Important features to consider

Hard-boiling eggs and poaching eggs take a bit more kitchen know-how than frying or scrambling eggs. You need to time both exactly to produce a hard-boiled egg with a jammy center or a perfectly set poached egg that explodes a runny yolk over an English muffin. An electric egg cooker takes out the guesswork of when an egg is over- or under-done. When it came to hard-boiled eggs, five of the six egg cookers we tested were pretty much “set it and forget it.” Poaching eggs was a different story; we found that it was best to check the eggs once or twice to make sure they were done.

An electric egg cooker is incredibly convenient if you want to cook a large batch of hard-boiled eggs for deviled eggs or egg salad for a party or picnic. With a double-tiered egg cooker — like the BELLA or Cuisinart models we tested — you can cook 10-12 eggs in 15 minutes, so you’ll always have a quick snack or protein bite at hand. What you should be aware of is that you’ll need to experiment with an egg cooker and be willing to sacrifice a few eggs before you’ll get them the way you like.

Our testing entailed making boiled eggs, poached eggs, and “omelets” (as all egg cookers erroneously call them) by first following the instruction manual. We believed this would be a good way to start since most people will follow the instructions if they’ve never used an egg cooker before. The only egg cookers that performed perfectly the first time were our top pick, Elite Gourmet, and our stainless-steel pick, VORBAGA. Our tests with the other egg cookers resulted in two dozen ruined eggs dumped down the garbage disposal.

The following features are what we determined to be essential for an electric egg cooker.

Calibrated heating plate

The egg cooker heating plate resembles a mini hotplate. Depending on how you want your eggs done, you’ll add water from an included measuring cup onto the heating element, load the eggs onto a plastic rack, then cover them with a plastic dome. As the heating plate heats — usually very quickly — the water boils and creates steam inside the dome. So, in effect, egg cookers steam eggs. When the water evaporates, the eggs are done. It’s important that the heating plate maintains an even temperature and doesn’t get too hot, or eggs will always overcook, as was the case with the Cuisinart model.

One note we should add about cleaning the heating plate. After each use, you’ll see white or brown spots staining the metal plate. We found that the best way to clean them off is by mixing white vinegar and Kosher salt into a paste and scrubbing the spots off with a non-abrasive sponge. Over time, the spots will remain permanently, but they don’t affect the heating plate’s effectiveness.

Automatic turn-off and alarm

One of the benefits of an egg cooker is that you don’t need to stand over it and watch to see when the eggs are done. Almost all the egg cookers we tested had an automatic turn-off when the water had evaporated and an alarm to alert us that the eggs were done. The Hamilton Beach only had an indicator light, so we had to keep an eye on it for when it went out.

Clearly marked measuring cup

Since the doneness of eggs depends on how much water is added to the heating element, it’s important that the included measuring cup is clearly marked. Many of the egg cookers had marks all over the cup indicating doneness, number of eggs, and style of eggs, and it was unnecessarily confusing, especially when they were printed in milliliters and the instructions in ounces. Elite Gourmet won out again with simplicity and clarity by having only three marks for hard, medium, and soft, no matter the number or style of eggs being cooked.

Eggshell piercing pin

When hard-boiling eggs, it’s recommended that you pierce one end of the egg before boiling, which helps the egg retain its oval shape. An egg cooker’s measuring cup has a sharp pin built into the bottom of the cup for piercing eggs.

Omelet vs steamed eggs

All egg cookers have “omelet” as an alternative to boiled and poached. Be aware that this is not a traditional omelet; it’s simply steamed eggs that puff up to double their volume. Almost all the egg cookers produced an irregularly shaped “omelet” with a weird, spongy texture that we found unappetizing. The only egg cooker that gave us an edible “omelet” was the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker; it didn’t puff as high and would be great for a breakfast sandwich.

The post The 8 Best Electric Egg Cookers appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Each tool comes with many attachments to style the hair for drying, smoothing, and/or curling. Both the Supersonic and Airwrap use an aerodynamic phenomenon called the Coanda effect that attracts hair to surfaces through jet propelled streams of air–this helps with styling and smoothing out the hair and reducing the amount of frizz.

What is Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer?

Compared to other hair dryers like the Hot Tools Tourmaline Tools 2000 Turbo Ionic Dryer or the Shark HyperAir, the Dyson Supersonic dried the hair faster without leaving it feeling or smelling fried. At 1.8 pounds, the Dyson is on the slightly heftier side in comparison to other hair dryers. However, we noticed that once we turned it on, the weight didn’t affect usability of the Dyson. Its smaller shape keeps it nimble.

If you’ve ever seen Dyson products, you know they’re nontraditional in ways of design and technology. The Dyson Supersonic and Airwrap styler both continue this theme through their bladeless designs (i.e. the Airwrap’s pre-style drying attachment) that are similar to the Dyson table fans and the Air Multiplier technology that creates high-velocity jets of air to dry hair quicker than traditional hair dryers.

We tested the Dyson Supersonic on type 2A, thick hair using all the attachments, heat settings, and speed settings. We found that it took about four minutes to completely dry from wet, freshly showered hair without using any attachments on the second speed and heat settings. (Note, the highest speed and heat were too strong to use without the gentle hair diffuser or other attachments). With other hair dryers, it took at least 10-15 minutes to fully dry hair.

Amazingly fast & gentler drying

A versatile yet pricey tool that is a styler first, but also dries hair at slower speeds than the Supersonic.

See Price at AmazonSee Price at Best Buy

The Dyson Supersonic and Airwrap also have intelligent heat control technology that measures airflow temperature over 40 times per second, which means if the system gets too hot it will begin to cool down the system. The less heat on your hair, the less damage.

Whereas the Dyson Airwrap styler comes with attachments that lock in place through a locked spring mechanism, the Dyson Supersonic has various attachments that easily connect strong magnets. This makes styling and rotation fast and easy.

