Whynter Portable Air Conditioner, 12,000 BTU, Dual Hose, ARC-12SD, White

We read many reviews before deciding on this unit to cool my wife's studio, a 16x24 barn style building on our property (with 18' rounded barn style ceilings). It's a larger area, so we were looking for a unit with at least 12,000btu power. I toyed with the idea of getting a 240v unit, since I did run 240v power out there when we built it (we use a 240v garage heater for heat in the winter). We decided on this one because of the price-to-performance-to-ratings ratio (which isn't an actual mathematic ratio, but you get the gist). We were happy that ours arrived undamaged and complete. I had a very specialized installation, since this building has no windows that open (more on that later). After install, we powered the unit up and it began cooling the place down. The real test was a couple days later when my wife had a photo shoot with clients in there... I went and checked it out for myself and was very satisfied with the cooling! The space was very comfortable, even on a sunny, hot, muggy (70º dew point) day. It does make a bit more noise than we'd like for this space, but for the comfort of air conditioning, we're willing to make a sacrifice. It hasn't been in service for but a week now, but thus far it is everything we were hoping for. Now for my installation... If you have windows that open (double or single hung style), this install is super easy. For any other type of window, or, in our case, an installation without operable windows, the installation gets a bit trickier. I had planned this out in my mind beforehand and knew exactly what I was going to do: cut 2 holes (for the intake and exhaust) through the side of the building and install the hose mounting plate directly onto the wall. - I started by tracing the 2 holes to be cut by placing the hose plate on the wall. Quick cuts with the Dremel and I had 2 holes through the shiplap wall covering and drywall. - I then cut out the insulation to match the holes made on the interior. - I then marked center on the holes and drilled a small hole through the back of the exterior siding from inside the building. Moving to the outside of the building, and using the mounting plate as a guide again, I traced 2 circles on the exterior siding and cut out those holes, so I now had 2 holes all the way through the exterior wall. - To install the mounting plate on the interior, I actually *reversed* it, so it sits flush against the wall, and the mounting adapters for the hoses are attached with screws from the back side of the plate. To attach to the wall, I simply drilled and countersunk 6 new holes and used flat head screws. (For winter I will remove the plate, remove the hose adapters, replace the insulation, reinstall the bare plate without the hose fixtures, and then use the included hole cover piece to hide the holes and make it look a lot cleaner.) - For the exterior, I bought two 4" dryer vent kits, which come with sheet metal sleeves to install through the wall. Since the holes for this unit are larger than 4", I simply left the sleeves un-hooked and set them in the holes. They'll just help keep the insulation tucked where it's supposed to be, but aren't absolutely necessary. I decided on a flat louvered vent for the exhaust and an open-style angled vent (with critter guard) for the intake. I lined them up with the holes on the exterior and screwed them in to place. - *** Many have expressed concern with how close the exhaust and intake ports are to each other. I agree with their assessment (that they should be separated more, so you don't pull in hot exhaust air constantly), so I angled my intake away from the exhaust port. Looks a bit goofy, but this is on an unused, unseen side of the building. Even if people were to see it all the time, I'd rather have a slight visual quirk than be constantly overworking the AC. - Caulked around the newly installed vents to prevent water intrusion into the wall, and DONE! We now have a comfortable studio at a fraction of the cost of a mini combo unit. Very happy with the performance and quality thus far!

