Sunpentown SPT WA-9040DE Dual-Hose 9,000-BTU Portable Air Conditioner

I rarely write extensive product reviews, but I made an exception because this product is in an area of my specialization. Portable a/c in general Do not buy a portable a/c unless you really need its roll about feature. You can purchase efficient (EER above 10), small and quiet window units at half the cost of portable units. That being said, you still might opt for a portable unit if you: do not want to leave a window unit installed permanently, do not want to lift a window a/c in and out of a window each season, do not have access to a large enough window for a window a/c, etc. If you do decide to purchase a portable a/c, only purchase a two hose unit - not a one hose. A one hose unit is almost a scam. It uses room air to cool the unit and then expels the air outside through the one hose. You have just paid to cool that room air, and the one hose unit is equivalent to placing a fan in the window blowing out. Hot outside air will be drawn into the room to replace the air being used to cool the unit. As a result, the unit will provide reduced cooling, and it will run inefficiently. A two hose unit, like this one, uses the second hose to draw in outside air to cool the unit instead of using room air. (This is exactly how window a/c's and central a/c's operate.) Consequently, the two hose unit can cool efficiently and at its full Btu/hr rating. This particular portable a/c This unit has the all-important two hoses. It is relatively efficient, not too noisy and will cool a nice size room (200 - 250 sq ft). For a portable a/c, this unit is as good a choice as I found available, but it has its problems. Here are some with which you must deal. 1. Portable is a relative term. This unit weighs ~ 80 lbs; it is only portable on one floor. 2. The unit is rather large and takes considerable room space. The front of the unit will be about two ft into the room which adds to the room space problem. 3. The hoses are large (5 in diameter) and, to my eye, rather unattractive. 4. The manufacturer recommends running the unit using only one hose at outside temperature above 95 F. So, if it gets rather warm outside, it will get warm inside too. 5. The worst feature of the unit is the poorly designed window installation kit. It does not expand to fit the window width. You will need a saw to make it fit, and then it will not fit another size window if you want to move it. The kit will usually need to be adapted further to fit a window. In my case, there is a window sill, and the kit is not high enough for it. I used some wood pieces, wood stain, my saw again, and weather stripping for the installation. In addition, the hose connectors to the unit did not fit. I used a sharp utility knife to increase the opening size of the connector tabs. The bottom line: with all of its problems, if you need the feature of a portable a/c, this unit is as good as I found in this small size (9000 Btu/hr).

We bought this AC unit for our bedroom (about 200sq feet). It cools the room quickly and is surprisingly quiet. We live in PA and it is hot and humid in the summertime. This unit did a great job of keeping me cool when I was 8 & 9 months pregnant in June and July. That was quite a feat! We love that it is quiet even with the compressor on and it doesn't make a lot of noise when it switches back and forth between the compressor and fan. It is a nice white noise in the background, and I would say it's quieter than the window unit in our living room. The only noise that bothered me (and the reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars) was the water pump that turned on at intervals for the self evaporating feature. I didn't know what this noise was so I called customer service and the guy walked me through troubleshooting it. He was very knowledgable and suggested I attach the drain hose to it and see if water comes out. That was the issue. We ended up putting the unit up on a small stool and keeping the drain hose attached and draining it to a bucket. B/c it's so humid here, we fill an 11 quart bucket overnight on the most humid nights. A little ghetto? Maybe, but it keeps the water pump from coming on, and that keeps me happy. If we weren't using it in our bedroom while we are sleeping, this noise probably wouldn't have bothered me that much. The only other thing to be aware of is that this is a big unit and it's heavy. It does have casters, but to get it up stairs was a two person job (well, actually my husband did get it up a flight of stairs himself but only b/c I was hugely pregnant at the time).Overall we are very impressed with the quality and functioning of this unit. We are also impressed by the customer service. The rep even emailed me to follow up on whether or not the solution work. Many people warned us against getting a portable AC b/c of noise issues and poor quality, but we couldn't be happier with this unit. I must say that it pays to spend a bit more to get better quality. This unit is worth the price!

I usually don't do reviews but felt the need to for this.I did a little research before we made the purchase- made sure I got the correct BTU's for the size of our bedroom and that dual hose is better than single. So glad we did! It's been HOT here in LA.Easy window installation. Be sure you have a hacksaw and foam tape to get it to fit perfectly and have a good seal. Both can be found at Home Depot. My husband was impressed that I installed it all by myself! Cools the bedroom quickly (~200 sq. ft) Not too noisy- like have the AC on in a hotel room.My only complaints- the compressor kicking in, but now that we've had it a couple of weeks we don't even notice it. That and the fact that UPS 'lost' it (don't know how as it comes in a huge box!) so it was delayed a couple of days. No biggie. Also the hoses can be unsightly, but that's the way it goes with portable AC's. Nothing a trip to target can't fix (see photos).The most important thing is that it's relatively quiet, cools the room fast am we sleep well at night!Don't think twice about getting it. You'll be glad you did!