The Supersonic comes with five different attachments:

• Gentle air attachment: diffuses air in a gentle and cooler stream of air. This is great for those who have sensitive scalps or thinner hair.
• Diffuser: This larger diffuser is perfect for people with curly or wavy hair. It helps simulate natural air-drying because it disperses air in a wider surface area.
• Wide-tooth comb: This helps smooth and dry curly and textured hair.
• Styling concentrator: This helps with styling and drying your hair in small sections with a precise and controlled stream of air. This is best to pair with a round brush for blowouts.
• Flyaway attachment: A new attachment that helps smooth out flyaway and frizzy hairs using the Coanda effect and heat. This is best used on straightened, dry hair.

One critique that we have for the Dyson Supersonic is that it’s a bit difficult removing the attachments after styling due to the heat. The magnet is fairly strong so it will take a bit of effort to remove, but you can’t hold onto the attachment for too long because it’s too hot. Whereas the Airwrap styler attachments have a piece at the top that remains cool during styling. This makes it easier and safer to remove or change out the attachments after styling.

What is Dyson’s Airwrap Styler Complete?

Compared to other heat styling tools like flat irons or curling irons, the Dyson Airwrap styler does significantly less heat damage on the hair. The hair is noticeably shinier and doesn’t smell fried. We also found that the Dyson Airwrap highest speed level was more gentle on our scalp than the Dyson Supersonic on full strength. However, there is also a large learning curve in learning how to use the Dyson Airwrap styler properly. Learn more about our Dyson Airwrap styler review here.

The Dyson Airwrap Styler is a complete drying and styling set that lets you go from wet to styled hair with one tool. Similar to the Dyson Supersonic, it comes with various attachments that let you customize your hair when styling:

• Pre-styling dryer: This attachment helps you dry your hair to the appropriate moisture level to begin styling with the other attachments. This bladeless fan is similar to the Dyson Supersonic and table fans that the company produces. You get a jet-propelled stream of air to quickly dry hair and reduce the amount of heat damage.
• Airwrap barrels: Two sets of barrels help with curling the hair using the Coanda effect, which is created when strong jets of air curve towards surfaces due to changes in pressure. The air helps the hair wrap around the barrels and form a curl or wave.
• Soft smoothing brush: This attachment has softball tip bristles that are made to smooth out hair. It’s best for sensitive scalps.
• Firm smoothing brush: The firm smoothing brush helps to smooth out unruly and frizzy hair. This is great for thicker hair types.
• Round volumizing brush: This brush combines a hairdryer and a round brush to give you an easier blowout in one tool.

Versatile tool, at a cost

A versatile yet pricey tool that is a styler first, but also dries hair at slower speeds than the Supersonic.

See Price at AmazonSee Price at Best Buy

Similar to the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer, the Dyson Airwrap styler is also made with a powerful motor that generates enough pressure to create the Coanda effect and quickly dry and style your hair. It also includes intelligent heat control that measures airflow temperature over 40 times per second to make sure the heat is always under 302 ℉. This helps prevent extreme damage on the hair with heat.

We also tested the Dyson Airwrap styler with type 2A, thick hair and used the various attachments, heat, and speed settings. When drying hair using the pre-drying styler attachment, it took about four minutes to reach the appropriate moisture level fit to start styling hair. If we continue to dry it completely, it takes over seven minutes. Compared to the Supersonic, the Airwrap took three minutes longer to dry hair completely.

While the Dyson Airwrap styler definitely has versatility in styling your hair because it comes with so many attachments, it also has a rather bulky organization issue. It comes with a beautiful leather presentation case, but it isn’t really suitable to use daily or when traveling because it’s so bulky. Dyson sells organizers and travel cases for the Airwrap styler, however, you need to buy this separately. The travel cases don’t fit all the attachments too, so you need to choose them carefully when packing.

Dyson Hair Dryer & Airwrap Comparison Table

For a better comparison of the specifications for each model, here is a table comparing both the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer and Dyson Airwrap Styler complete below:

Reasons to choose the Dyson – Supersonic Hair Dryer

The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer is a stronger and more powerful tool when drying hair than the Dyson Airwrap. In fact, we were only comfortable using the medium-level heat and speed settings because the highest level was too much for sensitive scalps–this is why they created the gentle hair diffuser attachment.

We have noticed that drying freshly showered hair with the Supersonic (four minutes) is faster than drying hair with the Airwrap pre-styling dryer (7+ minutes). Obviously, we understand that the Airwrap is mainly used to reach a damp moisture level for styling rather than drying hair completely. However, some (aka us) would rather purchase one model than both.

What we love about the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer is that you can use it on various hair types, from slick straight to textured and curly. Attachments like the hair diffuser allow those who have textured and curly hair to mimic natural air drying and create frizz-free hairstyles. This type of attachment is not available with the Airwrap. With the styling concentrator and your own preferred round brush, you can create bouncy and voluminous blowouts.

Most importantly, the Dyson Supersonic comes with the flyaway attachment that cleans up any excess frizzy hairs at the end of the styling session. We’ve found that the flyaway attachment works better to create a smoother and shinier finish on the hair than the Airwrap styler smoothing attachments.

Reasons to choose the Dyson – Airwrap

One advantage to the Airwrap styler is its versatility in styling. We’ve definitely taken into consideration the polarizing reviews many people have in using the Airwrap and it’s definitely dependent on the type of hair you have and if you can handle the steep learning curve in using the Airwrap on your hair.

For example, curling hair with the Dyson Airwrap styler requires you to understand what level of moisture your hair needs to be to properly set the curls. Oftentimes, you may need additional hair products to fully set the curls. We’ve tested both the Airwrap and Supersonic on straight and wavy hair, but have not tested it on more textured or curly hair. So take these reviews with a grain of salt. See our in-depth review to see how the Airwrap competes with other curling irons for thick hair. 

With the Dyson Airwrap styler, you can use the round brush attachment for an easier blowout with only one tool to dry and style hair. Compared to the Dyson Supersonic, you would need the hairdryer and an additional round brush to create a blowout. For some, mimicking a traditional salon blowout is difficult especially if you aren’t particularly dexterous. Having a free hand when styling a blowout is very helpful because you can move the strand of hair easily.

You can also choose to curl or create bouncy waves with the curling barrels with less heat damage than traditional heating tools because the temperature never reaches above 302 ℉. The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer does not come with or have the capacity to create any type of curls with its attachments.