I read the reviews for several of these air conditioners prior to buying. The reviews for this product are pretty accurate. If you don't want to read further, the overall point is that this product works well for what it is. I'm pleased with the purchase and glad I did not buy one of the other brands. First, it is important to note that stand-alone air conditioners will never be as good as window units. That is a fact. However, there is often a need to buy these stand-alone units (such as in my case, where window units are banned in my apartment lease). I live in Detroit, which is not the hottest place is summer, but does get quite hot and humid nonetheless. Overall, this product does cool off my bedroom, which is actually quite large. Yes, it does take some time to do so (about an hour at the hottest times), but can run for a good 12 hours straight. I run it on high, with the fan on high as well (they are separate controls), and my bedroom can get quite cold. There are some downsides, which are true of all these stand-alone units. First, if you have "non-standard" windows (which will apply to most buyers), the directions tell you to cut the pvc window cover to fit. That's great if you know someone who has expertise in cutting through pvc. I do not. I ended up using styrofoam from the packaging to "tweak" the window cover to fit. It's not a great seal, and even has some spaces, but the unit still cools effectively. So that's a plus for this product. If you run the unit for 12 hours or more, you will need to empty it. Water collects at the bottom and the unit will automatically shut itself off. There is a spout at the very bottom, only about an inch off of the ground. When you open it, water pours out. To empty, you will need a cookie sheet. I have not found anything else, other than a cookie sheet, that is thin enough to sit below the inch-high spout. And I often have to put the plug back in, empty the sheet, then resume the process two to three times before it is empty. Sometimes I will even balance the unit on the cookie sheet and tip it over slightly to get all of the water out. This is a bit annoying, but I suspect it is the same with all stand-alone units. And on the hottest of days, it's really a small inconvenience for a nicely cooled room. Other than these issues, the unit works well. It is definitely effective in cooling, (even a large and oddly shaped bedroom like mine). The controls allow you to personalize the cooling temperature, the cooling output, and the fan. It was also relatively easy to assemble (I had a few minutes of trouble figuring out the hoses, but I'm also a novice) and put in place. It has wheels, so you can easily move it from room to room (but may have an issue if windows in different rooms are different sizes). I think it's one of the better stand-alone air conditioners.

For my fellow movie lovers out there I will tell you that this unit looks exactly like Wall-e's girlfriend Eve. Exactly. So on to the review... If you are like me you have spent hours and hours pouring over reviews for portable AC units trying to decide if 10,000 BTU's are enough. Should it have two hoses or one? Will I need to dump water out of this thing constantly? Most importantly, will it cool my space? Here are the negatives: It is large, but not too large. We live in an 850 sq ft. one bed/one bath unit and it fits in the corner of our bedroom just fine. You will notice it is there but at least it's modern and sleek looking. It is noisy, but not too noisy. It definately makes a humming noise (think "sounds exactly like a window unit") but it's not obnoxious to us. As I stated we sleep with it in our bedroom and it runs all night. We also happen to live on a very busy street in downtown Seattle so I love that it blocks that noise. Eventually you don't hear it and it becomes somewhat ambiant. One more thing to note about noise, when it gets to the designated temperature you select, it will shut itself off from cool and switch to fan only. It does make a noise when this happens but again, nothing serious. It is expensive, but worth it (see positives below). Now to those of you who haven't signed up for prime yet...prime is cheaper to pay for than the shipping on this item. Might as well buy Prime and then this second as you will get a year of Prime membership AND this item will ship free in two days. The alternative is you pay for shipping and get no Prime..sounds silly even to type this option. It doesn't have directional vents. I know other people have commented on this and it's true. The main vent moves up or down but you can't really adjust the airflow to target right or left. To compensate for this, please know that the hoses are very "bendy" and allows for lots of movement (and it's on wheels!). The positives: It's cold. Like really cold. We have not run it on colder than 65 because literally we would freeze...ok not literally but you get the idea. The downside is we only have one window that will work for installing this and it happens to be in our bedroom (about 12x12) at the end of a very long hall. As you can imagine, the living room area is not nearly as cold but much cooler. If we had it in the living room I would have the same complaint about the bedroom. It just can't move around that many corners without the help of a fan but at night, the sleeping is perfect and that is what really matters to me. It has 3 blower speeds, a regular fan and a dehumidifier...AND A REMOTE. It's fancy and the settings work great. We don't need the dehumidifier in Seattle but we love the multiple speed and fan option. *It does have a blue digital display that can be a bit bright, so if that bothers you...SO WHAT! AT LEAST YOUR COOL. It is pretty easy to install. So my Dad did ours and actually removed the glass from our window and installed plexiglass that he cut perfectly round holes into for the hoses...but I think we could have figured it out anyway. (or you can borrow my Dad for a fee). We didn't buy anything extra except the plexi-glass but like I said above...we really didn't need to. May want to check other reviews for installation woes. It does NOT need draining...at least in Seattle. We run it 24/7 and have for 3 weeks now. I have never had to empty it once. I think that is the biggest benefit of having an intake and exhaust hose and the reason we chose this model above all others. It definately would be a pain in the butt to have to figure out how to empty this. It wouldn't be easy as the valve is under the unit at the back of it. We keep ours on carpet but a flat surface and it has never shut off from "needing to be emptied", not once. This alone is worth every penny in my opinion. What else can I tell you? If you want more info. just ask, happy to help. I honestly love this thing. Splurge on th 12,000 BTU's..why not...you're worth it.

