I’m sitting here writing this review during yet another prolonged heatwave here in California and in much of the country. We have a house that was built in the ’60s in the SF Bay Area and it doesn’t have any built-in cooling. On top of that, the attic crawl space has a habit of trapping the day’s heat and keeping the house baking well past the sun going down. In summers past we’ve slept with fans running (we don’t have any windows in our bedroom that we can leave open) struggling to cool off enough to get a reasonable sleep.
This year, however, things are a bit more comfortable, after I was offered the NewAir 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner (model NAC14KWH03) to test out.
Let me get two geeky things out of the way:
- I understand that having a big number like 14,000 written out like that looks impressive in marketing materials, but couldn’t we just say 14 kBTU instead?
- BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, but if you read the Wikipedia article at that link, you’ll quickly figure out that for an air conditioner like this, they’re actually referencing the power used by the device over time, or BTUs/hour. Convert BTUs to Watts to get a sense of what this machine will draw.
If you want actual air conditioning in your house, you only have a few options. First is to have a whole-house system connected to the ductwork that’s also used for your heating (an HVAC system – Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning). If that didn’t come with your house, it’s a rather expensive prospect to get added.
Another option for room-only cooling (which can save money) is a window-mounted unit like the ones that are ubiquitous in apartments and dorms everywhere. They’re handy for a small space, but generally semi-permanent, and you actually have to have a window for that to work.
Last choice is a portable AC unit that you can move from room to room as needed. As long as you have somewhere for the machine to vent wast heat (remember your laws of thermodynamics – this thing has to move the heat energy it’s pulling from the air somewhere), you can use it anywhere.
The NewAir Portable Air Conditioner does this job with aplomb. It has a sleek, stylish design, with easy controls, a clear readout, and is super-portable on wheels that let you move it anywhere through your house.
The control panel on top is clearly laid out and each control is understandable. There are three modes – it can run as just a fan, as a fan that dehumidifies the air, and an air conditioner. In AC mode, you control the target temperature with the up/down buttons, and the fan speed with the speed button. In each mode, you can control directional oscillation, and set a timer or sleep mode for the unit. There’s also a remote control that allows you to do all of this from the comfort of, say, your bed.
Two features I really enjoy about the unit:
- The opening for the unit to expel air has a motorized louver, so when the machine is off, the louver closes, leaving it looking more like a piece of sculpture.
- The target temperature is displayed on the front of the unit in a blue LED readout that provides a cool glow at night. One might call the overall design aesthetic as 2001 a Space Air Conditioning Odyssey.
Out of the box, the unit comes with the remote, as well as an expandable vent hose and window-mount for the vent hose that will let you set it up to vent outside.
Bottom line is that we love this machine. It’s keeping us cool through a really warm period, and runs pretty quiet (like a fan). It works great for the 14′ x 16′ master bedroom we’re using it in. Once we get into Autumn and things cool down again, we’ll be able to roll it into storage, and save it for next year. If you’re in need of air conditioning this long, hot summer, the NewAir 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner is an excellent choice!
And even better, NewAir has sent us a coupon code. GeekFamily folks who use the code GEEKDAD10 when they purchase the NewAir 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner from this link will save an additional 10% off the current sale price of $399 (which is pretty good if you look around online or at your local home improvement stores).