How to decide which product is better for you

After testing the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer and Airwrap styler, we found that each of these products are amazing on their own but most people don’t need both models. Here’s a quick breakdown of who best fits each model:

The Dyson Supersonic hairdryer is for you if:

• You have thick hair and want to quicken the drying process
• You have a minimal, no-fuss styling process
• You have textured or curly hair and want to mimic natural air drying with a diffuser
• You like to customize blowouts using your own round brushes

The Dyson Airwrap styler is for you if:

• You have the budget for a new styling system
• You want multiple options in styling your hair, like curling or blowouts
• You are ready for the challenge and want to experiment with styling your hair
• You start your styling process with clean, wet hair and want one tool to dry and style your hair

The bottom line is if you have a smaller budget and want a traditional, but a faster way to dry your hair in the morning, then you should get the Dyson Supersonic. If you have a larger budget, you want a two-in-one tool to dry and style your hair at the same time, and like trying out new styling tools, then the Dyson Airwrap styler is your next best friend.

The post Dyson Hair Dryer vs Airwrap Styler appeared first on Your Best Digs.

If you’re cooling a larger space you need it for that isn’t a bedroom, or if you’re fighting temperatures above 100°F on a regular basis, the 14,000 BTU Whynter – ARC-14S is a worthwhile upgrade. It has impressive cooling power but is hard to move, and also loud enough to disturb your sleep in a bedroom.

The optional “heat-pump” heating modes in the ARC-122DHP or ARC-14SH is also a big plus for those comparison shopping. It’s not as effective as a space heater in really cold climates, but if you just need a bit of warmth on a chilly morning it’s an effective two-in-one system.

How many BTUs do you need?

In our post that covers what air conditioner size you need, we compared capacities of different air conditioners in “British Thermal Units” (BTUs, a measurement of an absolute amount of heat) per hour. But the way BTUs are removed from your home in real-world conditions is often different from the way a testing system in a laboratory works.

The Department of Energy has, after years of back-and-forth with manufacturers and consumer advocates, decided to change the tests that determine portable air conditioner capacity ratings. The tests are now split: 80% of the performance rating is determined by tests with outdoor air at 83°F, and only 20 percent of the rating accounts for days at a mildly-hot 95°F. The number of BTUs of heat the portable can move over the course of this test determines the “Seasonally Adjusted Cooling Capacity” or SACC.

The SACC for all portable air conditioners is far lower than the theoretical maximum capacity you’ll see in model numbers. But the SACC is still a rather generous rating if you’re relying on the air conditioner to keep a room down below 72°F during a heat wave.

Put simply, don’t buy a portable air conditioner based on the size that’s “right” for your room. Buy something you can afford, that you don’t mind looking at (since it’s basically going to be a piece of furniture), and if you’re buying it for the bedroom pick something quiet.

The Whynter – ARC-122DS Elite gets knocked down from a nominal 12,000 BTUs to just 6,775 in the DOE test. The bigger ARC-14s gets knocked down to 9,500, but it also draws 1300 watts of power to cool that much, compared to a window AC that will draw about 750 watts and be much quieter to do the same job or better.

How we tested portable air conditioners

We’ve tested Whynter’s two highest-rated models against four other brands of highly rated portable air conditioners to see which unit is the best performing overall. Whynter is pretty unique for having dual-hose systems, which is already a big advantage for many buyers, but the smaller ARC-122DS Elite is also one of the quietest models we’ve tested.

2016 tests

Our initial test of cooling power compared four units in a 175 square foot office and a 400 square foot living room. We ran the air conditioners for approximately an hour in the heat of the early San Diego summer in a poorly insulated home, using two front rooms that are frequently uncomfortably hot.

Using an indoor thermometer, we measured the beginning and ending temperatures in the room. We then repeated this process three times in each area, for a total of around six hours cooling time for each unit tested. While by no means scientifically verifiable, we got a good impression of the real-world cooling power of each unit in moderate heat.

The Whynter 14,000 unit was only narrowly out-performed by the LG in this test, where the speed of the circulating fan and capacity of the systems didn’t make as much of a difference.

While this represents realistic daily use in many climates, the conditions were not blazing hot. You’ll see results in above-95°F weather in our updated test farther down.

In the bigger great room (a living room/dining room combined room), the Whynter beat out the LG by a significant margin, showing where the 14,000 BTUs really come in handy.

2018 tests

We tested the new LG portable, the LP1218GXR, against the best-available dual-hose portable air conditioner from Whynter that was rated for similar heat capacity and lower noise than the big ARC-14SH we’d previously tested. We also decided to try a new testing setup to find out the real differences between single-hose and dual-hose units.

We set up an initial test in a small bedroom, loading the room with heat from our favorite space heaters to create repeatable conditions.

The results for the LG units we’d already used made sense, but the poor performance from the dual-hose Whynter showed us that our controls weren’t necessarily a fair comparison.

Dual-hose vs single-hose tests

We researched the standard tests designed by the Department of Energy for rating BTU capacity in air conditioners, and we discovered that there’s a long-running fight over how to test and rate these things.

Single-hose air conditioners rely on using up the cooled air in your home to move heat out the window vent. That works extremely well in a few conditions — like our space-heater test where all the heat was coming from inside the room and outdoor air wasn’t as hot — but when your room air will be replaced with 110°F outdoor air, it’s a disaster. If you want to know more, see our post about how portable air conditioners work.

We re-set our test room in the middle of summer during a week-long heat wave, at over 98°F each day, to compare performance between the LG’s top single-hose design and Whynter’s dual-hose design with matching noise performance.

We also added a window air conditioner on a third day of testing to see how much better it would fare. We knew window units were more efficient in extreme heat, but the result totally changed our perspective on portable air conditioners.

Noise tests

We also considered another important attribute of a portable air conditioner — noise levels. The 14,000 BTU Whynter, while significantly more powerful than most other portables, produces a much higher noise level. We would not recommend it for a bedroom.

In contrast, the smaller 12,000 BTU Whynter is one of the quietest we’ve tested. Not as quiet as a room fan or even a window air conditioner, but the sound of the compressor turning on and off is not nearly as noticeable as it was on the bigger unit. LG’s top single-hose unit is comparable.