I purchased this unit summer of 2016 and loved it. Easy to install, worked great and cooled several rooms. I rated the first purchase high and recommended to others and some of them bought the same unit after seeing how well it worked at my house. So Summer of 2017 I purchased a 2nd one for my bedroom. The two units would cool my entire down stairs. Bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. If it was super hot/humid I would close off the kitchen to keep the rest of the rooms cool. The 2nd unit was a "dud" I contacted Whynter several weeks ago, about the unit running maybe 4 hrs and shutting down. Then having to manually empty the water into a large cookie sheet which is ruining my bedroom carpet when it spills all over. I also discovered the gasket was missing on the bottom drain hose. Whynter said several weeks ago, they were sending one out. Still haven't received it... I asked them what they were going to do about this bad unit that does NOT self evaporate. Their solution was for me to box it with certain specifications to prevent damage and ship it back to them. I spent almost $1000 in 2 summers and they want me to have the expense of buying heavy duty cardboard and thick foam insulation to ship a 95lb unit back to them to test. Possible a $150-$200 UPS charge and the cost of materials to pack it up for shipping, that is CRAZY. That is NOT a company standing by their product. I will not spend any more money on this defective unit shipping it back to them. I will not recommend Whynter to anyone else. They did not offer another solution. I am stuck with a $ 500 air conditioner that has a broken self evaporation. Even when conditions are not humid, the air conditioner fills up with water and shuts down after a few hours, not what you want when trying to cool a bedroom at night. The first unit has NEVER had to be drained, even when hot and humid. BUYER BEWARE if you have a problem, Whynter will not stand by the product!!

I decided to write a detailed review of the Whynter air conditioner that I purchased last month. I figure I will cover the items that are important to me and hopefully this will help you with your purchase. Most important to me is cooling power. I am specifically using this unit to supplement our central air conditioner during the warm months of the year. We live near the base of the mountains in Southern California so we get a quite a few 100 plus days of heat a year. With our concrete roof tiles for wild fire safety, our upstairs rooms can bake during the day. First impression: The unit was shipped in a box that was double layered. This made it appear to survive shipping without damage to the unit inside. Now do not destroy your box as for the reason I am about to explain. I decided to use box cutters to open to the box. As I opened the box everything inside was in perfect shape from shipping. Everything was in perfect shape until I plugged it in. It was DOA. I immediately contacted Whynter via email. Their response was quick. I noticed from my correspondence via email with them it seems they check their support email twice a day (morning and night). My responses from Whynter at first were basic trouble shooting ideas which I had already had attempted. Now here is where things are a bit different. I received an email asking me to take the unit apart and check the connections of the control unit and display on the front of the unit. To me this was not big deal. I am technically savvy, have worked building computers for years, and have the training to match. As I took the unit apart I did realize that for the casual buyer this is something they should not be asked to do from the manufacture. None the less the specific problem they believed it to be, a loose connection with the front control panel, was correct. I fixed the connection, put the unit back together, and bingo it was working. Do not destroy your box until you know you will not need it to ship it back. Second impression: The unit is large and somewhat heavy. It does have wheels which makes form easy movement. The control lights are bright so if you are using the unit at night you might need some black electrical tape to cover these up. As for ease of use of the controls, they are straight forward. The remote is great if you want to be lazy. Noise: The unit is somewhat loud. Not as loud as units I have purchased in the past but it is loud when the compressor kicks on. I feel this should only be an issue if you need to sleep in the same room with it. When the compressor is off and the fan is at the lowest speed the sound is not a issue at all. Exhaust: Setting up the dual exhaust is easy. I know people complain about this but it is really easy. If you have some gigantic window then you might have an issue... but at that point you should be smart enough to realize you will have that same issue with most portable air conditioners so do not complain about it. Power: It works and works well. I put it in a very hot 450sqf room and it cooled it quick. The crazy part is when we put it in our kids small room. In the early evening the sun hits this room and bakes it... really hot at times. This room, even with central air, stays between 78 and 84 degrees during these hours. I put that unit in there and in 15 mins the room was 66. To me that is amazing. Condensation: I have no issues with condensation. I had a few drops of water in the reservoir and it was easy to empty. Everyone complains about the drain being on the bottom. Yes, design flaw. To empty just grab a zip lock freezer bag and empty into that. For those you thinking of buying this unit, know your environment. If you live in south where it is humid then the drain on this one might be an issue. If you live in a dry environment like me, well I have not had to drain except when I was testing the product. Other issues: Case vibration. One thing I noticed is that the case vibrates when the condenser kicks on which makes the sound issue worse. I put a piece of tape on it and made the sound stop. None the less I am not even sure I would have had that issue if I would not have had to take the unit apart to fix it myself in the first place. Overall I give three stars. The unit works well and cools outstanding for my environment. I have to knock off a few stars for having to fix a new item myself, the vibration, drain plug placement, and it is a bit loud when the compressor is on. If you are thinking of buying this unit just know that I have purchased and used portable air conditioners in the past and not a single one has come close to cooling as well as this one does. Also the overall design is much better than the units I have purchased in the past.

