Portable air conditioners are not energy efficient or effective in adequately cooling a room. You’ll need to spend a lot of money to get proper cooling, and the three models below are the ones we like. They are often louder, and are not very portable.
Dreo Smart Air Conditioner, $460: Not only does the Dreo Smart Air Conditioner cool a large bedroom effectively and quickly, but it can also be controlled through the app on my iPhone. As my son pointed out, Dreo is a wake-up call for Eve from the movie WALL-E. It even rolls, making it easy to move around; Something I can’t say about window units. Combined with the easy-to-use Dreo app, it can be paired with Amazon Alexa or Google Home. It has an LED display and easy-to-read control panel, plus a magnetic place for the remote, and hatches that open and close, adding to its robot-like aesthetic. Setup was easy, and I didn’t drill a single screw, so I was able to close the extenders window. It’s not entirely clear how I was supposed to insert the hose into the window opening, but I inserted it and it seems to fit there. It’s not very airtight, which is a good thing. One problem with portable air conditioners is the single hose. It can create a vacuum in a tight space; Think of the pressure in your ears like an airplane. It can create enough negative pressure so that the room can suck in hot air from outside. So, leave the window open. -Lisa Wood Shapiro
EcoFlow Wave 2 for $1,299: the Ecoflow wave 1 I’ve cooled my wife’s office for over a year just fine – we can’t use the window air conditioner in there because it would block the fire escape. And here is a new version that is a little cheaper (8/10, WIRED recommends). It’s a little lighter than its predecessor at 32 pounds, but has a higher rating of 5,100 BTUs (up from 4,000). What’s new here is a 6,100 BTU heating mode, so you can continue to use it in the winter to warm up the room. The company says it’s best for rooms up to 107 square feet. You need to place it near a window to connect one of the included ducts to the vent to take the hot exhaust from the back of the unit out of the room. What makes this unit so versatile is how it operates. You can use a standard AC outlet, but you can Buy the version with battery To keep it running when you don’t have access to power, or you can connect it to solar panels.
Zero Breeze Mark II for $1,698: With 2,300 BTUs, you won’t be able to get the same cooling power as with the EcoFlow Wave, but the Zero Breeze (7/10, Wired review) is much lighter at 17 lbs. This package includes a battery that keeps the entire device weighing about 30 pounds, but you’ll get four hours of use without having to be near a wall outlet. Like the EcoFlow, you get a few vent tubes to direct the exhaust away and direct cool air to a specific area, but unlike the EcoFlow, you can’t charge the battery and use the air conditioning at the same time.