Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 14,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 500 Sq Ft Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-14S (9,500 BTU SACC)

8 reviews for Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 14,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 500 Sq Ft Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-14S (9,500 BTU SACC)

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jesus Saldana – July 14, 2024

   My fiance, Steph and I purchased the unit in late 2022 and it worked pretty well for our downstairs living room space. However, after moving in late 2023, the main power control board stopped working, possibly due to our movers not treating our appliance carefully.

   We did not attempt to use the unit again until the summer of 2024 and to are dismay, the unit would not turn on. We emailed the manufacturer to try to order the missing part, but were told it would be difficult to diagnose without taking the unit in for repair at their service center. Despite being past the warranty period, Jof Y., made an exception for us and they were able to repair the unit at no cost to us.

   Customers: before attempting to drop off your repair unit at their repair center, please make sure you email them and you need to have an appointment with the barcode printed out beforehand. You also have to make sure to drop it off during their service hours, which are only 2 days out of the week. This allows the technician the remaining 3 days dedicated to repairing your unit in a timely manner.

   Once you pull up and ring the bell, the technicians come out to help you unload the unit from your vehicle. It truly appears that they have thought of everything from start to finish when it comes to a repair process. We were given a weak turnaround estimate time and that is exactly when our unit was ready by.

   Now that we have the unit back, and we are using it in our bedroom instead, it brings the entire room to ice cold temperatures. There have been no issues at all whatsoever with the repair and it still works easily with the remote control.

   The setup itself is pretty standard and straightforward. The unit does have to stay close to the window due to the tubes not being super long, but that is a long-term benefit because it allows the air to remain colder for the room because there’s less travel involved. It also does not need to be emptied out for water constantly, like other AC units. It is a little loud but not obnoxious or anything.

   Overall we are so glad we went with this brand because of the repair center service, how easy the process was and how customer service oriented rep who helped us was, Jof Y. From start to finish, Jof responded to all the emails that my fiance, Steph, sent within a 12 hour turnaround time, which is just incredibly fast and more importantly, consistently. Usually manufacturers do not reply at all, much less this quickly. Most AC units work pretty similarly but it makes such a difference when the customer service is so stellar. Would buy again!!!

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Yvonne – July 15, 2024

   I have serious health issues with heat. Mid level 2 bedroom apartment in 10 storey building and this is a lifesaver. I only gave it 4 stars because the extended piece for window kit was cut when it arrived. This may have been a returned unit….I don’t know. It looks new and works well for me. I find it does cool well and is no louder than a sleeve a/c unit. I taped the extended sleeve together and put foam core on the inside to ensure it’s insulated. Thick insulating foam tape at bottom too in window track.

   Separately, I bought window coverings with blackout features to block further sun and heat; this has been great help. Combined – the window coverings I purchased separately – and this air condtioner, and I am not crying in pain due to heat so this is A++ unit to me. Humidity is high here and self evaporation is excellent too. Fan works well also. I use 2 fans circulating at other end of room to help spread the cool air around. If needed, recommend buying separate antimicrobial 3M filter to add in with charcoal filter to help clean air. (both are on Amazon)

   I may purchase a second a/c for main bedroom as it’s way down the hall and unsure with excessive temperatures if this in main living area will be enough. But so far, it’s cooling to 72 degrees no problem. I turn it off occasionally as i’m afraid to burn the motor out (unsure if that’s possible but a/c is life necessity for me so i’m very worried about not having it). Great unit overall. I researched an entire year before deciding on safest reliable option. This one is it so far. Will update if that changes or problems develop.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Yvonne – July 23, 2024

   Bought this unit to replace a 12,000 BTU window unit which got ‘electrocuted’ [fried]; electrical outlet burned out (wiring) leaving me with no air for a month. I’m in a dry boxed in apt facing the west, gets baked in the sun all day. Just received & installed the portable a/c tonight. So far I’m COLD (it’s set at 72) on high fan it has a comfortable noise level, is MORE tolerable than the window unit & the operation hum isn’t unpleasant (this building carries sound & vibrations cause it’s so papery thin). The window a/c was much more hassle than this. It is a beast!! It’s a big machine, but very manouverable, much more so than my 8,000 btu Frigidaire portable unit installed in my bedroom 2 years ago which is so annoying, has a jet engine whine & sounds like a mini bar fridge when it’s cooling (constantly running!!). I am sincerely considering selling my smaller portable at some point & getting another Whynter (the 8,000 btu) for my bedroom!!

   1 day delay in shipping (Purolator) due to the weight limit for their drivers. Only select persons can bring it up 2 flights of stairs (2 story walkup apt building). I was told they are authorized to leave it in the main foyer. I would’ve been STUCK (no dolly to haul it upstairs!)