I have never written a product review even though I rely on them heavily when purchasing new products, but felt compelled this time. My husband and I live in New York city and as many of us know, summers in New York are always very hot, very humid, and with very little respite. Air conditioners are a necessity here, period. We had a small window unit in the bedroom, but always feel trapped in there because the rest of the home is too hot, so this summer we decided to buy a unit for the living room, kitchen, etc. area, but our window frames are just slightly too small for any window unit, so to the dreaded portable unit we went. Most reviews of portable units are not great and mixed at very best, including this product's review so I felt I was taking a REALLY pricey risk in purchasing it. Luckily, we were VERY pleasantly pleased! Our whole apartment is about 550-600 sq. ft. and this unit can cool down the whole space, and I am not exaggerating. The bedroom doesn't get quite as cool as the other part of the house, but it is all the way at the end of a long hallway and in the far back so that's not so bad. The temperature range goes from 89 to 61F and there 3 fan speed settings. In our recent heat wave that consisted of an entire week of temperatures in the 95-102 range, this baby kept us cool and comfortable. It works so effectively in fact, one might need a blanket to keep warm. The rest of the time we set it at about 75 on the low setting and it keeps the home very comfortable. Also, the fan sound is not too loud. It does make sound, but it would be foolish to think no sound would come from a machine of this size. I find it more tolerable than our old 5,000Btu window unit, so I think that says something! Further more, the assembly and cleaning is quick and easy. The only down side I really see is that the assembly directions are not very well layed out, but there is an online video that can help clear up any questions one might have. Finally, the price is pretty high, but I truly believe it is worth every penny. We could not be happier, so I hope this review can help relieve the stress of trying to find an useful AC unit. What a life saver!!!!

