- Award-Winning Portable AC Unit: Awarded Good Housekeeping’s 2024 “BEST OVERALL PORTABLE AIR CONDITIONER,” this powerful yet quiet portable air conditioner provides powerful cooling over large areas up to 500 sq. ft.
- Powerful Yet Quiet: The ideal AC unit for bedrooms, this 14,000 BTU indoor air conditioner operates under 56 dBA and helps you stay cool while your limiting energy consumption; Made with the environment in mind, it runs off CFC-free R-32 refrigerant
- Built-In Dehumidifier: This dual-hose portable air conditioner features a patented auto drain function that automatically exhausts all condensate in most environments; 71 pint/day dehumidifying capacity; 430m3/h / 253CFM airflow
- 3 Operational Modes: This stand-up air conditioner features 3 settings: cool, dehumidify, and fan (3 speeds), plus full thermostatic control (61°F – 89°F); Max. 1300 W / 11.6 A power consumption; 115 V / 60Hz / 1 phase power supply
- Includes: A 19″D x 16″W x 35.5″H indoor AC unit, an extendable (up to 60″) 5.9″ diameter exhaust hose, a 6.5″ W x 20″ (min) / 46″ (max) L window kit, an activated carbon air filter and a washable pre-filter
| Manufacturer | Whynter |
|---|---|
| Part Number | ARC-14S |
| Item Weight | 73 pounds |
| Item model number | ARC-14S |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Color | Platinum/Black |
| Style | AC Unit Only |
| Material | Plastic |
| Power Source | Corded Electric |
| Voltage | 115 Volts |
| Wattage | 1300 watts |
| Installation Method | Window Vent Installation |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Air Flow Capacity | 253 Cubic Feet Per Minute |
| Sound Level | 51 dB |
| Special Features | Best Overall Portable Air Conditioner, Activated Carbon Filter, Dual Hose, Dehumidifier |
| Included Components | Window installation accessories, remote, and storage cover bag with pocket |
| Batteries Included | No |
| Batteries Required | No |
| Battery Cell Type | Alkaline |
| Warranty Description | One year warranty on unit. Three year warranty on compressor. |
| Capacity | 71 Pints |
| Floor Area | 500 Square Feet |
| Cable Length | 6.5 Feet |
caminvan –
We purchased this unit just as the summer weather was about to kick in (late May, 2017) & we are very grateful to have this particular air conditioner in our lives.
Here’s a little backstory: a few years ago, we had a 11,000 btu Danby a/c from Costco. My wife wasn’t a fan of having an a/c (being that we live in Vancouver, an a/c is not standard home equipment) & often complained when I had it on. I also noticed that on the hottest days, our 850sq ft apartment would still be around 25-26 degrees Celsius. Thinking that the unit didn’t really make much of a difference, I sold it the following summer. BIG MISTAKE!
Turns out, the a/c cooled our house by about 3-4 degrees – the whole house, not just the living room in which it was situated. No, it never was able to cool the house to typical room temp, nor did we expect it to, but we had no idea it was working that hard for us!
So, this past year, both my wife & I decided it was imperative to get another a/c. I knew we needed more btu’s, but didn’t quite know what product to buy. After lots of research and after considering other top brands, we settled on a dual hose Whynter model. We don’t need a heater with our a/c, so this was ideal.
This past summer was even hotter than last year & boy did this unit do the job! When operating, our SW facing home would settle in at about 23-24 degrees. Still warm, but much better than the 29-30 degrees of the previous summer & even better than when we had the Danby running. In fact, the living room would get chilly. Of course, we used fans to move the cooled air throughout the home.
The machine is big, heavy, & not particularly pretty, but it is simple to operate, has a nice little remote, & like all of these portable a/c’s, is pretty simple to set up. Best of all, it is a powerful & not particularly noisy machine.
We paid around $550 before tax.
Elsie –
I did a lot of research before buying this. I really like the dual hose as it brings fresh air in and expels the heat from the compressor. This is especially useful as I find the dehumidify setting works the best at reducing the temperature in my home. Because it is expelling air, both the heat AND THE WATER go with it so I don’t have to worry about emptying a tank. It is fairly efficient at cooling my 700 sq ft open concept main floor (yes, it’s only rated for 500 so I took that into account). I do like the storage bag as it keeps the unit dust free for the 8 months I don’t need it. The only con, really, is that it is LOUD. As in, you can barely have a conversation in the room where it is running. However, if I have to choose between being cool and talking with my husband, guess what I would choose?
Loulou –
First of all this air conditioner changed our lives!
