NewAir AC12000E 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner

The NewAir portable AC definitely works. Lots of cold air comes pouring out of this thing, but it may not be exactly what you're looking for. It's good for some things and not so good for others. Let me explain.

I have an office/media room on the top floor of my house. It's basically an attic/loft that gets pretty warm in the summer. Central air is pumped into the room, but not much air comes through the vents. My homeowner's association will not allow window AC units, so I thought this would be an excellent alternative. The unit is portable and the window exhaust vent is not noticeable from the outside. The unit looks nice and is sturdy. I like the remote control and the digital thermostat on the front of the unit. It rolls nicely on it's casters. Hooking up the hose and exhaust vent was easy. However, my expectations may have been too high.

First, the room is about 150-200 square feet. The unit is not able to cool the room down much at all. The room is tolerable if you're sitting with the unit pointed in your direction as you can feel the cool air. That's about as good as it got. Also, the hose and exhaust vent got really hot during operation. Not sure if the heat radiating out from it canceled out the AC, but it was noticeable. To the unit's credit, the room has a skylight that acts just like a magnifying glass, so I'm sure some of the heat in the room is the result of it. Plus, there are three other windows with only blinds pulled. Maybe putting some opaque curtains up would help keep the temp down.

Second, the unit is very loud. Even on the low setting the compressor fills the room with a loud buzzing sound. If I'm working at my computer with headphones on, it's not a problem. But if I'm trying to watch a movie or play video games on the TV it's downright impossible.

Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed with the unit. I spent almost $400 on this thing and it doesn't really work the way I wanted it to. There are a few tweeks I can make to the room to help it along, but I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it.

Save 33% Off