If you want an even quieter AC, you could step down to a smaller 10,000 BTU unit, but you’re trading between how quickly a room is cooled and how quiet it is.

Comparing the best portable air conditioners

For all the metrics on how Whynter compared to the other top models we tested, check out the following chart from our review of the best portable air conditioner:

The bottom line

Overall, the 12,000 BTU Whynter – ARC122DS Elite is our top choice for those looking to cool a small room in a hot or humid climate, but only if you can’t make a window air conditioner work. The Whynter is better than almost any other portable air conditioner in this price bracket, and it will even compete with 14,000-BTU single-hose designs on an especially hot day.

If you need the most cooling power you can get in a “portable” unit, the bulky, heavy, loud ARC14SH will move more heat, but you won’t enjoy trying to sleep beside it.

Best Portable: Whynter - ARC-122DS

Whynter is at the top of the dual-hose game, and when the mercury rises above 95°F, you'll forgive the styling. The noise performance is also best-in-class, too. There aren't many dual-hose systems to choose from, so you should definitely check this one out.

See Price at Amazon.comSee Price at Home Depot

The post Whynter Portable AC Review (ARC-14S & ARC122DS) appeared first on Your Best Digs.

When we talk about air conditioners, we typically mean machines that soak up heat and humidity from your room air and move it outside. Without installing tubing to move coolant in and out through your wall, you’ve got to mount the air conditioner half-inside, half-outside like a window unit, or you’ve got to vent hot air out the window with a loud fan and an air hose.

But if you’re flexible in your definition, there are a few ways you can make a room more comfortable without moving the heat outside. The most common approach, which is sometimes called a “ventless air conditioner,” is an evaporative cooler. They go by many names, including “swamp cooler,” but they’re basically a cross between a humidifier and a room fan.

How does evaporative cooling work?

Evaporating water cools air the same way melting ice cools your food in a cooler: By absorbing extra energy as it changes between phases.

Think of cooling with evaporation like starting a party: Liquid water is a bunch of low-energy molecules just relaxing together in a corner, and evaporated water is like hyperactive high-energy molecules dancing all over the room. To change from relaxed to hyperactive, water needs to soak up a lot of heat energy.

In dry, hot conditions, it’s easy to get water to evaporate — spreading the water out over a sponge-like filter and pushing air through it with a fan helps speed up the process and ensures the maximum amount of heat is taken out of the air circulating through the room.

Evaporative coolers will continue working until the air starts to become too humid to soak up more vapor. That’s why evaporative systems actually work best when you allow some of the cooled air to escape and some hot dry air to come in through a window or door to replace it.

Where are evaporative coolers effective?

The drier your air, the better evaporative cooling works. On the map above, we used data from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration to map out summertime temperatures and humidity in three conditions where evaporative cooling can work:

• Ideal regions with daytime humidity below 45% and maximum temperatures below 90°F
• Regions that have the same ideal humidity, but with temperatures above 100°F
• Less-suited regions with temperatures up to 100 and summertime peak humidity between 45% and 55%

The difference between cooling in the ideal zone and in areas with higher humidity is extreme. One set of example conditions we found shows that in extra-dry air at 15% relative humidity in 90°F weather, you can actually get air 29 degrees cooler with an evaporative system. At 50% RH, the same system will only cool the air by 15°F, and the things will start to feel clammy.

As you can see, the zones where evaporative cooling works best don’t cover much of the United States population. But if you happen to live in the milder parts of the Southwest, or even a few places in Washington state and inland of the Eastern Seaboard, evaporative cooling might be worth investigating if you’re looking for a low-cost way to cool off a room.

In the hottest desert climates evaporative cooling can work very well, but you’re more likely to find this principle working in a large outdoor-mounted swamp cooler with a bigger fan blowing through ducts and an automatic water supply system.

Ventless coolers vs portable air conditioners

Choosing between these two types of systems comes down to climate. In dry regions where evaporative cooling works well, so-called ventless air conditioners are more efficient than portable air conditioners and will humidify your air at the same time. But in humid conditions like the “Deep South,” the evaporative cooler won’t work at all.

In dry conditions

If the air is dry, you won’t need much cooling to feel comfortable, and the increase in humidity from an evaporative cooler will be a refreshing alternative to the moisturizer and specialty soaps you use to help keep your sensitive skin from drying out. The combination of shade, cool water from an insulated bottle, and an evaporative cooler can make desert conditions very tolerable for most people.

In contrast, running an air conditioner will dry out your air even more. Portable air conditioners can re-circulate the same air past the chilling coil to cool it more and more, but even the best dual-hose portable air conditioners struggle to keep room temperatures below 75°F when summer heat waves hit. Central or window AC systems are far better if you need significant cooling.

In humid conditions

In conditions above 60% relative humidity, evaporative systems barely function. If you’ve already got humidity in your outdoor air, the amount of energy that can be soaked up by adding more with an evaporative cooler is very small, and the air would become so muggy you’d probably just turn the system off.

Portable air conditioners are very similar to stand-alone dehumidifiers, except that they dump all the heat they’ve absorbed — not to mention extra heat from the compressor — out a window instead of back into your room. A portable air conditioner also uses the water it captures to help cool its components, which boosts efficiency and removes the need for dumping out a tank every hour.

The post What Are Ventless Portable Air Conditioners? appeared first on Your Best Digs.

The short answer to this is that you can safely run a portable air conditioner without a vent hose, but you should only do it in dehumidifier mode, and it will actually heat up your room.

How portable air conditioners work

How a portable air conditioner works, put simply is it captures heat and moisture out of your air, then moves it outside.

Almost all air conditioners use a refrigerant that can soak up incredible amounts of heat from an “evaporator” coil when it’s in a vapor phase, then transfer that heat into a “condenser” coil when it is compressed into a liquid. This two-phase system is used in most appliances that need to cool things — refrigerators, freezers, portable ice makers and air conditioners.

The cold side of an air conditioner is pretty much the same no matter what type you have. Air coming in from your room flows past the cold evaporator coil, which pulls out heat and condenses humidity into drops of water.