(I would like to preface this review with the fact that I live in a small college dorm, I cannot comment on the use of this product in a larger area. ) let me start by saying I live in a hot, humid, southern state in a building that lacks the benefit of Air Conditioning. I did a great deal of research on small AC units before I made this purchase. This unit is one of the best rated units on the internet, for good reason. So I decided to buy a little bit more of an expensive unit so that I would have the piece of mind of knowing that the product I was purchasing would serve its purpose perfectly. So now for the review of the use of the unit. Pros: -It cools a room down extremely quickly, I come home from work and the room is in the 80s and I turn the unit on and within 5 minutes I can feel that the room is noticeably cooler. No matter what time of the day I am using the unit, it has no problem keeping the room the temperature I want it at. On 100 degree days, it kept my room at a cool 70 degrees without a problem. -It has 3 distinct and very useful settings. The first is the actual AC unit itself which goes down into the 60s. The nice part is that the temperature that the units says it is running at is the temperature in the room. If I want to sit in a 68 degree room, this unit won't have an issue with it. -The second setting is the Dehumidifier, this is great for wet rainy days when the humidity outside is flowing into the room. As soon as the unit transfers into Dehumidifying mode, the room starts to dry out very swiftly. -The final setting is a fan with three different levels of intensity. This is optimal for when it starts to cool down outside. -The unit has easy to use buttons as well as a very accurate and useful display which shows temperature set at and current room temperature, mode in use, and fan intensity. -The unit also comes with a remote which lists the set temperature, mode in use, and fan intensity. This is great to use if you are in bed or across the room from the unit. Cons: -The main issue with unit that I have found is the amount of noise which it creates. I am aware that AC units can be noisy, but if this unit is using the AC mechanics, it is very loud. Whenever the unit is actively cooling the room, I have to turn my laptop or tv volume up very high so that I can still here what is going on around me. If the unit is set to fan or dehumidifier, there are no problems and it makes little noise. But if the AC unit is running, it drowns out all other noises around it. -The Dehumidifier does need to be frequently emptied when it is being used. The issue is that the drain for the unit is all the way at the base of the unit and is very hard to get to unless the unit is on a raised platform. I would recommend setting it on blocks or a large piece of wood, so that when it is time to drain, one can easily get a container underneath the drain. -I wouldn't call this unit huge, but it also is not a very compact unit. It has a long hose so that if can be put several feet from a window, but then the two hoses will also stretch out from the window to the unit. It is not so large that it is an issue, but if you are interested in a very compact air conditioning unit, this one is not for you. Overall, this unit seems to work much better than the other single hose units that other people living in my building are using. Many people have commented on and asked how I keep my room so cold when they struggle to cool theirs down. The unit is loud, but the trade off with that is that the room is always comfortable and whatever temperature you want. It is a great unit and I would highly recommend its usage. I live in a hot area and it works great. If you are looking for an AC unit, pay the extra money and get one that you can be guaranteed will work wonders.

I purchased this unit to supplement the central AC in a ~150ft² home office with generous eastern/southern exposure and a vaulted ceiling. It has performed adequately in this role for about a month with average highs of 105F in TX. It does not perform as well as a 12,000 BTU window unit I have in another room (which can refrigerate some 300ft² down to 65F with ease), but I was not expecting it to. It has been able to cool the office to about 75F easily enough. I use the remote exclusively; I have not used the controls on the unit. I have found the timer function helpful, although I wish it were more sophisticated: it will count down to deactivation when running or count down to activation when off. The remote also sends commands based on its sense of the state of the unit (a mild inconvenience); for example, if you set timer then after it turns on wish to adjust the unit, the remote will be sitting in "timer" mode and it will take two (or more) button presses to get the unit to adjust to your preference. This unit is not quiet, but I do not find it excessively noisy, either. The blower generates what is effectively white noise and is louder than the hum of the compressor. You will notice when the compressor shuts off, but the unit will not be much quieter. It's not as bad as the vibration that window units tend to produce and transmit to the structure of the house. Thus far, I have not had any issue with the condensation collector - the unit appears to be recycling condensation onto the hot coils as advertised. Installation was a fairly straightforward process - I unpacked the unit from its fairly sturdy packaging and followed the instructions. I had to modify the vent plate because the window opening was approx 16" - too narrow for the included plate in stock form. A few minutes with a hacksaw and a miter box chopped it down to size - not terribly neat, but sufficient for its function. After the plate was modified I installed the hose connectors and taped it in place with generous amounts of duct tape. Coupling the hoses to the connectors was simple enough if one exercised care to "thread" them properly. It blew satisfyingly cold as soon as I fired it up. The nature of the hoses makes it difficult to situate the unit directly in front of the window. I wanted it off to the side, so that was not a problem. The hoses will get nearly hot to the touch, which is expected for the hot side of an air conditioning unit. I used the bottom of the shipping crate as a baffle to isolate the hoses from the intake. This unit will benefit from some improvements. I will fabricate a better vent plate next season that seals up better and leaks less heat. I also intend to us some rigid piping for the hot side, either insulated or with a better baffle to isolate the intake from the outside exchange piping. I may also build a small stand in case I find that condensation starts to collect in the drip pan.

