Newcastle Maitland
How we picked Our primary concern in choosing a portable AC was finding a unit with adequate cooling performance, followed by low noise, decent efficiency, and other quality-of-life factors we measured once we saw our finalists in person. We used independent ratings to screen candidates for cooling performance. A primary measure was seasonally adjusted cooling capacity, or SACC, a US Department of Energy calculation that represents the weighted average performance of a portable air conditioner in a number of test conditions. The SACC metric measures not only cooling capacity but also how the unit performs on muggy days or hot and dry days, and it even accounts for the effect of heat radiating back into the room from the unit’s vent. Since 2016, SACC has gradually replaced the less-comprehensive British thermal unit (Btu) rating as the standard measurement for AC power output. Many air conditioners include both numbers—the Btu measurements developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) were widely adopted—so we considered both stats in our selection.climatisation In 2020, the Department of Energy also finalized new standards for combined energy-efficiency ratio (CEER), a new metric based on SACC that considers additional factors such as standby energy usage alongside the previously used energy-efficiency ratio (EER) measurement. We didn’t concern ourselves too much with these specific numbers as long as an AC reached our minimum SACC threshold of 7,200 Btu per hour; anything less than that, and the AC isn’t even worth a glance. (When in doubt, consult the EnergyGuide label on the box.) We weren’t worried about oversizing the AC for the space, either. The main risk of using an oversize AC is overcooling the area before dehumidifying it, and all of these units have dehumidifier functions that can remove moisture without chilling the space if a room gets too cold and clammy. But we were more concerned about making recommendations that could actually provide adequate power. Portable ACs are notorious underperformers, generally less efficient than their window-mounted counterparts, and we’ve frequently heard that people buy a smaller unit, find it unsatisfying, and either return it or swap it out for a larger one.Our tests have borne this out over the years, as well; we’ve seen supposedly efficient models that barely made a dent in cooling rooms they were appropriately sized for. Those results helped our decision to go big and not focus too much on the claimed square-footage requirements. So we set a baseline SACC of 7,200 Btu per hour, which often corresponded with 14,000 Btu according to the older ASHRAE standards.