The hot side of the air conditioning system is where the differences really matter. A central system will have a giant condenser coil outside your house with a big fan to help transfer heat into the surrounding air. The compressor and condenser fan make more noise than anything else in the system, so keeping those outside also makes the system quieter. A good window ac unit is still relatively quiet, since the compressor and fan are still outside the window.

A portable air conditioner has to keep all of the hot-side components inside the chassis sitting beside you in your room. The air that carries heat away from the condenser coil has to go out the vent hose if you want to cool off your room. If you don’t use the exhaust hose, the heat will stay in the room with you.

What happens if you don’t use a vent?

A portable air conditioner in cooling mode is very much like a purpose-built dehumidifier, except for one important difference: Portable air conditioners drip captured water onto the hot condenser coil, which makes the removal of heat more efficient and means you don’t have to dump out a tank every hour. If you send that air and humidity outside, it’s a win-win move.

If you take off the vent hose, though, the AC will just run your room air through a cycle between cool-and-dry and hot-and-humid. Since most units consume about 1,000 watts of electricity, this would actually heat up your room far more than it would cool off.

Switching a portable AC to “dehumidifier” mode doesn’t change the amount of heat being generated, but it makes the water go straight to a catch-tank (or, better, out of a drain hose) instead of back into the air. In this case, the big difference compared to a dehumidifier is that portable AC units typically have very small water tanks and are difficult to drain unless you can roll them outside and drain the water onto your lawn.

If you’re dealing with excessive humidity but heat isn’t as big of a problem, running a dehumidifier may make a room more comfortable. It’s still worth having the exhaust hose attached, though, unless it’s cold enough outside that you actually want the 1,000 watts of heat instead of cooling.

Ventless alternatives

One alternative to a portable air conditioner that doesn’t require giant air hoses is the portable “ventless” evaporative cooler, better known as a portable swamp cooler.

A swamp cooler doesn’t really remove heat from your air. Instead, it traps heat in the process of changing water from liquid to vapor, basically the same way your skin cools off when you sweat.

That water vapor will keep the heat trapped until it condenses into liquid again, so the air coming out of the cooler will only be cooler than your room air until you’ve turned your room into a muggy swamp — it’s best to run these systems with some fresh dry air coming in through a window or door and humid air escaping on the other side of the room.

The post Can You Run A Portable Air Conditioner With No Exhaust Hose? appeared first on Your Best Digs.

2016 tests

We first tested cooling power with four units in a 175 square foot office and a 400 square foot living room. We ran the air conditioners for approximately an hour in the heat of the early San Diego summer in our poorly insulated home, whose two front rooms are frequently uncomfortable and baked by the sun.

Using an indoor thermometer, we measured the beginning and ending temperatures in the room. We then repeated this process three times in each area, for a total of around six hours cooling time for each unit tested. While by no means scientifically verifiable, we got a good impression of the real-world cooling power of each unit in moderate heat.

The LG actually compared favorably to the Whynter 14,000 unit and out-performed its competitors in Honeywell and Haier.

While this represents realistic daily use in many climates, the conditions were not blazing hot. You’ll see results in above-95°F weather in our updated test farther down.

In the bigger great room (a living room/dining room combined room), the Whynter beat out the LG by a significant margin, showing where the 14,000 BTUs really come in handy. However, the LG still came in second, doing a nice job and also cooling the room considerably in the tests we ran.

Next, we considered an important attribute of a portable air conditioner — noise levels. If you want to sleep and cool your room, you’ll want a unit that doesn’t require noise canceling headphones.

The LG did just that, with ongoing noise levels of 70 decibels at its highest point that made it the quietest of the four units we tested. The 14,000 BTU Whynter, while significantly more powerful, began to fall back here, producing a much louder noise level that we would not recommend for a bedroom.

2017 tests

After two years of excellent service, LG discontinued the LP1215GXR and replaced it with the LP1217GXR, which was a bit louder and not quite as quick in our cooling tests.

2018 tests

In the summer of 2018 LG released a new version of their portable, the LG – LP1218GXR. We tested this unit against the 2015 and 2017 models, and also added a comparable dual-hose portable air conditioner from Whynter to get a better comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two types.

We set up an initial test in a small bedroom, loading the room with heat from space heaters to create repeatable conditions.

The results for the LG units we’d already used made sense, but the poor performance from the dual-hose Whynter showed us that our controls weren’t necessarily a fair comparison.

Dual-hose vs single-hose tests

We researched the standard tests designed by the Department of Energy for rating BTU capacity in air conditioners, and we discovered that there’s a long-running fight over how to test and rate these things.

Single-hose air conditioners rely on using up the cooled air in your home to move heat out the window vent. That works extremely well in a few conditions — like our space-heater test where all the heat was coming from inside the room and outdoor air wasn’t as hot — but when your room air will be replaced with 110°F outdoor air, it’s a disaster. If you want to know more, see our post about how portable air conditioners work.

We re-set our test room in the middle of summer during a week-long heat wave, at over 98°F each day, to compare performance between the LG’s top single-hose design and Whynter’s dual-hose design with matching noise performance.

We also added a window air conditioner on a third day of testing to see how much better it would fare. We knew window units were more efficient in extreme heat, but the result totally changed our perspective on portable air conditioners.

2019 and 2020 updates

Lg didn’t refresh their line in 2019 as expected, instead releasing a single model in the largest size and with a more expensive variable-speed compressor system: the LP1419IVSM. At a significantly higher price, and with all the same drawbacks of other single-hose designs, we skipped it. This design does allow for more efficient performance and lower noise on less-hot days, since it only runs the compressor as quickly as it needs in order to keep the room cool.

In 2020, LG released the LP-1220GSR. LG made a few changes to storage features we didn’t like: They removed the cord management spool and magnetic remote control storage cubby. Instead this year we get a cable tie and a wall bracket; those would be welcome upgrades to the old design, but as it is we like the old model more.

Performance-wise, according to the spec sheet the 2020 model has less refrigerant inside, running a bit faster to compensate. It pulls 30 watts more power and makes 1 decibel more noise, so while the differences are small we think the LP1218 is still the best LG portable AC.

