It would also help to see an example of how a unit is installed.

Love how thorough and detailed this is. Looking forward to reviews on window units and anything else!

Really appreciate the video to help understand the inefficiencies of these units. Unfortunately its the only thing that will work for my situation as window AC units are not allowed. My question is can you do a review on AC/Heat?Dehumidifier type units and your recommendations? These older apartments in the Northwest did a terrible job in placing the baseboards. Dont like using them and think a dual or try purpose unit might be what I need.

Amazing work as always. Hopefully in the future we'll see a video on window air conditioners

This is a fantastic guide, very informative and well presented and clear. Very useful thanks.

Dude great review, very informative I really appreciate it!

This review is tremendous! I finally found it in my 3rd day of research. I almost bought a dual hose Honeywell with a SACC of 8,000 BTU but somehow it bothered me that if Dual hose units are the only way to go why do manufacturers bother manufacturing single hose units? Well this video succinctly explained things in a way that even I could understand. Thank You so much!

ty for the very informative video, I now know what to look for when buying a new portable aircon to combat the Aussie summer heat just around the corner!

All your videos deserve way more views. Super informative.

That was an AWESOME video - i was planning on buying the LG LP1419IVSM, but wasn’t yet 100% sure even after hours of research - he answered all my questions and the concerns that I had and made me aware of SACC - which i wasn’t! Thank you!!!!

Thank you for all of your info, it's been a great help as a new homer. Quick question - would you recommend a window ac unit over a portable one? If so, which would your recommend? In this review you mentioned the efficiency of portable units before subpar, so I want to make sure I heard right regarding the two.

I've noticed that between two portable ACs with identical SACC numbers the Dual Hose cool better in temps above 90 vs Single. This difference vanishes when temps are below 90.