   There was a slight pinging sound when I first started the unit, like something inside was loose. Oddly enough it lasted for about 2 mintues then nothing. I was worried something was loose, though it was solidly packed (inside a box with another box)

   This lasted almost 5 years. Began control panel malfunction after removing the drain plug for a routine draining (despite being self condensing they fill up with water & inevitably it shuts down the machine without much warning. A beeping & tiny red flashing light on the power button, STOP flashing on the digital display). Drained it again, started running again but the compressor ran continually causing it to freeze up. Plus it wouldn’t switch formats (a/c to dehumidify to fan). After nonstop run arounds trying to diagnose & get it running as my apt was turning into a steam bath (30 F outside & 82 inside) I ultimately had to shove it in a corner & purchase a Frigidaire window unit. I had to go 11 days without air conditioning in some extreme heat due to all the malfeasance with the Whynter unit & can’t get a technician, repairs or parts. I’d never again be talked into buying portable. It couldn’t cool my apartment I was always uncomfortable & it certainly doesn’t last!! I’ve had window units for 15+ years

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   C.D. – July 25, 2024

   We purchased this unit just as the summer weather was about to kick in (late May, 2017) & we are very grateful to have this particular air conditioner in our lives.

   Here’s a little backstory: a few years ago, we had a 11,000 btu Danby a/c from Costco. My wife wasn’t a fan of having an a/c (being that we live in Vancouver, an a/c is not standard home equipment) & often complained when I had it on. I also noticed that on the hottest days, our 850sq ft apartment would still be around 25-26 degrees Celsius. Thinking that the unit didn’t really make much of a difference, I sold it the following summer. BIG MISTAKE!

   Turns out, the a/c cooled our house by about 3-4 degrees – the whole house, not just the living room in which it was situated. No, it never was able to cool the house to typical room temp, nor did we expect it to, but we had no idea it was working that hard for us!

   So, this past year, both my wife & I decided it was imperative to get another a/c. I knew we needed more btu’s, but didn’t quite know what product to buy. After lots of research and after considering other top brands, we settled on a dual hose Whynter model. We don’t need a heater with our a/c, so this was ideal.

   This past summer was even hotter than last year & boy did this unit do the job! When operating, our SW facing home would settle in at about 23-24 degrees. Still warm, but much better than the 29-30 degrees of the previous summer & even better than when we had the Danby running. In fact, the living room would get chilly. Of course, we used fans to move the cooled air throughout the home.

   The machine is big, heavy, & not particularly pretty, but it is simple to operate, has a nice little remote, & like all of these portable a/c’s, is pretty simple to set up. Best of all, it is a powerful & not particularly noisy machine.

   We paid around $550 before tax.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Altamif – August 15, 2024

   Excelente producto. Funciona muy bien, es silencioso y enfría las habitaciones rápidamente. El proveedor es uno de los mejores con los que he tratado en Amazon: responde de inmediato, resuelve tus dudas y supera las expectativas para garantizar tu satisfacción al 100%. Altamente recomendado.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Loulou – August 26, 2024

