ARC-131GD

To those who justifiably complain in their reviews about modern-day PORTABLE air conditioners being noisy, did you know that a quiet, much more efficient design call the PORTABLE-SPLIT AC is available in Europe and other parts of the world with a 50 HZ electric supply but is NO LONGER available for the USA's 60 HZ market? Way back in the 1990s, we purchased a PORTABLE-SPLIT AC that is no longer available in the USA but technologically advanced versions of it are sold in Europe. Our model was a two-piece, 11K BTU, DeLonghi PAC GSR/MU "Pinguino" (aptly named penguin) with its fan and electronics housed within its ultra-quiet interior unit. Its small compressor unit, which is the piece that makes the noise, was outside where it could drip condensate unimpeded instead of flooding the house or shutting down the AC if emptying was required. The compressor was permanently attached to the interior unit by a connector line comprised of a pair of small refrigerant-filled copper tubes housed in an unobtrusive, slim (1.5" x 3"), 6-foot-long plastic sleeve. (One can search for this Pinguino model number on the internet to see its configuration.) Our dependable PORTABLE-SPLIT Pinguino provided over fifteen years of outstanding, trouble-free service to a house with difficult-to-vent casement windows and sliding glass doors. We placed its thin connector line at the bottom of a two-inch opening in one sliding glass door and inserted a barely-visible, narrow foam insulating strip to block off the remainder of the 2" vertical opening. (Exiting the connector line out a double-hung window would be even easier.) Security-wise, our sliding glass doors came with an accessory that prevented the door from sliding open any further. Comparatively speaking, one was barely aware that the portable was there when it was operating except for the floor space that its interior unit occupied.The basic principle behind the superior efficiency of a "split" AC, with its inside and outside components connected by refrigerant-filled tubing, is that no outside air contaminates the conditioned air in the living space. By contrast, the air-to-air portables currently available to the American public not only have their noisy compressors housed in the one-piece interior unit, they also have truly ugly, highly inefficient, single or dual five-inch-diameter air-exchange hoses that are impossible to conceal, troublesome to vent, and problematic because both single and dual hose models create some degree of negative-air-pressure that draws the hot, humid outside air back into our living spaces to contaminate the conditioned air and condense on our cooled interior surfaces. What's currently available to us is a giant step backwards in air conditioning technology.Though no longer available as a portable in America, the quiet, efficient, two-piece "SPLIT" AC design is now exclusively the lucrative product of big-name-brand Ductless Mini-Split manufacturers. Trouble is that, compared to portables, Ductless Mini-Split air conditioners are very expensive and require (a) professional installation to retain warranty and (b) putting a hole in an exterior wall. Installation of our portable Pinquino was just the opposite; we seasonally set up and removed the Pinquino twice a year for the fifteen-plus years that we enjoyed it; it took only minutes and required no expensive professional assistance. We tucked the two-piecer in a closet for the winter and didn't have to deal with a hole in an outside wall or a drafty window kit when the temperatures were below zero outside. For those of us (apartment dwellers OR homeowners) who either can't or don't want to drill a hole in an outside wall but live in areas with hot, humid summers, we no longer have that quiet, efficient PORTABLE-SPLIT option. (There is an unwieldy SPLIT AC hybrid with a 20 to 25 ft. connection line with a "Quick-Connect" feature that's designed to exit either through a window OR a hole in the outside wall but, since the interior unit is secured to the wall like a Ductless Mini-Split, it may be movable with considerable effort but hardly qualifies as "portable".)Unfortunately by 2011, I felt that either the Pinquino was starting to show its age or the summers were getting hotter so, since I couldn't buy a PORTABLE-SPLIT AC in the USA anymore, I decided to replace it with newer and, I hoped, better technology. Trying to fill the PORTABLE-SPLIT AC void, I bought (a) a single hose air-to-air portable in 2011, (b) a dual-hose air-to-air portable in 2012, and (c) a very expensive Ductless Mini-Split AC whose professional installation required a hole in my wall in 2013. Both of the noisy portables, single AND dual hose, caused a negative-air-pressure that made my living space mold-inducingly humid. Over the course of its first month in the summer of 2013, the Ductless Mini-Split system failed. The HVAC installer was unresponsive to my complaints and never revealed whether a faulty installation or defective compressor caused the refrigerant leak not discovered until September, so I returned it. The Ductless Mini-Split was great for the brief time that it worked and I do not think that all HVAC professionals are as incompetent or unresponsive to their customers or that all Ductless Mini-Split ACs are defective, but last summer's stressful, expensive experience was one that I'm in no hurry to repeat.This spring, I bought a dual-hose Whynter ARC-131GD from Amazon as an interim solution and have used it in May...but May is not the hottest, most humid month in the Northeast by any stretch so it hasn't been challenged. However, it is a solid, well-built unit. Even its electric cord is a substantial gauge. Its fan easily disperses cold air through the fixed, tiered opening on the top of the unit with sufficient strength to condition my 425 square-foot room. The ARC-131GD's "EXHAUST" hose is smaller that the "INTAKE" hose, and I personally think that this diameter difference might contribute to minimizing the negative air pressure in my tightly constructed house. I base this opinion on the fact that I cannot feel any perceptible air being drawn by the ARC-131GD into the house through the stove and bathroom exhaust fans as I could with the other two air-to-air portable ACs. I really like its unusual medium gray color because it visually disappears in our dark room instead of standing out like white or other bright color. In fact, I wish the hoses were the same color so they would "disappear"!No surprise, the (compressor-housed) Whynter