When I first was in the market for a portable air conditioner I was very careful to research, research, and research. Yes I was slightly uneasy about ordering an air conditioner online, but called Amazon directly and asked about my options if after I purchased it and it didn’t work well for us about the return policy’s. Amazon ensured that if it didn’t work out then I would be able to return it in its original packaging and because of its size they would have a shipping company come pick it up which I thought for a return they would try to make it as hard as possible to return. So Amazon is a win win in my eyes. My only issue was that this is listed as a Prime eligible product and with my limited Prime knowledge I assumed I would receive it in 2 days which I didn’t. I took about 5 so that was a little disappointing. I am very glad I purchased this earlier than the summer or we would have been in trouble just in waiting in a hot house on this thing.
Back to the unit…
So set up was easy. I allowed for it to sit in an upright position overnight only because I was unsure how the shipping company handled it and wanted to be sure I did everything in my power to continue its longevity. (This is also listed in the directions) The hose connections were easy enough and because I have a taller horizontal sliding window I had an opening that I had to fill with particle board which wasn’t too hard to do. After I set it up I plugged it in and let it sit. The set up pamphlet does recommend buying a special filter to put into one of the hoses which honestly I haven’t done because I haven’t made an honest attempt to find them which I am sure you could at a Home Depot or Lowes. From what I have heard you can also buy insulation tape to cover the hose that produces a lot of heat, but this hasn’t been a problem for us.
The Cooling…
The cooling is pretty amazing. After reading several reviews I second guessed my decision about purchasing it because it seems like people have great success or great failure. However on our end this AC has cooled our lower level 2 story house amazingly!! Our house is less than 15 years old so it is insulated pretty good, but because our house is North facing we get most of our heat in the back of our house. This cooler sits in the front and cools a vaulted ceiling living room, kitchen and small dinning, hallway, and half way cools the master bedroom on the same floor. All of this area is about 1200 sqft give or take. I originally purchased this to cool the living room, kitchen, and dinning room, which is all open floor plan about 420-450 swft btw, but it cooled even more than I expected. To keep track of the temperature I tried looking on my thermostat for my Heater and it was almost always higher than what it really was I am guessing because it wasn’t cooler in other places in my house. It even kept us cool in 100+ degree weather. It was about 109 outside and the cooler kept it about low to mid 70 in the living, dining, and kitchen. As a side note we purchased a Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner that cools a room upstairs and we usually leave the door open just in case it will help with the over all vaulted ceiling space. The Frigidaire is rated for a small room of 250 sqft so I don’t think it is helping too much with the living space, but so you have the full facts to make an informed decision I just wanted to add that in there. This unit is also great and I plan on writing a separate review for this one. However the sum up on the cooling factor for the Whynter is awesome!! We have owned it since the end of May so I can’t speak for its longevity so only time will tell. It is totally worth purchasing for sure!
Con’s
Honestly these con’s don’t really matter to me because the AC works so well, but I will add them in case they matter to you. As for the noise, yes it is loud. My house usually isn’t pitch quite so it doesn’t really bother me, but if you think about it there is an AC in your house! Central air conditioners are put outside for a reason. THEY ARE LOUD! So to me this doesn’t really stop me from using it. My dish washer is very loud, but you don’t see me scrubbing dishes by hand so I don’t have to hear the noise. Same goes with any other loud appliance in my house. Maybe if it was loud and didn’t cool my house I’d have a problem.
The vent on the AC is nothing to be impressed with. I have read that the vent shoots the air straight up. I don’t seem to have that problem. Yes there aren’t very many ways you can control where the air goes, but you can direct it up and down. If you don’t want it shooting straight up you can move it down a notch and it isn’t. Not sure if people thought this would prevent max air flow, but we don’t seem to have a problem.
Now the remote is another problem. I have read that if you use the remote you have to keep using the remote because if you switch to the buttons on the unit the remote doesn’t know what the unit knows. This is very true and annoying. However because of where I have the unit positioned behind my couch the remote can’t find the signal to the unit because it is blocked so we pretty much don’t use the remote. Again, not an issue for me because the unit works so well and the only reason I have to push a button is to turn the unit on or off. Not an issue.
As for draining due to the dehumidifier. We live in a dry state with low humidity so this hasn’t been a problem. No sure how I would drain it if I needed to, but I have found plenty of YouTube videos on this unit so I am not concerned about it at this point.
Portability. Now this is a portable unit per say, but it isn’t really practical to roll around the house for us. I initially thought we could use it for our open floor plan area by day and in our master by night, but to move this, then refit for a different sized window and then do it all over again and again every morning and night it would be a pain in the butt. However if we leave our master bed room door open it cools down enough to be comfortable instead of otherwise sweating as we did before. This AC really did above and beyond what I expected!