Updated noise tests

We’ve added five new models to our testing stable since then, and the LG line has always been quieter than the competition from brands like Frigidaire and Honeywell. The new 12,000 BTU Whynter, as well as easily beating any single-hose design during a heat wave, did manage to tie up the race for quietest portable AC.

Comparing the best portable air conditioners

For all the metrics on how LG compared to the other top models we tested, check out the following chart:

The final word on the LG

The LG Single-hose air conditioners have worked well for us in moderate San Diego and Orange County heat. The LG is relatively quiet and cools smaller rooms quickly compared to other single-hose portables, so we’re quite happy with it under local conditions for most of the summer.

But if you try to cool a room with a single-hose design when it’s hotter than 95°F outside, you’ll actually heat up the room. Finding some way to install a window or through-wall air conditioner is well worth hiring a contractor for, or you can use a dual-hose unit like the Whynter 12,000 BTU or larger, louder 14,000 BTU for better (but still not great) performance.

Best Single-Hose Portable: LG - 12,000 BTU

With quiet power, portability and good looks, the LG - 12,000 BTU is our choice if you're not dealing with 100-degree scorchers. This is great for bedroom use.

See Price at HomeDepot.com

The post LG Portable Air Conditioner Reviews (2015-2021) appeared first on Your Best Digs.

The first step in troubleshooting is always to clearly define the problem. What are you expecting to happen, and what is happening instead? Answering those questions can often point you toward the answer.

We’ve split our troubleshooting steps into two sections: basic troubleshooting for major problems that keep a portable air conditioner from working at all, and performance troubleshooting for air conditioners that don’t cool as well as you need them to.

Basic troubleshooting

This section covers problems that will stop the air conditioner from turning on or blowing air.

• Power to unit: Make sure your air conditioner is getting power. If the lights and fan don’t turn on when you press the power button, find out why the unit is not getting power.

• 1. Check the air conditioner electrical plug. There should be a test and reset button for a built-in breaker: press the “test” button to trip the breaker, then push firmly on the reset button and try to turn the air conditioner on again.
  2. If the unit still won’t power up, make sure there’s power to the outlet — a night light or reading lamp can help with this step. If you don’t have power to the outlet, make sure a wall switch isn’t turned off, and then check the breakers in your household electrical panel.
• Mode setting: Most air conditioners have at least three settings: “Cool,” “Fan,” and “Dry.” Make sure your AC is set to “Cool” mode, and turn the air conditioner thermostat down below room temperature to make sure the system will activate. Also realize that the system will typically wait a few minutes after powering up before starting the cooling cycle, especially if it’s already been running.
• Fan obstruction: Check the fan grilles for obstruction, and shine a flashlight into the openings to see if anything is stopping the fans from moving.
• A full water tank: There is almost always a warning indicator to tell you that the internal tank is full. If your AC shuts off suddenly and flashes or beeps, this is usually the cause. You’ll need to wheel the air conditioner somewhere you can drain out the water, like a patio lawn. You could hold the unit over a bathtub or toilet while you get someone else to open the bottom drain plug, but be careful, Portable ACs are heavy!
• Other faults conditions: If you see another error code on a display, hear warning beeps or if the fans don’t spin when the machine turns on, you’ll need to check your manual or call your air conditioner manufacturer for more specific troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting poor performance

If your air conditioner turns on, but isn’t performing as expected, here are some steps to take to troubleshoot poor performance.

After you’ve made sure that the mode is set for cooling (not the “dry” or “fan” setting), wait for the compressor to kick on. Usually it’ll take 60-90 seconds after you power up the unit.

Check the temperature of air flowing out of the top of the unit and the air flowing into the evaporator coil behind the top filter grill at the back. We can’t say exactly how much difference in temperature there should be, since that depends on the unit’s size and your actual air temperature, but it should blow cold air.

If you have an AC not blowing cold air, try the following steps to see if there’s something keeping your air conditioner from performing its best.

• Clean the filters and coils: If you haven’t cleaned your air conditioner in a while, take out the filters and run a vacuum hose with a soft brush-type attachment over the fins of the two coils. For more information see our post on how to clean an air conditioner.
• Ice on the evaporator coil: While you’re checking your filter, take a look at the top coil, called the evaporator coil, and see if there is any frost building up and stopping airflow. The build-up will melt into the internal reservoir after a while, but running the unit in fan mode (not cool mode) will help speed that up.
• Check exhaust hose for kinks or blockage: If hot air can’t get out of the vent, the air conditioner won’t be able to cool off your room air.

Improving efficiency

If your AC is blowing cold air out of the top vent, but your room still isn’t getting cold, your room is probably too hot or too large for the heat capacity of your air conditioner.

Remember that portable air conditioners can only cool the room size they’re advertised for in moderate outdoor heat. If it’s above 95°F outside, your portable unit will have a hard time keeping up, especially if it’s a single-hose design that uses up cooled air to remove heat.

You can still take the following steps to boost performance and keep your room as cool as possible on hot days:

• Straighten your vent air hose: Keeping your air conditioner in a position where the vent hose will be as straight and short as possible to get the heat out more easily. Tighter bends are worse than a longer hose.
• Check the air hose for leaks: The air traveling through a portable air conditioner vent hose carries the heat you’re trying to get rid of, so make sure none of it leaks back into the room.
• Check the window bracket for leaks: Air leaking out of the hose joint or leaking in from outside will decrease the performance of your air conditioner.
• Insulate your windows: If you get direct sunlight shining through a window, it can add 10% to the heat in a room. Insulate your windows with shades, curtains or reflective film to keep the heat out.
• Close doors and windows: If hot air leaks into the room from outside, your air conditioner may not be able to keep up. If you open your windows at night, close them as soon as outdoor temperatures start rising.
• Insulating the vent hose: If you’ve insulated your windows and doors as much as possible, you can also insulate the outside of the air hose carrying heat out of the air conditioner to get a small improvement in performance. Foil-faced-bubble-wrap is only really effective if it’s installed with an air gap around the duct, so unless you’re going to build a shell of fiberglass or foam. The gains still won’t be as big as from stopping sunlight from coming into your room, but it may be worthwhile if you’re not moving the air conditioner frequently.

