This is a collaborative post
In the same way as choosing something like a new TV or refrigerator, selecting a portable air conditioner for your home, office or warehouse is often about striking the best balance between the main features you are looking for. Whether you are looking for portability, power or other features as your main criteria, the exercise is often about doing your homework and striking the best compromise.
In this article, we have put together a short guide to sourcing the best portable air conditioner to meet your requirements.
Decide your buying criteria
A logical place to start your search is by looking at the brands available and finding the most reputable ones. Ultimately you are looking for a unit that is not prone to breaking down and incurring faults.
Think about how often you will be using the unit and what kind of space you are looking to keep cool. This will determine how heavily you will be relying on your portable air conditioner, and the durability you are expecting from it. This is an important consideration, because buying a smaller, cheaper model will be inadequate for example for cooling a large warehouse space with a high ceiling.
In short, just like with other appliances and AV purchases, the best brands of portable air conditioning unit are the ones that you will pay slightly more for at point of purchase but are likely to make savings on and benefit from better performance throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Do your homework
One of the best ways to get insight into the durability of portable air conditioning units is to look at what existing customers are saying. A quick internet search will quickly show up any common faults with a particular brand or model, and you will also see how responsive each company is to deal with complaints and maintenance requirements.
Choosing the features that matter to you
Air filters are one of the most crucial aspects of portable air conditioning units. The main system inside the unit keeps the air clean and filtered to limit the amount of dust particles. Certain models are also pre-fitted with air purification devices to limit the amount of humidity and generally creating an environment of cleaner air.
Other features that you will need to assess for your requirements will vary depending on the model. Feature-rich models have LED control panels to closely manage cooling and filtration.
Assessing the best portable air conditioner for your space
Although it is simple to install portable air conditioning units, you will need to think carefully about the most suitable unit for your space and requirements.
Depending on why you are purchasing the unit and for the size and type of space you need it to cool, it is important to do your homework carefully. While a smaller more discreet unit may be best for an apartment or smaller house, the same model is going to quickly prove to be inadequate for a larger office or warehouse style environment with a higher ceiling.