BLCK+DECKER Smart Portable ir Conditioner – BTU

Brand: BLACK+DECKER

Rating: ★ 4

Category: Home & Kitchen > Heating, Cooling & Air Quality > Air Conditioners > Portable

ASIN: B01DLPUWGW

Reviewer: Jesse H.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Quick and easy. Blows ice cold. Hate is somewhat unwarranted.
Review: Most importantly: This AC works great. I really needed something for the Vegas summer, and I have an extremely high end PC that puts off a LOT of heat. It gets ice cold really fast.The sound: While the AC itself can be a bit loud at times it’s honestly not bad. I prefer to sleep with white noise and the sound of the AC is pretty easy to just blank out. If you place this far enough away from your bed (which you should be doing anyway) I think you’ll be perfectly fine. The complaints about the compressor kicking on are somewhat exaggerated. Yes, it does make a sound when the compressor comes on. No, it doesn’t jolt me awake in the middle of the night.The setup: The complaints about the setup are unwarranted. This thing was extremely easy to set up. The only thing I will say is difficult is trying to seal the window properly. I ended up using the squishy foam and just pressing it really firmly against the window. The exhaust hose may also leak somewhat around the part where it connects to the window and the actual AC. This is pretty much expected due to the simple nature of the setup. You can tape the seal around the unit if you want it to be perfect.Overall, I’m excited to finally have something to cool me down over the summer season. I will be updating this review once a month to let others know how it holds up.Update (3/30/2023): Been using this thing for a week now. This AC is extremely useful since it’s already getting into the 80s in my room during the day. I run it at max for about an hour and I’m good for a while. One thing I did notice is that the fan speeds aren’t much different. Low and medium sound roughly the same. Max speed is the one that’s pretty loud. I run mine on medium since there’s barely a difference between low and medium sound wise. I would keep this far away from your bed if you’re worried about the sound.Update (7/13/2023): It’s now the middle of the summer here in Vegas. With temperatures exceeding 110F. This thing puts up a really good fight and keeps my room nice and cold. I keep the room at 72F (according to the unit.) I did end up moving the unit so that the vent can reach the window without any obstructions, and I also taped the ends where the exhaust air can leak. I did notice that it makes a really high pitched noise occasionally, but I believe it’s due to the water building up on the fins and the vibration of the machine. I wipe down the fins here and there and have no issue. I feel that it might be best to place this where it isn’t going to vibrate intensely.FINAL END OF SEASON UPDATE (11/3/2023): Vegas had a stupidly long summer this year. In fact, today is November 3rd, and it was 81F outside. Some things that I do want to add. I noticed that sometimes it makes a clicking sound when starting up for a few minutes. I’m not too sure what this is. I also noticed that the compressor makes a really weird, almost gurgling sound when starting up. I’m hoping that this isn’t a bad sign and is just a long-term quirk. These things didn’t show up until about a month ago. As for noise, it almost feels like it’s gotten slightly louder over time, but maybe I’m imagining things. Overall, this thing has legit saved me this year. I went from living extremely uncomfortably in 84+ degrees F in my room to a nice cool 72F all summer long.For some closing words, I can’t really recommend that anyone buy the 550 square foot version of this AC. Granted it is Amazon, and they carry everything, but you’re better off spending an extra hundred bucks or two to get a nicer one. I recommend looking online for more efficient ones. Another thing I would like to add is that this thing increased the power bill a bit. the energy guide on the sticker said 170 dollars over a 3 month period, assuming 8 hours a day at 14 cents per kwh. Mine ran closer to 14 hours a day at 17 cents per kwh. It added roughly 90 dollars to the power bill each month, so not really ideal. But you also have to remember that Vegas usually hovers in the 110s during the height of the summer, and around high 90s to low 100s for the lower periods.TL;DR: If you have a tiny room, it might be worth getting the small one, just know that it can be loud. If you have a slightly bigger room, spend the extra hundred or two on a more efficient and quieter one, your wallet will thank you later.
Reviewer: William
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Works great, but I have casement windows, how to install it tip.