The post How To Fix A Portable AC That’s Not Cooling appeared first on Your Best Digs.

• For a small bedroom, a 5,000 BTU window unit should only use 450 watts
• A mid-size 8,000 BTU AC should use fewer than 715 watts
• A big 14,000 BTU air conditioner should only use 1,250 watts

Even the least-expensive units we researched for our review of the best window air conditioners got a score of 11, and all of our picks were rated 12 or 12.1.

When we tested 8,000 BTU window air conditioners, we also tested the power draw on every cooling and fan setting with an electricity usage monitor. As you can see, there is some difference, but it’s not very large.

The latest and most efficient variable-speed window units like this bigger model from LG or the brand-new Midea U-shaped unit rate as high as 14.7 and 15, but you’ll pay extra up-front to squeeze out that extra efficiency.

Window vs portable air conditioner efficiency

Compared to portable air conditioners, window units are engineering marvels: Most portable designs can’t even hit an efficiency rating of better than 7 or 8 in real-world conditions, and so a rating is rarely listed. You’ll use about 50% more electricity to get the same amount of cooling, and that’s assuming only moderate outdoor heat — on the hottest days, even the best portable air conditioners can’t keep up.

Window AC watts  vs. central systems

Comparing window units to central air conditioning is trickier, though, since the efficiency rating system most often advertised is different.

Window unit CEER is based on the BTUs per hour removed when it’s 95 degrees outside, as defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute standard 210/240. That same standard defines another calculation called the “Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio” (SEER) to average out efficiency over an entire year, including a standardized number of days out of the year an air conditioner is not running.

That means the SEER rating for a central air conditioner is always higher than the CEER of a window unit, even sometimes if the central system is really less efficient. If you can find a non-“seasonal” EER rating for a central system, that is a number you can more closely compare with the CEER of a window unit.

Energy Star lists the most-efficient central air conditioning systems, among which we found a Lennox unit that hit a class-leading EER of 16 (SEER of 26) for a small 24000-BTU central system. It’ll use about 1400 watts to cool about 1200 square feet of a house in average summer conditions, and even less if you only need a little bit of cooling. A less-efficient Mr. Cool model from Home Depot with the same capacity but a SEER of 14.5 will use about 1,000 watts more, and only runs at one speed.

Remember, though, that even if the efficiencies are comparable the way you use a central air conditioner is different from a central system. You’re spending less on electricity because you’re only cooling off one room when you’re in it, but you have to settle for more noise and an obstructed window.

Watts vs amps

If you already own an air conditioner (or other electrical appliance) it will have a label that tells you how many amperes (“amps”) of current they can draw. You may not have a listing for watts at all.

The rating for maximum amps is the most important number to know for electrical appliances, since it’s this factor that moves you closer to the limit of your circuit breaker.

To figure out your peak power draw in watts, you can just multiply amps by the voltage of your electrical system. If you’re using this number for informal calculations and comparisons, you can assume 120 volts for standard wall-mount outlets in North American homes, but a 5% change higher or lower isn’t unusual.

Newer homes should have 20-amp breakers dedicated to each room, and hopefully more than one in a room you’d put an air conditioner in. Sadly, many of us are stuck with older homes or apartments that have 15-amp breakers shared between multiple rooms.

If you’re putting in an appliance that will run constantly like an air conditioner, it’s well worth finding out which outlets and lights are on which breakers to avoid overloading a circuit. As a rule of thumb, anything with an electric heater in it — a hair dryer, a kettle, or even a keurig — can draw enough amps to trip a breaker if you’ve already got another small appliance running.

How many BTUs do you need?

If you’re not sure what size of air conditioner you should look for, we’ve taken the size recommendations from the Department of Energy and made a calculator to help you find the BTU capacity you need.

You Need A
BTU
Air Conditioner

The post How Many Watts Does A Window AC Use? appeared first on Your Best Digs.

We do this complex job using two coils of tubing filled with heat-absorbing refrigerant, one to grab heat from room air and another to radiate the heat away. For most air conditioners the second hot coil is sitting outside where heat can be carried away easily. But to make a portable air conditioner work as a compact and self-contained system, the radiator is still in your house, and it needs a powerful fan and a giant vent hose to move the heat outside.

Evaporator and condenser coils

Air conditioning basically requires four components:

• A fan to circulate indoor air
• A way to capture heat from indoor air
• A way to transfer the captured heat to outdoor air
• A way to regenerate the heat capture system

The evaporator coil and refrigerant

The room air fan blows past a radiator-like coil of metal tubing  — called an evaporator coil — to trap heat.

Refrigerant, usually a chemical called R410A, is a gas at temperatures above -61 degrees Fahrenheit under normal pressure, but it starts this cycle under extreme pressure to keep it liquified. After passing through an “expansion valve” (like the spray valve on a can of paint) it expands into a vapor inside the evaporator coil tube.

That change soaks up an impressive amount of heat. If you’ve ever held a “canned air” sprayer upside down and squirted out liquid propellant to freeze things, it’s the same principle.

The required heat is pulled in from the blowing room air through the metal tubing and attached fins. The cold fins also trap humidity — think of water beading up on the side of a cold glass on a humid summer afternoon.

In a window air conditioner, the evaporator coil is sitting just inside your window, while in a portable unit it’s visible just behind a mesh filter at the top of the unit.

Keeping the evaporator coil from getting plugged up with airborne dirt and hair is essential to keeping your air conditioning system working properly. See our post on how to clean an air conditioner for more details.

The condenser coil and compressor

Moving the captured heat outdoors and providing all the pressure that makes the energy-sucking vaporization possible are both accomplished by the other side of the system.

A compressor pump pulls the vaporized refrigerant in, then squeezes it into liquid form. The liquid physically can’t hold all of the heat it soaked up when it became a vapor, so as it passes through another fin-covered radiator — the “condenser” coil — the heat moves out into the air with the help of a fan. The pressurized refrigerant goes back to the evaporator coil to start the process over again.

