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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 26 customer reviews )
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46 of 46 found the following review helpful:
Update -- now in 2nd year of service Aug 23, 2009
By Christopher Pizzano
THE GOOD: attractive, fast install, quick-fix for house hot-spots, reusable air-filters are easy to clean, works (mostly) as advertised.
THE COULD-BE-BETTER: 3 issues (not bad, still a great buy): (1) BTU-RATING CAVEAT: advertised rating of 10k is in max-AC mode - and you can't run the unit at max for longer than 8 hours at a time; so real-world non-stop capacity is more like 7.5k. (2) INSULATE THE EXHAUST HOSE: grab some 6" round A/C duct insulation before you leave the store to wrap the 6' hot exhaust hose with - this $5 mod will improve the unit's efficiency; (3) WINTER-STORAGE HEADS-UP: The hot air is sent outside through a 5" hose that mounts to an exhaust port, which in turn is held in the window by a window-sill-plate. The sill plate is permanently installed in the window with woodscrews. Ideally, the exhaust port should be removable, and then a trap-door slides over the opening to seal for winter. Unfortunately, the port sits off to 1 side instead of the center of the plate -- so that if you have storm windows the exhaust port won't have enough clearance to detach and allow the supplied trap-door to close. Oops! So a quickly cut square of cardboard affixed with tape over the port and we're winterized. A minor inconvenience that the drapes hide.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: bought this July 2009. This is June 2010. Unit is quiet. Uses condensation water to cool the condensor so it makes a "trickling" noise regularly but not show-stopper. When I keep in mind that the trickle means that the unit's efficiency is going UP during those moments, I let it remind me that I'm saving money.
FINAL THOUGHTS / RECOMMENDATIONS: bear in mind that a window-mounted unit will be more efficient than a portable. When you buy a portable you're buying quick-fix convenience. So if it's a long-term solution you need, then go with a window unit instead. Finally, many pre-1980 homes in the USA were built with 3.5 ton A/C systems that have smaller ducting. Hindsight reveals that 5 tons would have been best. But such an upgrade would require larger diameter ducting which can double the price of a replacement central A/C system in an older home. And so home-owners buy portables and window-units as a low-dollar work-around. My advice: bite the bullet, spend the money, buy a quality brand, do the 5 tons AND ducting, and get a 10 year warranty. That and *all copper* replacement pipes for the plumbing, and you'll be set for life.
36 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 No doubt about it, this is a mega cool item! Feb 15, 2009
By D. Fowler
"Dragonfly77"
I've had this Sharp portable air conditioner for a couple of years now. Without a doubt, it's proved to be worth every cent I spent on it. I had another name brand air conditioner that died not long after I purchased it and this was the replacement. These units are heavy and delivery right to your door is a real plus!
My favorite feature is the Mega Cool feature. If you want to cool down in a hurry simply putting the air conditioner on this setting will start cooling down a room in minutes (I personally sit right in front of it during this process!).
It has a remote control with a digital readout. You can put it on a timer, operate the fan, louvers, dehumidifier, etc. The vertical louvers need to be adjusted manually. The filters pull out readily and are easy to clean. When not using the remote there is an indentation in the back for secure storage. This is a very sleek, attractive unit and I prefer it to the white. The booklet included is very comprehensive, well illustrated and comes in English and Spanish.
I have had this unit in two different settings. It obviously is meant to be set up in double-hung and sliding sash windows, but we were able to set it up in a sliding glass door (a little ingenuity goes a long way). We cut a pine board vertically to fit the opening between the wall track and the door and cut a hole for the window exhaust adapter. After the "installation" we used duct tape around the adapter. After we closed the door we simply replaced the stick in the track with a shorter one so the door could not be easily opened from the outside (if you are in a high crime area I wouldn't recommend this set up).
I had two different portable air conditioners before this one and I'm quite pleased with this unit!
33 of 36 found the following review helpful:
Nice and Cool in our bonus room... Apr 21, 2009
By ninjapowa
"-yee-"
I was thinking about writing a lengthy "Why I bought this A/C unit." but decided not to.
Long story short, bonus room gets really hot anytime of year (Georgia) even if I have central air cooling the rest of my ranch house, thermostat downstairs cannot know the temp in the bonus room. Also, one forward facing window in the bonus room = Home Owner's Association letter "NO WINDOW A/C UNITS!"
So with 2 computers and a tv, needed to cool the room down somehow. Did the research that you're probably doing now and came across this unit. Compared reviews here along with Home Depot reviews and decided to pick this up at Home Depot.
Cools very nicely and it is extremely quiet. No joke when it says that it is library quiet. When the compressor kicks on, it is not that loud at all and in comparison to a window unit (I have one too) it is much quieter although it does not cool as efficiently as a window unit would. (even states that on the this box) So my advice: if you can get away with a window unit, do so... save you money and space.
