ARC-126MD

I love this a.c unit. I have an approximately 400 square for bedroom and it keeps it nice and chilly in there. I've had it running nonstop for the past 2 months and it works phenomenally well. I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

I purchase this just under a month ago and it's been running since installment. Our area is just getting to the high temperatures of summer and it's working like a charm. There is definitely some white noise when it's in cooling mode so if possible, I'd install away from your television. Thus far, it's been a worhorse, on autocool, and we haven't had any moisture alerts. I'll repost as the temps rise but feel confident in the purchase.

I've owned a few portable air conditioners, both dual and single hose units. Dual hose is for faster cool down (moves more air) and minimizing negative room pressure. Single hose units generally have an easier window setup. Caveats: IME a good window unit will beat any portable in BTU versus efficiency. Claims of cooling X number of square feet should be met with skepticism from any manufacturer. Such assertions may be accurate for a square room with low ceilings, no obstructions, closed doors, no windows and well-insulated walls.I still have a twelve year old dual hose 12000 BTU unit that runs pretty much the same as when it was new. It's done everything one can ask of a portable, though it's on borrowed time. Nevertheless the air from this unit is still very cold and it moves a lot of air. It uses a refrigerant that appears to be no longer used.The Whytner on maximum fan and lowest temperature settings is comparable to my old dual hose unit. In my subjective observation, it's almost as cold but not quite, but it moves more air.The Good:It's relatively compact and light compared to some older dual hose 12000 BTU portables.Control functions are available on both the unit and the remote. Many units, to save costs, only have full controls on the remote or on the unit but not both.It has handles in convenient locations. Many units have no handles.At full power, the Whynter cooled down ~300 sq/ft very quickly, even with the room door open. Compared to a previously owned single hose unit, the older appliance would be overwhelmed. Only if you closed the room door then the temperature would drop, but it would take time.For moderately humid environments (<70% RH), one shouldn't have to drain it. Did not have to drain it so far.It's more quiet than my previous portable air conditioners, but it's by no means silent.The Bad:Packaging is inadequate (IMO). I'm surprised the unit came undamaged. There were holes/openings in the bottom of the package, and some parts were missing and may have fell out. Luckily I was still able to make it work. Contacted Whynter to send the missing parts, and they were shipped promptly.The Debatable:There is a "Swing" function that sets the louver (vent) up and down. Press once to do a cyclic "auto-swing", press the second time to set specific opening. Just manually setting the louver opening seems so much simpler. My guess they created this function because people were forgetting to open the vent which may lead to problems. When turning on this model, the vent goes from a closed position to the maximum open position. When turning off, the vent goes back to a completely closed position.The Miscellaneous and notes of Caution:Warranty terms: Please read the manual - last page for complete details. Basics: One year limited warranty, three years compressor. First two months if the air conditioner is proven defective, Whynter will pay freight to ship back. Two months-to-one year, customer will be responsible. Manual says to keep packing materials if necessary to ship back, but in my case the container is really beat up. Extended warranties may be worth it, but that's a separate review, as I have no idea how good the customer service is on these third party companies.Transport the unit in an upright position only, or leave it in an upright position for at least 4 hours before first use. From what I know all portables have a similar requirement but maybe with different wait times.Power cord with reset switch is ~6.5 feet long.

Works well and efficiently.

This unit worked as expected for a little less than a year since I got it. Noise level was tolerable, cooling was good, didn't have to worry about draining water, and it didn't trip my breaker. However, after a year its cooling performance started to noticeably decrease until it no longer sent out cool air. I assume it was a compressor failure or something along those lines. A major issue with this unit is that it is designed in a way that does not allow for maintenance or inspection of the internal components.Technically, it died within the 1-year warranty, but the warranty is really a JOKE. It states that if the item fails after 2 months, the owner has to pay for the shipping. Not to mention the pain of packing the 80lb unit into a box and moving it to a UPS or FedEx, the shipping cost itself is about a third or half of the unit's actual cost (I looked it up on FedEx and it was $170 at the cheapest). And then you have to survive 2-4 weeks without AC until it hopefully returns fixed or replaced. At this point, it would be better to just buy a new AC from a different brand.I personally like the dual hose concept. Prevents the issues caused by negative pressure. Unfortunately, Whynter seems to be the major producer of those air conditioning units and it is hard to find other brands with dual hoses. I would recommend trying a different company with a dual hose, or just going with a single hose if a non-Whynter company is not available. For the price I paid, a 1-year lifespan is not acceptable. Other brands have lasted me 5+ years.

Unit fan runs continuously, not thermostatically controlled to the point of shutting the fan down. The unit does increase of decrease fan speed and kick on the compressor based on room temperature but the fan never turns off. This is reflected in energy bill increases, in my area it puts me in another bracket which bills at a higher rate.Unit is noisy, not unbearable but makes hearing TV or other things in a small room much harder to hear.I use this unit in a 10x10 room which effectively cools the room. Although this unit has a high enough BTU to cool a larger space, the area i am cooling is not contained within the recommended coverage of the unit so i restricted to a smaller area.Unit is heavy, weight is identified in specifications, don't underestimate this.Where practical, a window unit with lower BTU rating will be more cost effective.

Keeps a whole house cool and comfortable.

N/a