Now would I recommend this to others?? Heck yes!! It does a great job cooling and we turn it on early in the day so that it keeps the house cool and we don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable. I am able to cook and this AC still can keep the house cooler and us comfortable. We are able to cook/bake for short amounts of time and still be comfortable in 90+ degree weather, but in the 100+ degree weather we found cooking is not an option if we want to stay comfortable and not sweat. We also have blackout curtains and blinds that help to insulate the heat which makes a huge difference so for those that this AC is not working for I would question placement of the unit as well as how insulated your house is not just in between the walls but for window coverings too. We found that using brown colored vertical blinds blocks out the heat way better than the white ones did. I also suggest another unit portable or window-mounted unit to help work together with this unit. If you want a cooler house and don’t want to foot out the bill for central air you should think about other ways to keep it cool because even 2 of these units would be cheaper than central air for us! Hopefully you find your solution because this was it along with the Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner for us!!! Good luck and sorry for the unorganized review!
MikenzCO –
Update 6/27/2021 – over the summer months we had had three triple digit days and far too many 90’s. Consequently the unit has been running most every day since we received it. it has worked flawlessly over the past two summers and now in our third it is fantastic, never once a problem. to be honest it cools down better than any portable unit we have owned to date. i could not be happier with the performance! also should note a few those days were very humid and as expected all the condensation was blown out the air exhaust hose i.e. no internal/inside water accumulation problems. that said i still hate the bright blue led panel on the front of the unit that cannot be turned off or dimmed at night but nobody’s perfect.
Update 7/11/19 – My most recent experience as follows. Yesterday for example outside a high 99F with dew points in the low to mid 50’s. Working from home in room approximately 150 sq. ft with a south facing window. The remote set temp to 77F with the fan set to low. I found the unit was keeping the room at a constant 76F, just off one degree. The condenser unit cycled on about once every 4-5 minutes, running for two minutes then off again. The fan of course runs the entire time in the background but the speed drops down once the condenser shuts down. But even with the compressor running you can stand right next to it speaking with no need to shout let alone raise your voice to be heard. Yes portables are a bit louder across the board but that is because unlike central air or window units all the noise making parts are inside with you not outside your walls.
The rare ninety degree days i grew up with now are the norm. homes around here weren’t built for those temps, nobody has central air except in the newest homes. It was about 2005 when we finally purchased our first portable unit. were impressed enough we purchased another that year though from a different manufacturer. All told we have had four machines from three different makers, so a little more experience than most. This unit and the most recent both whynter models.
The unit arrived very quickly, on our doorstep two days after ordering. I greatly appreciated the ups guy who carried it up our stairs. The air conditioner is shipped with more protection than anything I have ever bought in my life, think Russian nesting dolls. After removing the first box, the second, the third then inside that last box was a very thick layer of foam. There was yet another box too with assorted parts inside. The unit itself was even partly covered with a peel off clear plastic protective layer. No surprise ours arrived with in perfect condition.
The Good –
1 Dual hose! For fast cooling and efficiency compared to single hose models. Once we got our first dual hose unit we stopped considering single hose models because this type of design works better
2 Least amount of noise from any portable unit we’ve had to date
3 Rolls/moves around extremely easy. I was able to move it over a medium/high pile carpeted area as if it was a wood floor!
4 Cools very fast. The spare room approx. 150sq feet, tested in at 84F to 75F after about 20 minutes give or take
5 Easy setup, maybe ten minutes once out of the boxing materials
6 Vent slider bar/insert will fit windows from 20” to 46” either vertically or horizontally
7 Water all goes out with the hot air, no drain or bucket to be concerned about
8 all the remote function buttons are duplicated on the front of the air conditioner
The Not So Good –
1 The vent on the conditioner is not powered. That said you can manually adjust angle
2 The remote is just a bad design, too small, not backlit
3 The vent hoses can be tricky to line up with the ‘tabs’ and get snapped into place properly
4 At nearly 80lbs or 100lbs with the box & packing materials can be difficult to move up stairs
5 Front panel bright blue LED readout is very bright w/no means to dim or turn off if using in a sleeping area
Overall I like this unit better than any we’ve had before. It is much easier for me to roll around. The fan on high just blasts the room with cold air. I had no problems setting up other than getting the two hoses lined up so they’d snap in place correctly but a minor gripe. Though we do not use it for our whole home I have no doubt it could keep a couple medium sized adjoining rooms comfortable. As said it does cool well as i found out accidently the first week. I’d left it on by accident, came back later walked into an icebox so from that i know it will cool a room down to 65F.