But this unit set up was pretty straight forward. I'm pretty handy myself but I used only duct tape to do the duct to window installation. (being that it is a bonus room located pretty high, security reasons were low on this window) Put the plastic window adapter up on my window, used duct tape to hold it place (rather than using screws to screw into my aluminum windows) and hooked up the plastic tubing that goes to the vent (back) of the a/c unit. Made sure that all the holes (window-side) were covered with duct tape (to prevent hot air from entering through the window).
Once that was done, I also picked up some thermal insulation tape (found at the air and toilet/plumbing section at Home Depot) and used that to wrap the plastic ventilation tubing with. Reason being is obviously because you don't want hot air coming into the house. Since the vent tubing gets warmed up, it'll still radiate some heat... so to prevent as much as possible, wrap it up with something... can probably use a blanket or anything to keep the heat INSIDE the tube and to be vented out.
As for portability, I wouldn't say that its completely portable. True you can move it around if you really wanted to. I definitely didn't make it portable with all the duct tape I used but you can definitely tote it around if you really chose to. Its about 100 lbs but has casters for you to wheel around.
My bonus room is appx 275 sq feet with 10 ft ceilings and when I set the cooling to 75 degrees, does a great job at making this otherwise very HOT bonus room feel like the rest of the house. It is very comfortable in this room during the day when the a/c is turned on. *rated for 400 sqft*
I definitely recommend this a/c unit over some of the nightmares I've read about other a/c units. If I had a webcam, I would do a video review but I don't so product pictures will have to suffice.
Haven't use the dehumidifier as of yet, so I have not yet had to empty out the water tank. A/C unit has been running for probably 12+ hours every day for about two weeks now. Again, located in Georgia... so it gets decently humid here.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
The Bottom Line $$$ Jul 23, 2009
By CDubbs TxMan
The Sharp Portable AC runs Great.
105 degrees outside in South Texas and I'm cool and comfortable inside at 73 degrees.
Using an energy monitor on the unit, I thought I'd post my findings:
(your results may vary)
After 725 hours of use
which is a little more than a month
at 11.66 cents per kilowatt hour (my rate as per my electricity provider in July of 09)
Cost for use during monitoring $27.00 for 232 kilowatt hours of use
$26.72 a month
$325 a year
Less than a dollar a day when the AC was set in the mid 70's
The average temp outside was from the High 80's to 107 during the day.
The numbers were so nice we bought a second unit.
The Cons:
The whooshing water sounds you have to get used to.
It shuts off kind of loud.
Have not had to empty the unit once yet so no notes on how that experience is.
DO NOT LOSE THE REMOTE
Apparently Logitech universal remotes are compatible, will check this out when I get one.
Hope this helps you decide on your purchase.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 For small rooms only. Aug 16, 2009
By kireviewer
The box says that this is recommended for rooms 360 to 410 square feet.
My room is less than 380 square feet and has low ceilings. This unit did not cool down my room at all.
It was only 83 degrees outside, I ran the unit for 3 hours and the inside did not get any cooler than 81 degrees. I let the unit run as the outside temperature cooled to 79 degrees and inside remained at 81 degrees.
If you have a small room, this is probably one of the best portable air conditions you can buy.
The only other thing I really don't like about this unit is that all of the control is with the remote control. If the remote control is lost or breaks, all you can do is turn on the unit and it goes into default mode. If the unit remains plugged in, it goes to the last setting you used. If the unit gets unplugged, it goes to cool mode with the temperature set at 69 degrees. You cannot change that without the remote control. There is a place to hang the remote control on the backside of the unit.
The unit is fairly light and compact for a portable air conditioner. There are a few that are smaller and a few that are lighter.
It is the quietest one I have heard. However, the 36 dB that they claim is when the fan is on low. When on "Maga cool", the unit is pretty loud. Not so loud that you have to jack up the sound on your TV, but loud enough that it could bother you if you were a light sleeper.
The installation kit is well made and sturdy. It can go into windows up to 48" wide (double hung) or tall (slider). Some other units only have kits for up to 38". Unless you have something unique about your window, you can install this in about 30 minutes. This unit won't work on one of my windows because the hose hits a shutter frame. Or course, you can always construct your own adapter to make it work on just about any type of window. But, if you go through all that effort, you may just want to get a window model.
I have read reviews where some people claim that this unit had no trouble cooling a 400 square foot room in 100 degree weather. There a lot of factors about a room that will determine how effect the air conditiner will be, such as is there a ceiling above the room, or another floor, how much sun is there on the room, how high are the ceilings, etc. But, the air that comes out of the unit is cool, but not extremely cold. I don't see how it can cool a room that large.
One problem with all of the portable airconiditioners is that they have a hose to exhaust the hot air out a window. These hoses are never insulated, so they radiate some of the heat back into the room. The longer the hose, the more inefficient your cooling will be. And, the room gets hot on the backside of the unit, because of this.
For a room above 360 square feet, you probably need to get a unit that is at least 12,000 BTU, unless conditions are perfect in your room.
See all 26 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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