I'm in NYC in a basement apartment and my old junky LG 10,000 unit was doing nada.. I don't know if it was broken or just junky it never got anything that cold.

Now really, 12,000 btu units are supposed to be for a small space.. 400 to 500 square feet.

As I said I am in a basement apartment and I was SWELTERING... dying!!!!!
I researched every portable air conditioner under the sun and was ready to go out and buy one but the ones in the local stores either blew out ho hum air or were not set up to try at all, and online with all of them I read a lot of people saying they didn't do much... or ho hum reviews... this was the only unit where people wrote really enthusiastic 4 or 5 star reviews. I also learned that you don't even want to MESS with unit that has no exhaust / or just a single exhaust vent. If you are going to get a portable A/C - you WANT a dual vented one. One takes air in, the other sends hot air out. This is MUCH more efficient, cooler, and... Read more

We did a lot of research before choosing this Whynter "Eco-Friendly 12,000 BTU Dual hose Portable Air Conditioner". We have an older Victorian house that does not have central air that we had been cooling with standard in window units but, with the rough winters we get, we were getting tired of moving them in and out twice a year. This portable unit does a great job and more than meets my needs. Here are my observations:

Pros -
+ Cooling Ability; this unit easily chills my 15' x 20' (300 square feet) family room
+ Compressor Noise; this is surprisingly quite, even at the highest setting
+ Size; not too intrusively large, about the size of the old upright radio we have it setting next to
+ Portable; unit is fairly heavy but it is on wheels (note that the window vent needs to move with the unit)
+ Remote Control; a handy addition with a digital display that lets you change the temperature, fan speed, and timer from across the room
+ Easy Setup;... Read more

I did a lot of research, and called a bunch of local A/C shops before I bought this. They all recommended the dual hose feature - they said I'd be "wasting my money" getting anything else - pretty impressive, considering they sold both types and could have made money on me either way.

It's amazing. Within 20 minutes our whole bedroom (20 x 16, or 320 sq ft) is crisp and cool, and if we leave the door open it cools the hallway and the bedroom across the hallway, too.

I recommend this completely, but a few cons you may want to know just in case they're deal-breakers (in no particular order):
1) It's not quiet. However, it's not ridiculously loud, either. I can sleep through it, and I'm usually not able to sleep with much white noise. If being cool is your #1 priority (as it was for us), you can deal with the noise.
2) It's not small. We call it our R2D2 (Star Wars), as it's about the same size. We have a tall California King, and it still stands a... Read more