Review: My biggest complaint? The remote doesn’t have backlight. Neither does the one for my space heater WHICH you can buy one of these units with heating options. I just haven’t taught my fingers on this one yet similar to getting a new tv remote.I have Casement Windows. I didn’t WANT casement windows because I knew this problem was going to occur BUT I lost that fight. Ah well. So I got the unit in and didn’t have time to configure my window screen for the exhaust tube but it was 98 degrees outside. I stuck the hose out into my hallway landing, turned the ceiling fan on there to move the air down opposite of where I have it in the winter to bring the warm air up, and slept cool all night. It worked so well I contemplated NOT doing the window install. That cost me a little over a hundred dollars in plexiglass and parts though I could do it cheaper. But Free is cheapest. It also had me walking around the unit in the door while asleep SO, I fixed the window.With my window screen adapted, when I use the unit I crank open my window, turn on the air and leave my door cracked. I have a cat that comes in and out but the opening in the door doesn’t let much air out, lets the inflow needed for the air that DOES go out through the unit in and gets my bedroom cool in 10-20 minutes tops from too hot. It’s as noisy as a window unit but I grew up with that so I go right to sleep.The air in my house is already dried by the HVAC so I have not use Dry mode. There are three modes of control for the Cooling. Temp/Sleep and Timer. Set the Temperature that you want and the unit will cycle on and off to reach and stay at that Temperature. The Sleep setting will raise the temperature 2 degrees in an hour and 4 degrees after 4 hours. (When you fall asleep and are still, you tend to get cold and it tries to account for that.) And Timer, you can have it turn the unit off in 1 hour units up to 24. I’ve used all three. Last night I left it on. Woke up cold and adjusted temps myself twice. The sleep setting might be about right for me. YMMV I set the timer mode too early the first night and thumbed the unit on again midway through the night THEN woke up cold and turned it off. You’ll find your correct setting as well.And NOW people can sleep downstairs without freezing to death so that I can sleep upstairs in comfort, not just tolerable relativity. Should make the electric bills go down to as I don’t seem to need the unit on for more then 3 or 4 hours.—- (the following isn’t really review but added to help with Casement Windows Install.)—Having watched a few YouTube videos the attached photo shows my installation. My real problem with this is I have casement windows. This itself isn’t the problem of the unit, it just complicates the install. My windows have screens that clamp to the inside of the window. Simply remove the frame, remove the screen material, buy a piece of plexiglass and trim pieces at your big box store to fit your screen area. You’ll have to cut it to size, cut the hole for the exhaust tube and then I used clamps (simple pieces of metal and short, #8 screws to screw them to the frame. Then put the frame back into the window and it’s done. I didn’t get my trim pieces cut just right and the holes it left in the corner advertised for all those no-seums bugs to crawl right through. I sealed it with white duct tape. When the seasons over I’ll fix that. I have seen videos on installing the cutouts they send you on regular windows, they look about like anytime you use a window unit WITHOUT having to have that wonderful time where you slide the unit halfway out and then have someone push the window down to keep it from falling out your whatever story window. It does take a little floor space and is several hundred dollars cheaper then the two hose units that don’t take inside air, suck the heat out of it and blow it out the window. That means you are sucking air from somewhere else in your house and bringing that into your room. I let you research those differences, MONEY turned out to be the limiting factor here.
Reviewer: Fred Labadie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Amazing quality very quiet and cools out apartment down in no time at all . Very easy to setup also.
Reviewer: Maksim
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A/C with USA plug. We used 2 adapters and they are burned immideately.So its unuseful. What to do?
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Facile à installer et ne fait pas trop de bruit.
Reviewer: L Perovic
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I would not recommend this product. I had high hopes when i took the time to read the reviews in CA and the USA and saw there was a lot of sales. I did expect it to be noisy but you have to run it on the lowest setting or you can’t hear the TV. Unfortunately when it was delivered it was missing 2 items. At the time I thought it was better to contact B & D customer service. That was a big mistake. I was told they would ship the missing pieces to me right away. I was patient and waited and waited. The hot weather came so I set up the AC and guess what the air swing blades do not work. I tried the bluetooth app but that did not solve the blade issue either. The remote is not the same as pictured on Amazon or the manual and I could not find the manual online for many hours. I couldn’t find it on their site either. To date I have not received the pieces. I missed the 30 day return with Amazon where they would have picked it up and refunded me. After many emails with customer service their solution is cut the cord and remove the sticker before they will send a new one. I argued this is summer till the end of Aug I need the AC and with their track record who knows when it will arrive. I now have to dispose of the disabled AC as well. This has been the most frustrating experience!
Reviewer: SWM
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: You’ll need a few sqft for this to live by the window but it’s a great product.

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