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They feature a compressor in its outdoor unit that circulates the refrigerant and turns it from a gas to a liquid. That liquid passes through coolant lines to the indoor evaporator, where it transforms from a liquid to vapour. Heat is removed from the surrounding air and cooled air is blown into your home. Throw in the same smart features as the smaller model, and you have a fully featured PAC that can keep you chilled out in the middle of a scorching day. Just be aware that it’s a chunky unit and, at 32kg, a bit too heavy to be lugged around the house. How much you need to spend depends in part on the size of the room. If you want to cool a small bedroom, for example, you'd probably be better off going down the route of buying a fan – an air conditioning unit would be overkill. According to appliance retailer Marks Electrical, sales of portable air conditioning units increased by 526% in one week at the height of the recent July heatwave, with a year-on-year increase of 2,110%. The retailer says this category has been its best-performing product area. I’ve had to use it on numerous occasions, and it does a great job of cooling down any room it’s in, even large ones, and it’s not too noisy. While most of the UK was sweltering due to record temperatures the other day, I actually got a bit toochilly, and had to turn the AC off for a while, something I proudly told all my co-workers, much to their delight, I’m sure." Where to buy a portable air conditioning unit
It’s an effective cooler, taking a 25°C room to 21°C within half an hour, and to 20°C over a further 30 minutes, after which it kept the temperature steady for another hour. Testing in the middle of a heatwave, this was sweet relief. However, take any claims of silent running with a pinch of salt; noise levels hit 52dB at full tilt, falling to 46dB once the temperature had stabilised. Power consumption can also reach 620 to 820W when the unit is working hard. It isn’t the cheapest PAC to buy or run, but if you need some serious cooling, it’s exactly what you need. Portability. Weight and size are key here. While the majority of air conditioners designed for home use are designed to be portable, just how portable this is for YOU is a personal thing. Air-conditioning units don’t get much more reasonably priced than the MeacoCool MC 7000. Suitable for rooms up to 22m² thanks to its 7,000 BTU rating, the unit includes two fan speeds, as well as dehumidifier and fan functions. It’s reasonably compact, too, measuring less than a metre tall and 35cm square. At 21kg, it’s also more realistically portable than some PACs; you can just about lug it from room to room without risking a hernia. Retailers have reported a big jump in products to help us chill out, from fans and parasols to ice cream. However, if you really want to beat the heat, the ultimate solution is a portable air conditioner for the home. Split-unit air conditioners tend to be more energy efficient, but these are more expensive and have to be permanently installed by a professional. We don't test split-unit air conditioners as they're less popular in the UK.
Going crazy with the heat? Cool things down with our pick of the best portable air conditioners
Room / house size. A portable air conditioning unit is best suited to rooms 12m³ and above. If you have a typically sized 3-4 bed home then one of these appliances should be a good choice. You'll need to think about any barriers to moving the unit around, such as stairs. Portable air conditioners also use refrigerant gas to help cool your room. This can come in the form HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), a greenhouse gas that when emitted can contribute to global warming. If yours is working properly, it shouldn’t release any HFCs. However, if the unit leaks or is disposed of incorrectly, that’s when harmful greenhouse gases can be released. As an air conditioner, the EL112 is easy to use; just set your desired temperature and let it do its stuff. However, DeLonghi also provides one of its CST remote controls, including sensors, to help it monitor and regulate the temperature and humidity, and you can also connect it to your Wi-Fi network and use DeLonghi’s Comfort app. We had a few problems setting this up, since it refused to find or connect to a Mesh Wi-Fi network, but it would talk directly to an 802.11ac router. Once hooked up, it mirrors the controls on the remote but also adds a useful scheduling function, where you can set exactly when you want the PAC to turn on and off, along with the mode and fan speed.
While it has a different layout of touch-sensitive controls to the smaller Pinguino, we found the EX130CST every bit as easy to use. It comes with the same CST remote control, which support’s DeLonghi’s myEcoReal technology to keep temperature and humidity at a comfortable level, while reducing energy consumption and noise. This is still a fairly noisy unit, though, putting out around 52dB while cooling, and over 46dB just while running the fan at its lowest setting. You probably won’t want it on while you’re trying to get to sleep at night.As for running costs, a higher BTU rating generally means the PAC will be doing more work and consuming more energy, but not all units are created equal. Your air conditioner should have an energy efficiency class, from A++ down to G, just like your fridge or cooker. The higher the class, the more efficient the unit will be. Are there any other features I should look out for? There are three main types. Desk fans, as their name suggests, are smaller fans designed to sit on a desk or table and cool you while you sit close by, while pedestal and tower fans are designed for a whole room.
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