In most air conditioners the compressor, condenser coil and fan are all outside so they can work at peak efficiency without leaking noise and heat back into your home.

In a portable air conditioner, all of those components are right beside you, inside the room you’re trying to cool off, packed into a rolling plastic box.

To get the heat outside, the portable also has to use a compact, extra-fast blower to draw air across the small condenser coil, then out a window through a flexible vent hose. That’s already a big compromise compared to the big outdoor condenser setups of other systems, but it gets worse.

Single vs. dual-hose designs

In a single-hose design, the air that carries away heat comes from your room. That means you’re pulling heat out of the air with one coil, then literally adding the same heat back to some of that same air with another coil before sending it out the window.

In a dual-hose system, the air conditioner has a hose dedicated to sucking in outdoor air to use when carrying away heat. It’s still not as efficient as keeping all of the hot components on the other side of a window, but at least it isn’t using up cooled air.

Best Dual-Hose AC: Whynter - ARC-122DS Elite

If you want top speeds but don't like the modem Spectrum has provided, this is your best bet.

See Price at AmazonSee Price at Home Depot

If you have to use a portable air conditioner because of your windows and room layout, the Whynter is the model that makes the most sense. It’s not as loud as a giant 14,000 BTU model, and it doesn’t have the efficiency drawbacks of single-hose models.

Fortunately, the best portable systems of either design can use the water that collects on the cold coil and drip it onto the hot coil, where it re-evaporates and helps carry heat out the window. This “fully evaporative” system also means you won’t have to manually drain the captured water in most conditions.

Drawbacks in extreme heat

The worst part of a single-hose system is that it blows the exhaust air out your window without any way to replace it. More air has to come in from outside, so if that outdoor air is hotter than 90 degrees you’ll probably heat up your room more than you cool it.

When we’ve tested portable air conditioners in moderate temperatures, the infiltration of outdoor air didn’t reduce the comfort of people in the room we tested in. The problem is when you use the portable in one room while people are trying to just survive the heat in other rooms — the temperature of bigger rooms with the most air leaks would see the biggest temperature rise, while someone sitting in front of the portable AC in a bedroom would be relatively comfortable.

When we tested in heat-wave conditions above 100°F, a single hose air conditioner cooled the room for about half an hour, but one hour in the heat infiltration had made the room hotter than when we started.

In our heat-wave test, the dual-hose design was only able to get the room down to about 75°F — and it actually took longer to get there than with the single-hose design, since it had to use 100-degree air from outside to carry away heat instead of using up all the 80-degree air from the home. But after 31 minutes that paid off, and the dual-hose design could keep a stable 76°F while the single-hose design was headed back north of 80°F.

Portable vs window air conditioners

Compared to the best window air conditioner, even the dual-hose system is still pretty sad. Our window air conditioner, in the same room and very similar outdoor conditions, had already cooled down to 71°F before the portables hit 75°F, and it was easily able to go even lower than our set 70°F thermostat point to keep a stable, cool temperature.

It’s important to note that the window air conditioner is also drawing half as many watts (550 vs 1200) and making half as much noise (10 dBA less). These units are all rated about the same under the new Department of Energy standards for “seasonally adjusted cooling capacity,” but that rating only factors days hotter than 96°F as 20% of the rating. See our comparison of portable vs. window air conditioners for more details.

The post How Do Portable Air Conditioners Work? appeared first on Your Best Digs.

All things being equal, a window air conditioner is better than a self-contained portable design: It will be quieter, more efficient, and less expensive to purchase. But not everyone can install a window unit easily, and that’s why portables have become so popular.

Advantages of a window air conditioner

All of the advantages of a window unit come from the fact that most of it is hanging out your window. This makes it more efficient, more affordable, and even more quiet. You’ll also give up less floor space.

Efficiency

Since the job of a room air conditioner is to take heat from your room air and move it outside, having the hot components — the condenser coil and compressor — sitting outside in free-moving air is ideal. Since it’s all one connected unit, the window AC can even use the water that collects on the indoor coil to help cool off its outdoor components!

Price

The fact that a window air conditioner is so efficient means it can cool a room with a relatively small heat capacity. Since all the parts are compact and contained in the box-shaped chassis, these systems are also fairly easy to pack up and ship around the world. Simplicity and efficiency together mean that you should find a 8,000 BTU window unit for $150–$200 less than a comparable 12,000 BTU portable system. The fact that you’ll save 40% or more on the electricity you use will make the difference even bigger.

Noise

The loudest parts of an air conditioning system are the compressor and the fans moving air past the two coils. A window air conditioner keeps the compressor and one fan outside, so it’s quiet. Not as quiet as a central system, but much quieter than a portable.

More floor space

A window air conditioner blocks part of a window and one outlet, but that’s really it. You don’t lose any floor space the way you do with a portable unit, and there are no bulky hoses hanging off your window.

If you don’t have a window close enough to your desk to catch the breeze from a window unit, remember that you can add a tower fan to get the advantages of both systems.

Advantages of a portable air conditioner

Installation

The biggest advantage of a portable air conditioner is that it can be adapted to vent using almost any window — It doesn’t even have to vent out a window. In contrast, window air conditioners are designed to work with vertically-sliding double-hung windows only, with the top window sash keeping it from falling.

The installation of a portable air conditioner isn’t exactly easy — if you’ve got to carry it up the stairs, it’s still heavy. But it’s definitely less nerve-racking to put some foam tape and a plastic bracket in a window than it is to balance a window unit on your windowsill while you secure it.

Portability

The best thing about a portable air conditioner is that you can aim it exactly where you need it. Not only can you adapt it to nearly any window or door in your house, you can turn it directly toward your desk chair, your sofa, or wherever else you need a cool breeze.

More window space

While a portable AC takes up more space on your floor, it only blocks about 6 inches of your window. Some may find the gigantic vent hoses too much of a compromise, but if you can get past that aesthetic hurdle you’ll have more of your window to look out of.

The portable AC bracket can also be secured so that you can easily open the window and even keep your screen in place — with a window AC installed you should lock the window closed so the AC can’t fall out.

The post Portable AC vs Window AC: Which Is Better? appeared first on Your Best Digs.