Rather than give you a list of the complete cheap portable air conditioners, we’ve amassed a useful list of models that:
- Boast very reasonable prices of any moveable air conditioners
- Get attired quality ratings
- Represent numerous categories consumers are looking for – features, quality, and the size they want from 8,000 to 14,000 BTUs.
3 Ways How to Catch Cheaper Moveable AC Units
As we have hence recognized, energy efficiency (uttered as SEER rating) is of the greatest importance when choosing the inexpensive overall portable air conditioner.
It’s simple: The higher the SEER rating, the lower the electricity cost in the next 10-15 years. That’s the lifespan of portable AC units.
However, that doesn’t mean you should buy that $800 portable AC unit if it has the same SEER rating as a $400 unit.
The point is that, if you know what to look for, you can find cheap room air conditioners that have not only decent but superb EER rating (even 10+ EER rating).
Here’s what to look for to find portable AC units at a reduced price:
- Steer clear of the progressive Wi-Fi, Alexa, iPhone connectivity. The current portable ACs have all those fancy features that you don’t need; all you need is manual control. Portable air conditioners without these expensive connectivity Wi-Fi features are up to $100 inexpensive.
- Pick older classic models. Those are tried-and-tested AC units; the new line of replicas comes with a steep rise in price ($50-$100, on average), and low or even no growth in operations/specifications. Just be sure to size the portable AC appropriately.
- Dependable brand. Complete inexpensive portable AC units are made out of low-quality material and will break apart within years. Recognized American companies like Whynter, Honeywell, BLACK+DECKER, and Haier all offer very cheap portable air conditioners built out of solid materials and based on dependable engineering.
These are the main modification between cheap vs expensive portable AC units.
Based on these 3 steps and, above all, SEER rating we can look at the complete cheapest air conditioners presently on the market.
Here I pick some of the top cheap portable air conditioners.
Whynter Elite ARC-122DS (Finest Overall and Inexpensive Dual Tube Air Conditioner)
Whynter Elite ARC-122DS is the eventual cheapest portable air conditioner in 2021. Not only that; overall the ARC-122DS model is a remarkably well-engineered device. With the by far the uppermost SEER rating among cheap AC units and the quietest operation, this is the best cheapest portable AC to buy.
Let’s first look at the most important feature: the energy-efficiency. The Whynter Elite ARC-122DS is the only portable air conditioner with an extremely high 12 EER rating. That means that it’s by far the cheapest to run. Compared to other units, it is:
- 20% more energy-efficient than 10 EER portable ACs. On average, this saves you $52 in electricity costs every year. $520 savings in 10 years.
- 33% more energy-efficient than 8 EER portable ACs. On average, this saves you $78 in electricity costs every year. $780 savings in 10 years.
Honeywell MO08CESWB (Inexpensive Minor Portable Air Conditioner)
The main goal of Honeywell is to generate reasonable and reliable HVAC devices. With Honeywell MO08CESWB, they have created one of the cheapest small air conditioners (with 8,000 BTU) that has a remarkably high SEER rating for a small room portable AC unit.
8,000 BTU is sufficient cooling volume to cool down rooms up to 350 square feet. The question for everybody looking to save a lot on portable air conditioners should be “How much does it cost to run the Honeywell MO08CESWB?”
Cheers to Honeywell’s brilliant engineering, Honeywell MO08CESWB is accomplished of operating at an 11.4 EER rating. That means that it will need only 700W of electrical power to produce 8,000 BTU of cooling effect; quite unresolved given this is a cheap small room portable AC.
Due to lower airflow, the noise levels are also low. The sound interval – between 50 dB and 53 dB – is one of the lowest not only among the budget-friendly portable air conditioners but overall. For orientation, you can check the noise levels of the softest portable ACs here. Anything below 55 dB is measured super quiet.
All in all, if you want to cool down a small room as reasonably as possible, the financial speculation of about $380 is a small price to pay for such a remarkably energy-efficient air conditioner. It will likely save you more than $500 per 10 years linked to other 8,000 BTU units, and it’s thus the overall cheapest portable air conditioner for small rooms.
BLACK+DECKER BPACT12W (Most Prevalent Cheap 12,000 BTU Room Air Conditioner)
BLACK+DECKER BPACT12WT is one of the most predictable portable air conditioners in the world. It’s the go-to cheap 12,000 BTU portable AC unit, made by a trustworthy American company, and its low price point has made it the best-seller in the portable AC category.
If you check the Amazon reviews (more than 3000+ reviews with 4.5/5 average rating), you can see that a lot of people are mortaring out.
- Dependability. It’s so resilient that it can run for 15 years without any problems.
- Price-performance. It’s a 12,000 BTU unit that costs fewer than $400, and that’s not even factoring in the high energy efficiency.
- Bucketless, self-evaporating design is easy to use and uphold.
The important part is this: BLACK+DECKER BPACT12WT has an EER rating of 10.4. Every moveable AC with a SEER rating above 10 is measured as very energy-efficient and has low costs of running. In the long-term, that makes the BLACK+DECKER BPACT12WT one of the cheapest AC units.
It is not a noiseless unit; it can produce up to 60 dB of noise. This is pretty much the standard requirement with portable ACs.
Bottom line: BLACK+DECKER BPACT12WT is the classic model that has been the best-seller for the last 5 years for a very good reason. It’s tough, energy-efficient, and one of the cheapest air conditioners both as far as the unit price is reflected as well as in terms of power spending: