Best portable air conditioner 2024: easy, breezy cooling without full installation

The best portable air conditioners keeps things cool, calm and non-sticky throughout the year. No one wants to sit at home uncomfortable and slick with sweat, and that's where a portable AC unit comes in handy. But which one should you buy?

That's where T3's best portable air conditioner guide comes in, where you'll find a carefully curated list featuring the top portable AC units we'd be happy to use in our own homes.

Portable air conditioner units are a life saver for those who don't have the luxury of central air systems and are in need of AC they can move around the house. Full-size air con systems cost a pretty penny to purchase and setup, and for some that just might be out of the cards. That doesn't mean they have to suffer through the heat, as more portable AC units – each more affordable than the last – are showing up to save the day.

Our guide is here to help you find the best cooling solution for your needs. Read on to find out about some of the best portable air conditioners available today along with suggestions, reviews and advice to help you find the best solution for you.

Should your air still need further 'conditioning', investigate our guides to the best fan and the best Dyson fan, before moving on to more advanced studies with the best air purifier and best dehumidifier.

Best portable air conditioners 2024 ranking

If you're scouring the market for a very decent 12,000BTU model to tackle the heat and them damn flies, then make this award winning model your first port of call. The Whynter Elite is designed for rooms and offices up to 400 square feet and features full thermostatic control (from 61˚F to 89˚F), a 3 speed fan with two-way directional air louvers, an activated carbon filter, a simple-to-use digital control panel with 24-hour timer and a remote control to operate it from the comfort of a sofa.

The Whynter Elite tends to only be available at Amazon, so it can be a little tricky to buy at times. But in general, reviewers found that the Whynter Elite was relatively quiet, even when on the lowest speed setting and it had a strong ability to cool a room effectively.

Designed for smaller rooms up to around 204ft², the LG is a top-selling Walmart model that has garnered a fair share of glowing user reviews. As is the case with most Walmart-sourced AC units, the LG runs on 115-volt mains and is therefore unavailable for the UK market. However, there are a number of UK retailers who sell similarly-specced 8,000 BTU LG models that run on 240 volts.

The LG features an automatic evaporation system that dehumidifies the internal air at a rate of 1.8 pints per hour. And because there’s no water container to empty, you can run it constantly without hassle. At 27 inches in height and 17 inches in width, it’s not exactly small, and its white, rounded plastic casing certainly isn’t the last word in chic design. But, hey, do you want to sweat like a hog in the desert sun or swig a Pabst Blue Ribbon in comfort while you catch the ball game?

While most affluent US households – and pretty much all offices – are equipped with integrated ACs, many smaller homes continue to sweat it out during the summer months.

For around $520, you could make a big difference to your summer comfort by bringing this top-selling Walmart beast into the living room. The Haier has a BTU of 13,500, which is perfect for large rooms with dimensions up to 550 sq ft. It also comes with two hoses – one to port the hot air from the room to the outside and another that draws in air from outside which helps cool the unit’s inner workings and help it function more efficiently and cool the room much more quickly. Dual hose ACs basically eliminate negative air pressure, ie warm air that is sucked through gaps in inner doors from adjacent rooms. 

Despite looks only a mother could love, this model has received loads of positive user reviews on the US Walmart site – plus a few quibbles mostly about the poor window kit – so we’ll leave you to mull over some of their more upbeat verdicts: ‘the dual hose system makes a huge difference’, ‘we couldn't be happier’ and ‘the compressor is whisper quiet and hardly noticeable while running’. Say no more.

This top-rated Walmart-exclusive 10,000BTU air-con is good for rooms up to 450ft² and works with an  app that provides air quality stats and notifies the user when it’s time to change the filters. It also offers the ability to turn the unit on and off from wherever you are, either manually or via a pre-programmed schedule. Moreover, those who can’t even be bothered to reach for their mobile device can control it to some degree by shouting at Amazon’s Alexa.

As the name suggests, the RolliCool is fitted with casters for easy movement from room to room, and we’re not surprised, since it’s a big, hefty beast. It’s also quite possibly one of the ugliest looking domestic appliance ever created. However, we’ll forgive its looks because it does the job it was designed to do with unflappable poise, reducing the temperature in a decent-sized room to much more comfortable levels, and without making too much noise in the process.

This Amazon US-sourced Honeywell model comes in a variety of BTU outputs (from 9,000 to 14,000) and features fuss-free auto evaporation, a dehumidifier that removes up to 86 pints of moisture per day, three fan speeds, a timer and a sleep mode.

According to Honeywell, this particular 12,000 BTU model is suitable for rooms up to 450 square feet and, at just 52dB, it is also one of the quietest, making it a good choice for use at bedtime. Despite some negative user reviews (mostly about the build quality), the majority of owners have nothing but good things to say about it so who are we to argue the toss?

Portable Air Conditioners FAQs

How to choose the best portable air conditioner

Portable AC units are really effective at cooling the air in a room, in most instances for less than the price of a fancy fan. All you have to do is work out the size of the room you want to cool and select an AC unit with a suitable output, measured in British Thermal Units (or BTUs). A BTU is a unit for estimating thermal heat and it’s an important little acronym when it comes to selecting the right air conditioner for your abode. For instance, an air-con with 10,000 BTUs is good for a room of around 450 sq ft while a 5,000BTU model is suitable for a room of about 150 sq ft. Hence, it’s pretty important to know your room’s measurements or the unit could underperform.

However, there is a caveat with portable units and it’s the heated air that’s pumped out of the rear exhaust port. As the ‘law of conservation of energy’ states, energy (in this case heat) ‘can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another’. Hence, you will need to port the heated air generated by the AC out of the home using the supplied concertina hose that comes with every model. This can be done by either cutting a hole in the wall or a window (the most effective and most costly method) or by using the window kit that most manufacturers provide. As a last resort, simply dangle the hose out of an open window or doorway and sit closer to the unit.

Alternatively, if you’re lucky enough to have a working open flue fireplace (unlikely in the US), you could place the air con unit in front of it and all the heat will go straight up the chimney; after all, it’s what the chimney was designed for. This is by far the most hassle-free and tidiest way to enjoy the benefits of portable air conditioning but, for heaven's sake, make sure you’ve removed as much soot as possible from the fireplace first or it’ll be blown all over your furnishings.

Portable AC units are much louder than their built-in counterparts and that’s hardly surprising given that the compressors, pumps and fans are all in the same unit. By contrast, integrated systems have all the noisy stuff tucked away out of earshot so you rarely hear anything more than a gently whoosh. If you want a good night’s sleep with a portable air con in the room then you’re advised to turn it on a couple of hours before bedtime and keep the door closed. Then turn if off when hitting the sack – unless, of course, you’re lucky enough to be able to sleep through a hurricane.

Energy use and environmental impact are also worth considering. While modern AC units no longer use ozone-damaging chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), they do sap a lot more power from the grid than a humble fan and that means slightly higher electricity bills and hence more pressure on the environment.

Is a portable air conditioner worth buying?

This all depends on just what you need from a portable air conditioner. If you're hoping a portable AC is going to cool off that 1,400 square foot home you'll be sorely disappointed. If you're just hoping to keep you and your family cool during movie night in the den, however, than a portable AC is going to work wonders.

It's important to remember, portable air conditioners while powerful are not meant to cover large areas or rooms. They work best for single room cooling and even smaller apartments or condos.