Portable Air Conditioners & AC Units

Buying Guide: Portable Air Conditioners

What are Portable Air Conditioners? Portable AC Buying Guide

By: Alison P

Portable AC units are a flexible way to keep cool. Find out if a portable air conditioner is best for you and your space with this buying guide.

Find Your New Portable Air Conditioner at P.C. Richard

Portable Air Conditioner units are compact cooling appliances that can be placed in spots that cannot accommodate a window unit air conditioner. With this unique design, you can move your portable AC unit into virtually any room in your home. When you shop for yours at P.C. Richard & Son, you can be sure that you're getting a high-quality product at the guaranteed best price.

Shop Our Selection of Portable Air Conditioners

Rather than being directly installed, a portable air conditioning unit is freestanding and can be placed practically anywhere there is access to an outlet and a window. This makes them a great choice to cool rooms with windows too small to accommodate window units, like a basement or an attic. On top of their convenient designs, many of the models we carry also come with a number of additional features like multiple fan speeds, easily-removable filters, and smart functionality. An important thing to keep in mind when shopping for portable air conditioners is that you'll need to find one with an appropriate BTU level for your room. Thankfully, we have a handy BTU calculator that can help you determine the best power level for your specific circumstances. Please note that if you see two different BTU numbers listed, the "DOE" rating is more accurate one. You can learn more about the specialized BTU ratings for a in our portable air conditioner BTU blog article.

P.C. Richard & Son is proud to carry the top portable AC brands of today, including Friedrich and GE portable air conditioners. As always, everything we sell is backed by our low price guarantee, meaning you'll always get the best price for whatever you're looking to buy. To find your new portable air conditioner, visit your local P.C. Richard & Son store today, or browse our current online selection now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do portable air conditioners use a lot of electricity?

Portable air conditioners do typically use more electricity than other air conditioners due to the nature of their design. It will take more work for them to cool a room than a traditional AC unit. However, their convenient design is a valuable tradeoff.

What is the best portable AC?

There is no singular best portable AC unit. The best model for you is going to be the one that meets all of your needs and has a BTU level that can handle the rooms you're trying to cool with it. If you need help figuring out which BTU level would be right for you, take a look at our BTU calculator.

Can a portable air conditioner cool a whole house?

Portable air conditioners are not designed to cool extremely large spaces. They are meant to cool one room at a time as you move them around. Though you could keep moving the unit around, they are better for sustaining the temperature in one room at a time.

Can a portable air conditioner cool a whole house?

Since a portable AC isn't directly vented outdoors, it adds slightly more heat to the room being cooled than a wall or window AC would. Fortunately, the BTU level on portable ACs is calibrated to reflect that. The BTU rating labeled "DOE" shows the BTU level that takes the additional heat output into account.