Koldfront PAC1402W - Portable Air Conditioners

I have only used this AC a few times this past week so this review is based on just these few days. BUT - I will say I was more than pleasantly surprised by how cold the air was that this unit generated and how quickly it cooled down the space. I agonized over which brand to purchase for WEEKS!!! But I am glad I settled on this one. Several things to note: I live in Santa Monica not far from the beach, so the temp never really goes above 85, there is always a breeze and it is rarely ever humid here. Last week it was about 85, slight breeze, but it was a HOT 85. Without the AC, the temp in my apt is usually around 78 - 80 degrees on days like that but I'm used to it so it's doable for me, but not for everyone. My son was burning up so I decided to install it and turn it on. The area I have the unit in is my living/dining/kitchen area. It is basically one big room with a short wall that divides the kitchen and the living room. Total square footage of the space is probably around 600 square feet and faces SW. I closed the door between this space and the bedrooms. I felt a noticeable difference in temperature after about 20 minutes. I went in my bedroom to do a few things (I was probably in there about a half hour). When I re-entered the living room, it was AMAZINGLY COOL. I could NOT believe the difference between my bedroom and the living area!!! I had the temp on the unit set to 62 degrees. All in all, it had been on about an hour and I would say the temp in the room was a good 70 degrees, possibly less. I don't believe it was as low as 62, but could very well have been 68 - 69. And it cooled off the ENTIRE space. Of course, the further away from the unit, the warmer it got, but still cooler than it would have been without the unit. I've been living by the beach for 11 years without an AC and always felt it was doable b/c there's no humidity here and there's only about 15 days a year when the temp goes above 85. But after installing this unit, I sat here wondering how I could have gone this long without one!! So far, I love the unit. If down the line this unit turns out to be crap, I will *most certainly* update this review. But for now, I have great hope!! The unit itself is a little bulky but very clean and sleek looking. My only complaints are that the vents are fixed to blow the air upwards (which apparently cools the room in this direction), but I would have liked for them to be adjustable; sideways/up/down. And the hose that attaches from the unit to the window is not as long as I'd like it to be, which limits the unit's mobility, but I can always purchase a longer hose if I really need to. Also, I should note that the set up was super easy. I have "casement" windows which slide open sideways. The contraption that you place inside the window to connect the hose to was not long enough for my window frame, so I cut a piece of cardboard from the box to elongate it to fit the height of my window. I used clear packing tape to connect the two and it looks and works just fine to keep the hot air out.I actually had low expectations about the quality of this unit and was prepared to be "eh" about it and just swallow the cost of it, but I was literally BLOWN AWAY. :-)

Update 05/20: just reinstalled this unit for the 3rd year after running it all night almost every night of the past two summers and it's still going strong.-----------------------------I have never owned a portable A/C before and so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was worried going into such an expensive purchase after reading so many reviews on portable air conditioners in general and hearing so many claims that they don't work (or at least, not very well). To say the least I was very relieved when I got this unit all setup, turned it on, and felt strong and ice cold wind blowing out of the conditioner! I've only had it for a couple of days now, so I can't speak to durability. I purchased a 3 year extended warranty plan just to be on the safe side.The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 has to do with the window kit. Maybe my windows are just weird (though they look pretty standard to me..) but the kit did not install easily. I really had to improvise and it was a rather frustrating process to get it in a usable and relatively sealed state. It'd be nice if the kit included more materials/options to work with so that you're more equipped to improvise as needed. I actually had to use some of the shipping materials to make it work. Other than that, any other complaints I can think of would be nitpicking. It works great!For those who are interested in my use-case:I own a 3 floor townhouse (garage being the 1st floor) and the central air cools the 2nd floor tremendously well while leaving the 3rd floor about 10 degrees hotter. So, it'd be too cold down stairs while being too hot upstairs. It seemed like such an inefficient use of energy to crank the central air system just to get comfortable temperatures on the 3rd floor. Now, with this portable A/C I can leave the central air at a more comfortable 72 and then independently cool the bedroom upstairs (I like to sleep at about 66 degrees). It has so far done a marvelous job of making the room ice cold. There is a 2nd room on the 3rd floor, and it seems to even manage to bring the temperature down a few degrees in there too. That being said, if you really want it ice cold all throughout your home, it seems like you'd maybe need one in each room, otherwise it gets way too cold in one room and doesn't seem to permeate out enough. It'd probably work well for a studio or small 1-bed apartment though. Maybe some elaborate fan setup could help spread the cold air around too.

Excellent unit. I just set it up and have been pleased by its performance. It's a simple, but elegant design that doesn't draw a lot of attention to itself. I have it in my Living room which is open to the kitchen and dining area. About 500 sq feet total with low open ceilings.When I got home and set it up, granted while reasonable inside (about 70), it cooled it down to 68 in a matter of an hour or so as measured by the hall thermostat. The main living room felt much colder than that though!The window kit isn't fancy but solid and easily adjusted. The foam kit wasn't fantastic, as it was compressed with elastic bands, so will likely have to change that out. But the unit (like most all portable units) does suck in room air and exhausts it out the window (this is how it cools the condenser) so an ultra tight seal is a bit of a moot point.I also really like the front louvers. They are motorized and close when off and open or swing when on. It's simple but neat. Also the remote is great. It has a backlit display and all the functions can be controlled from it and you can easily see what the current mode and temp is.It's fairly quiet. It moves a lot of air, even at low speeds, but the compressor isn't overly noisy, or the unit "rattly". It's just air sounds.I purchased this 14k unit as well as the 12k unit to place in my bedroom so my home is cool and comfortable throughout.