ARC-131GD is considerably noisier that a "split" system, either portable or ductless, both of which have outside compressors. The ARC-131GD's noise is noticeable but tolerable, although I'd classify it as more than "white noise" to me. However, I only paid $400 for the 131GD versus a whopping $3500 for that troublesome, hole-in-the-wall Ductless Mini-Split, so I rationalize that I can tolerate some noise for the $-difference. Would I trade this Whynter for a PORTABLE-SPLIT of the same quality and longevity as my quiet, dependable Pinguino PORTABLE-SPLIT? In a nano-second! However, the ARC-131GD is, for the reasons mentioned above, satisfactory so far and I have expectations that it will remain satisfactory throughout the summer's increasing heat and humidity because it has demonstrated that it has considerable reserve power to make my room uncomfortably cold in short order when cranked up to top fan speed while set at the lowest temperature.I gave the ARC-131GD five stars because, so far, it does the job for which it is designed, but it is what it is. Air-to-air technology is inherently noisy and inefficient. I'm still looking for another ultra-quiet, efficient, unobtrusive portable-split AC and wonder why I no longer have access to such a product in America. Conservatively speaking, I've read at least a thousand justifiably negative portable reviews over the past 3-1/2 years since the passing of the Pinquino. Perhaps it's time for a PORTABLE-SPLIT AC rebirth for those of us who can utilize this two-piece SPLIT design. To that end, I still hope that manufacturers of PORTABLE-SPLITS realize that there is a market for this product here and convert a current 50 HZ model (with inverter technology, "quick-connect" lines, and other technological advances) to 60 HZ to give Americans this option again. Better yet, manufacture this option in America.

I'll start my review by stating that I've never owned another air conditioning unit, whether a "portable" one like this model or something else. I did a fair amount of research before buying this unit, though, and decided on this model because of the dual hoses and because the BTU rating seemed appropriate for my living area.Here are the pluses of this unit as I see it: Easy to follow installation instructions until it gets to the window plate. (More on that under the cons.) Okay looking for what it is. Has remote control. Puts out cold air when set to a/c, as promised. Not too loud. (I'm not sure whether other people who've commented on the loudness just got defective units or have different expectations.)Here are the cons/minuses:1. Window plate. Who designed this thing? I anticipated, based on the manufacturer's description, that I would simply be able to slide out a panel or two and lock the panel in place somehow since my window is in the size range this is supposed to fit. Well, when I used the small plate in conjunction with the one that the hoses go into, it was too small to cover the entire vertical space. When I used the long one, it was too big to put into the window. I had to cut the larger one down to size, and given that I don't have a saw (don't have much use for tools, generally speaking) it was quite a task to cut through the thing with a pair of scissors! The other issue I don't quite understand with the wall plates is why aren't designed to simply be more accommodating to different lengths. I'm not sure how to describe what I was expecting, but I used to have a dual window fan with slide-out accordian panels and I expected something a little more easy like that.2. Fan mode. One of the reasons I bought this model was the dual hoses, and I thought this would not only be useful when the unit was in a/c mode (exhausting hot air outside while drawing in new air to be cooled so as not to create a negative air pressure issue) but also in fan mode. Well, the unit does not draw air in from outside while in fan mode; it simply circulates the air that's already in the room. This makes sense when the unit is set in "auto" mode because you certainly wouldn't want it to draw in hot air from outside in between the a/c compressor's cycles. But when the outside temperature is actually cooler than it is inside, not being able to simply use this unit as a fan to draw in cool air is a MAJOR design flaw. Had I known this about this unit, I surely would not have purchased it. My need for this unit was actually more that I have difficulty getting an exchange of air from outside my condo with what's inside due to the builder's poor decision to install only one operating window. I figured that instead of simply getting a dual window fan like I had before that was really only effective in the area immediately adjacent to the fan due to a lack of power that I would get something like this that would surely be more effective at drawing in outside air while exhausting existing inside air. I figured that I'd really only need the a/c a few times per year when it's extremely hot outside where I live. When the evening air is 60 degrees but the inside of my condo is in the upper 70s, I can cool it down just as fast with a fan in the window as I can using this unit in a/c mode, using only about 20% of the energy. So I guess I'll be happy when it is actually hot outside and I have something that will actually provide cool air, but that only happens where I live on rare occasions.My other major beef about this unit is the designer's decision to have the a/c unit deliberately miscalibrated by 5 degrees. Want your room cooled down to 73 degrees? You must set the a/c to cool down to 68 degrees. If you set it to 73 degrees and it's currently under 78 degrees inside, the a/c unit won't even turn on. I understand the manufacturer's logic that this will save energy, but that's only true if the unit is being used by someone stupid. It's the equivalent of deliberately setting one's clock to the wrong time in order to trick one into getting up on time. I don't know about you, but if I know the clock is set 10 minutes fast then I'll simply compensate for that in my mind; I won't be fooled into thinking that 6:00 am is really 6:10 am.In a way, I feel like my star rating is overly generous since I actually do regret this purchase. To give it less than 3 stars when it basically does what it's supposed to do, though, doesn't seem fair. It's just the case that the product doesn't suit my needs very well and I probably would have been just as well served buying a new dual window fan for 10% of the cost of this unit.