Regardless for myself the MOST IMPORTANT part is working without breaking down, reliability. The best air conditioner in the world is worthless if it breaks down. My expectations, if I don’t get some good use out of an air conditioner I won’t be a repeat customer. Our last whynter unit worked out well though it didn’t last quite as long as I’d expected. Nonetheless my overall impression that older model was favorable which is why we purchased this unit to replace it with.
At this point I am very happy how things have turned out. Even on the hottest day this year 102F it worked perfectly. no drainage issues, no cooling issues, not a single problem. That being said reliability takes time to assess so once the summer has ended I’ll update this review and will continue to post updates for so long as it is working.
fmaviator –
First I must give props to Amazon. I ordered this unit on Saturday, it was delivered on Sunday, and Hurricane Beryl hit Houston on Monday. I lost power, got my generator running and set up the Whynter portable air conditioner. Set up was easy but with a couple of caveats. I did have to trim the window inserts but that was easy and didn’t take much time. Surprisingly the most difficult feature was snapping the hose couplings to the a/c unit. It took some jockeying to finally get them to snap into place (and an equal amount of time spent removing the unit). The unit started up perfectly using my generator power. Cold air blew strongly and made the bedroom livable after the oppressive Houston heat. I was impressed with how quickly the room cooled down (only about 20 minutes). The unit did produce noise, but it was not overly intrusive. My wife likened it white noise and helped mask the running generator. Overall, the unit is a solid quality build. It is relatively large, about the size of a mini fridge. It rolls easily on hard surfaces and not too bad on my short nap carpet.
I’ve only had it a week and hope it holds up for years but during this power outage it has performed admirably.
Dan R –
Unit is so expensive and not reliable…..broke after 2 seasons. Spoke with customer service and even thought its under warranty it will sill cost me a significant amount to get a replacement unit. Not to mention the delay of living without one this whole time. Might as well just buy another until at a local store. Stay away
SDDH –
This thing performs. Here’s the deal: If you can fit a window AC unit, go that route. THey are way more efficient and they will save you money in the long run. This portable unit (and all other 14,000 BTU portable units) perform close to a 7,000 window unit. Now, as far as a portable unit goes, this one is fantastic! It came with everything it needs and long enough hoses to connect to where I wanted. It does have its flaws.
Pros:
Cools fast. 1 hour full blast dropped my 400sq. foot bedroom 10 degrees Celsius on a hot day. It works!
Multiple speed fan. Great for cutting some noise… and I do mean SOME.
Semi-directional vent
2 hose (big plus for the high flow of this unit)
Carbon filter (we have smokers all around us in our apartment and the smell stopped with the carbon filter. If you have odd smells around you, pick up an extra one. One filter lasted the hot season).
Cons:
Loud. When it kicks in during the night, it wakes us up. When the warranty is up, I am taking it apart and seeing if I can sound proof it more. When the compressor kicks in, the fan goes up as well creating an even louder noise difference even with the fan set on ‘low.’ Then when the compressor shuts off, the fan goes back down to low again creating a large change in noise levels. Almost as bad as the unit turning on.
The LCD screen does not dim at all. I have to cover it up with tape. I thought this would tick me off but really, not a big deal. Once the warranty is up, I will be disabling the light.
Directional vents are pointed. You get the option of Up, More Up, Even More Up, or Uppest. Forward would have been nice.
Negative pressure. This unit pumps a LOT of air (a good thing). Even with the 2nd hose, we were getting some negative pressure. In a sealed room, I was getting headaches until I added a small breath hole in the stripping of my bedroom door. This will not be a problem for most.
1-track response. I contacted Whynter about the LCD screen light, the negative pressure, and the noise. The responded about the Negative pressure and nothing else (a VERY bad habit of companies these days where they read the first item in an email, respond, and ignore the rest). I wrote back to ask about the other issues and never received a response. Their phones are always down. That is not to say there service is bad. In fact, they responded the first and only time within 3 hours of my morning email to them.
Bottom Line:
This is a unit I would get for a place that does not need silence. It is a very good unit and out performs most every other unit I’ve seen out there (and I have used many with a south-west exposure on the top floor of a condo building). I tried once, just to see, if it could cool my whole 1000sq foot place. It brought the temps down 2 or 3 degrees but it will not handle that size of a condo. If you are looking for an office AC unit or daytime use only unit, this is your machine!
Altamif –
Excelente producto. Funciona muy bien, es silencioso y enfría las habitaciones rápidamente. El proveedor es uno de los mejores con los que he tratado en Amazon: responde de inmediato, resuelve tus dudas y supera las expectativas para garantizar tu satisfacción al 100%. Altamente recomendado.