   First of all this air conditioner changed our lives!
   When I first was in the market for a portable air conditioner I was very careful to research, research, and research. Yes I was slightly uneasy about ordering an air conditioner online, but called Amazon directly and asked about my options if after I purchased it and it didn’t work well for us about the return policy’s. Amazon ensured that if it didn’t work out then I would be able to return it in its original packaging and because of its size they would have a shipping company come pick it up which I thought for a return they would try to make it as hard as possible to return. So Amazon is a win win in my eyes. My only issue was that this is listed as a Prime eligible product and with my limited Prime knowledge I assumed I would receive it in 2 days which I didn’t. I took about 5 so that was a little disappointing. I am very glad I purchased this earlier than the summer or we would have been in trouble just in waiting in a hot house on this thing.
   Back to the unit…
   So set up was easy. I allowed for it to sit in an upright position overnight only because I was unsure how the shipping company handled it and wanted to be sure I did everything in my power to continue its longevity. (This is also listed in the directions) The hose connections were easy enough and because I have a taller horizontal sliding window I had an opening that I had to fill with particle board which wasn’t too hard to do. After I set it up I plugged it in and let it sit. The set up pamphlet does recommend buying a special filter to put into one of the hoses which honestly I haven’t done because I haven’t made an honest attempt to find them which I am sure you could at a Home Depot or Lowes. From what I have heard you can also buy insulation tape to cover the hose that produces a lot of heat, but this hasn’t been a problem for us.
   The Cooling…
   The cooling is pretty amazing. After reading several reviews I second guessed my decision about purchasing it because it seems like people have great success or great failure. However on our end this AC has cooled our lower level 2 story house amazingly!! Our house is less than 15 years old so it is insulated pretty good, but because our house is North facing we get most of our heat in the back of our house. This cooler sits in the front and cools a vaulted ceiling living room, kitchen and small dinning, hallway, and half way cools the master bedroom on the same floor. All of this area is about 1200 sqft give or take. I originally purchased this to cool the living room, kitchen, and dinning room, which is all open floor plan about 420-450 swft btw, but it cooled even more than I expected. To keep track of the temperature I tried looking on my thermostat for my Heater and it was almost always higher than what it really was I am guessing because it wasn’t cooler in other places in my house. It even kept us cool in 100+ degree weather. It was about 109 outside and the cooler kept it about low to mid 70 in the living, dining, and kitchen. As a side note we purchased a Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner that cools a room upstairs and we usually leave the door open just in case it will help with the over all vaulted ceiling space. The Frigidaire is rated for a small room of 250 sqft so I don’t think it is helping too much with the living space, but so you have the full facts to make an informed decision I just wanted to add that in there. This unit is also great and I plan on writing a separate review for this one. However the sum up on the cooling factor for the Whynter is awesome!! We have owned it since the end of May so I can’t speak for its longevity so only time will tell. It is totally worth purchasing for sure!
   Con’s
   Honestly these con’s don’t really matter to me because the AC works so well, but I will add them in case they matter to you. As for the noise, yes it is loud. My house usually isn’t pitch quite so it doesn’t really bother me, but if you think about it there is an AC in your house! Central air conditioners are put outside for a reason. THEY ARE LOUD! So to me this doesn’t really stop me from using it. My dish washer is very loud, but you don’t see me scrubbing dishes by hand so I don’t have to hear the noise. Same goes with any other loud appliance in my house. Maybe if it was loud and didn’t cool my house I’d have a problem.
   The vent on the AC is nothing to be impressed with. I have read that the vent shoots the air straight up. I don’t seem to have that problem. Yes there aren’t very many ways you can control where the air goes, but you can direct it up and down. If you don’t want it shooting straight up you can move it down a notch and it isn’t. Not sure if people thought this would prevent max air flow, but we don’t seem to have a problem.
   Now the remote is another problem. I have read that if you use the remote you have to keep using the remote because if you switch to the buttons on the unit the remote doesn’t know what the unit knows. This is very true and annoying. However because of where I have the unit positioned behind my couch the remote can’t find the signal to the unit because it is blocked so we pretty much don’t use the remote. Again, not an issue for me because the unit works so well and the only reason I have to push a button is to turn the unit on or off. Not an issue.
   As for draining due to the dehumidifier. We live in a dry state with low humidity so this hasn’t been a problem. No sure how I would drain it if I needed to, but I have found plenty of YouTube videos on this unit so I am not concerned about it at this point.
   Portability. Now this is a portable unit per say, but it isn’t really practical to roll around the house for us. I initially thought we could use it for our open floor plan area by day and in our master by night, but to move this, then refit for a different sized window and then do it all over again and again every morning and night it would be a pain in the butt. However if we leave our master bed room door open it cools down enough to be comfortable instead of otherwise sweating as we did before. This AC really did above and beyond what I expected!
   Now would I recommend this to others?? Heck yes!! It does a great job cooling and we turn it on early in the day so that it keeps the house cool and we don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable. I am able to cook and this AC still can keep the house cooler and us comfortable. We are able to cook/bake for short amounts of time and still be comfortable in 90+ degree weather, but in the 100+ degree weather we found cooking is not an option if we want to stay comfortable and not sweat. We also have blackout curtains and blinds that help to insulate the heat which makes a huge difference so for those that this AC is not working for I would question placement of the unit as well as how insulated your house is not just in between the walls but for window coverings too. We found that using brown colored vertical blinds blocks out the heat way better than the white ones did. I also suggest another unit portable or window-mounted unit to help work together with this unit. If you want a cooler house and don’t want to foot out the bill for central air you should think about other ways to keep it cool because even 2 of these units would be cheaper than central air for us! Hopefully you find your solution because this was it along with the Frigidaire 5,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Mini-Compact Air Conditioner for us!!! Good luck and sorry for the unorganized review!

7. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   misterfu02 – September 3, 2024

   I bought this after I learned how awful single hose portables are. This works way better, and cools more efficiently. I had it running in a bedroom and with a few fans blowing into the main living area, I was able to keep a 1,000 square foot space cool with this unit.

   The only thing I don’t like is how the fan stays on for ~15 minutes after the compressor turns off. This adds humidity to the air, which is not ideal. It’s also quite noisy when placed in a bedroom, however it is noticeably quieter than the single hose Toshiba unit I had before. I can sleep with it on, but when it turns off it makes a loud noise and then the fan stays on for another 15 minutes. I wish it would just turn everything off once it reaches the set temperature.

   Overall it’s well worth the money. It is probably one of the best dual hose units you can buy.

8. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   caminvan – September 12, 2024

   My first unit arrived broken. I needed to send it back, and instead of getting a full refund, I was charged a hefty restocking fee. WHY??? It took months to get my other money back, as the pretended to have never received the machine back. I had to proof it to them and was just lucky I could.
   I made the mistake to order a new machine, before I got my money back for the first one. It only cooled for one year. Now only the blower works. It never cooled as much as my new machine, which is $400.00 cheaper, from Canadian Tire.