Portable AC vs Window AC Which is Better? 

Excellent review between the two, exactly what I was looking for.

Wonderful video. I was trying to decide between the two types.

I have a portable 12K BTU AC that was able to keep my 2500 sq ft home cool, then I installed a 12K BTU window unit in my fireplace and it cools my house much better than the portable unit.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

Well done, comprehensive, informative

Thank you! Great information.

Thanks for video. I was searching RU-vid for why my more expensive 12,000 btu portable unit doesn't work anywhere near my old 6,000 btu widow AC. It's cystal clear now.

Great info, fantastic video! Thanks

Would have been good to test the watt difference as well.

Omg you are a God sent. I was about to spend a fortune on higher btu but now I am about to get smaller. Downstairs we have 8000btu old ac window. And it cools whole downstairs. 2 bedrooms kitchen. I cook a lot. It's working great to keep us comfortable. Upstairs we have 12000 LG ac portable and this thing is a pain in a bum. It is so HOT behind that thing.. by the window.. Never cools . We are all sweating. Nights are the worst. 30degrees Celsius . It spits out water droplets from the vent. Was cleaned. Serviced. Extremely LOUD. Husband thought we need 14000btu or higher to cool upstairs. I was just about to buy one until I saw this video. I will try 10000 but window unit instead. I can always use it somewhere if it doesn't work as I believe it will.

I did some thinking and the only efficiency you can even get from these is by the temp difference of the outside air versus the temp of the air it's pumping outside. If the outside air is hot as the air it's pumping outside, it isn't actually cooling at all. And if it's a 1500 watt compressor and fans, you have to add that to the heat going out there too. I wish I hadn't bought one. At least it works for the bedroom at night since it pulls cooler night time outside air into the rest of the hot house at the same time as keeping the bedroom really cool. But still not ideal.

So here's the thing. Most of the manufacturers of these portable (floor) AC units only have the 1 hose (exhaust). So to cool the condenser, it's sucking the COOLED AIR from INSIDE the home and pushing that outside!. We have a Black and Decker unit in the livingroom as we don't have windows that can take a window type. Sadly. The first year, we found that it wasn't very efficient and was in fact creating an internal vacuum as it was sucking air from inside the house and pushing it outside. The replacement air has to come from somewhere, so any crack, crevice or basement air was being sucked up into the living space. Not good. So the next summer, I looked at the design and designed an INTAKE duct and hose system for it. So now, the unit has 2 hoses. For this intake hose, I used 6" and used a piece of duct work that would be used for a furnace. Immediately, after this modification, the cooling factor increased substantially and the house cooled quickly. Also, and a big thing, that vacuum pressure is totally gone. It's sad that these companies go the cheap way and create single-hose portable units.

I'm going to make two observations from my own experience with using portable air conditioners. #1 portable air conditioners, for all their inefficiencies, are far superior to window units when the outside air temperature starts dropping to the 60s and lower. I currently live in an attic without central air, and when late fall rolls around I still need to run my air conditioner to be comfortable. If I were using a window unit it would be iced over on a regular basis. #2 I will freely admit that if you are testing out of the box experiences between different types of air conditioners this should not be a factor, but at the same time in any other situation it seems grossly negligent to not consider this aspect when testing portable units. Use an insulated hose. I'm not saying it fixes everything because it sure as heck doesn't, but there is something like a 20° surface temperature difference between the dinky plastic hose that comes with most portable units and a solid insulated hose. I would further suggest that, at least to a point, getting and insulated hose is a good idea because you can move the air conditioner farther away from the window, to a point, then you would get with the supplied hose. Depending on your scenario this can be a useful arrangement. In my situation they window I have my unit hooked up to is quite a ways from where I actually need the cold air so being able to run a longer hose and give the unit closer to the center of the attic is very useful. A window air conditioner might be significantly more efficient, but if all it ends up doing is cooling 10% of the area I needed to because there's a significant amount of dead space in between the unit and the center of the attic then it's not going to fare as well as a portable unit that can get it closer, even in spite of an insulated hose still leaking some waste heat.

i converted mine to dual hose and insulated the exhaust hose. now it cools like a window type

Did you check to see if the window unit has a proper water drainage channel? If the manual says let the outside blades take care of that issue that is BS. Drainage is very important especially in in humid climates.

great video joe im from vancouver bc canada partly disabled just bought 1 window ac 5000 btu for my cpu room hoping that will be enough and one 8000 btu insignia from best buy been runing my 8000btu since 730 and its 11pm it sucks i had a 8000 danby window for my room it was 90% better then the portable one just such a pain in the asss taking it out and putting it back in every year 2021 i had a haier portable air conditioner 14000 btu it was amazing duel hose but the danby 8000btu way better then any portable dual hose out there any tips for taking it in and out every year dont want to leave it in window unless i change blinds my windows are sliding left to right plus winter fall i like the fresh air let me know ty

I thought I was crazy when my 10k btu portable unit struggled to cool my 2nd floor bedroom but a 7800 btu window unit can freeze me out. Also on the 2nd floor it was pulling all the excess hot air up the stairs. So horribly inefficient and NOISY. Window unit is 100x quieter and doesn't run nearly as much.

What are the temperature setting for a/c? Cuz the test started w/portable set at 70. Is your window or portable spilling 🤔 any discharge water?

😊 nice work space. Q. Why didn't you set the portable a/c to its coldest setting of 62.

Window AC’s are more efficient. Portables leak and ruin floors. They do not cool as well as Window AC’s.

i use a portable in my caper with insulated dryer pipe through the floor "approx 2ft" no window an my exuast tube usually reads 80-90..... or wrap your exuast in reflectix/foil bubble wrap. and that screen you left in messed up your readings an made your exuast hotter!

Thanks for the informative video.Do the Hisense ACs come with a removable drain plug? It's my understanding that some window units do not and that drilling a drain hole voids the warranty.

@12:43 - negative pressure is not an issue if you can crack open a window in the cooler room ( basement is obvious ) or the unit is being used in an apartment/condo ( pulling in cooler air form hallway especially on sunny days ). And most users don't extend the hose that long ( more heat exposure and reduce heat pump power ).

Whatever btu a portable unit is advertised to be, cut that in half for an idea of it's true cooling capicity. Or, you only half the btu in a window unit to produce the same actual cooling ability of a portable unit with double the btus. Modern window units are absurdly good, and significantly cheaper than a portable.

Unfortunately for me my bedroom is like an “L” shape and only on window that can open in the bathroom so I think I’m stuck with having to buy the portable one hose system and try to aim it towards the room.

Just no substitute for Window Units...They can remove more heat..In very little time.. Most under 30mins...to complete a cycle...

Hey man that helmet with other stuff and glove look like a person I was staring at it for a while it started to creep me out I hope you done on purpose it would be cool.

Seal off the window..it's drawing warm air in from the outside..put a cut pool noodle in between the 2 sashes

I just want to make a small observation, regarding the portable air conditioners and I have seen an improvement if it is placed in a higher area than having it at low levels close to the ground, and the other is to place an insulation sleeve on the hose that goes out , there is a noticeable difference in terms of efficiency.

Why is it different when it's the same technology, same piece of equipment

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.

😮 your set up is identical to my system. My home is only 1000 square ft. Portable 14k dual ht/ac for kitchen/livingroom. 10k window for just my bedroom. You also have higher quality efficiency windows.