Works perfectly. Only small complaint is that the valve to drain excess water is in the dumbest place, right at floor level, so that it's virtually impossible to drain it without spilling water on the floor.

This machine pumps out cold air and the manufacturer's claims are generally true. I only have two minor issues with how it operates: 1: it is LOUD. This is more of a inherent flaw of portable AC units than something unique to this machine, but the volume this machine makes was advertised as quiet for a portable unit. This simply isn't the case. When the compressor is running it sounds like a jumbo jet is landing in my apartment. If you're going to buy this you might as well include a box of earplugs with your order. 2: The digital thermostat, although an appreciated feature, isn't quite accurate. It tends to over estimate the temperature by about 3 degrees. To cool my apartment to 22 degrees I have to set it to 25. This isn't a big problem, however if you're the type who likes accuracy it may be a minor bother. I suppose this has to do with the limitations of the thermostat being located within the machine. Installation was relatively straightforward. To mount it to a window you will need to use some tape. I recommend using gaffer tape (available on amazon) because using duct tape will leave a horrible residue on your window pane and will be impossible to deal with when you need to uninstall the machine. It is reasonably low maintenance if you live in a low humidity area. You do need to clean the air filter every few weeks. I have never needed to drain the condensate tank, although the plug is located in an impossibly inconvenient place (at the very bottom and back of the machine). If you live in a very humid place you may have to buy a condensate pump and some hose (also available on amazon), as I cannot imagine tolerating the hassle of routinely accessing that inconveniently placed drain. I'm generally satisfied with the purchase and I would recommend this machine to someone who needs to buy a no-frills portable AC unit. However if at all possible get a window-mounted one as they are quieter and take up less space.

This IS ONLY A 12'000btu a/c !! It is not "Whisper" quiet NOR is it loud like a " Jet engine"!!. More like an 8'000btu window a/c. But since "noise" is up to each person's own take on his/ her own level of tolerance..... 2 common issue's have been A) noise AND B) the bottom end of season drain. Since this has been the " baine" of some people's existence , ( Don't know why since there is an upper drain with garden hose fitting!!) For the main usage throughout the season. Hmmm... I have placed my unit on piece of carpet - door mat size, to which I have 2 short pieces of 2×4 with packing foam stapled to them. See photos.... The unit is raised, stable, quieter (??) and 2.5 inches higher. So the end of season drain is easily accessible. I find the unit well made, it was shipped promptly& securely in (2) large boxes. Both boxes being the size of a small apartment fridge, both do slide up and off leaving it sitting in a very snug form fitting tray. CAUTION..2 people should be used to unpack this 80lbs beastie!! Set up & testing proved the a/c works, the window kit- needed little futzing, but you will need a roll of peel' n stick a/C foam to seal the window bit's edges. The unit on LOW FAN/A/C uses about 750- 830 Watts - on high the 1100watts, the fan on LOW = 45 Watts to 56 Watts high speed. I will review/ edit once I'm able to use this Whynter 12'000btu A/C most during this year's Toronto Ontario summer...Hoping that summer 2016 won't be too much of a cooker!! Edit June 20/16 Hot, sticky, stinky T.O and this little gem is whirring away!! It's using 200 watts more than my Danby 8000btu window jobby , but this is because it doesn't have an "energy saver" mode, the fan constantly runs(45watts) but is on.Still I would say it's a good buy, not great but good because of not having the energy saving mode. From my research on A/C's: #1window,#2dual hose, and lastly single hose for energy savings for people who have to pay for cool comfort.....hope this helps.

This is a good portable air conditionner. It is not too noisy (it is a constant noise)! Good points: - Cools quickly - Nice design - Easy to install Wrong points: - Too big (I live in a small appartment and it takes enough places) - There is not a tank water, you need to drain manually the water In general it is a great air conditionner. I recommend it!

It's a great unit that quickly cools down our bedroom. It's not that loud compared to other units I have had in the past. I would like it if the unit shut off after it reached it's desired temperature. I don't think it does that.