I bought this AC unit during the excess heat wave this summer. The unit, (once properly vented) works really well for cooling my bed room but it shuts off when the water needs drained. Durning these hot temperatures this is after only 2-2.5 hrs. Draining the water is not an easy task because the drain is only 1 inch from the floor so you can only use a really really shallow dish. It does come with a hose to connect to a drain for continous drainage but the drain must be below or at the same level as the AC unit.
This drainage problem makes the unit NOT useful for long term cooling (you can't run it all night or use it to cool while at work)
As a long term solution I am working on buidling a stand to set the unit on for continous drainage into a bucket but it is heavey and vibration makes noise a problem. Other portable AC unit have a collecting bottle which is easy to revome for drainage.
I bought my Sunpentown in May of 2005. When it arrived the LED display was broken and the 12,000 BTU air conditioner was not capable of cooling my 150 square foot room. I called Sunpentown and explained the situation. They said that as long as the output temperature was 20% cooler than the input temperature the unit was considered to be functioning properly.
Do the math. If your room is 95 degrees, a 20% reduction means that the air coming out of the AC is still a sweltering 78 degrees! A 12,000 BTU air conditioner should turn my tiny room into a meat locker, even on the hottest days. The Sunpentown struggled to make the room comfortable anytime the temperature exceeded 80 degrees. Since the LCD was broken I decided to have them replace my unit hoping that I might get a better one. The second unit worked as poorly as the first, but at least the LCD was visible.
As others have noted, drainage is a constant issue with these units. Mine would only run for 3-4 hours before drainage was required so I wound up putting it on a stand and running a hose from the discharge area to a 5 gallon bucket. There is simply too much water produced for it to successfully blow out the exhaust hose. It should be noted that my unit only had 1.5 feet of exhaust hose with no bends so it was an ideal installation. If you have any bends in the hose it will only make matters worse.
In August 2006 the unit quit cooling the air. The compressor would kick on, but no cooling occurred. I called Sunpentown but since my unit was 3 months over the 1 year warranty they wouldn't do anything. My only option was to ship the unit to their facility at my cost, have them diagnose and repair the unit at "flat rate" (but they wouldn't discuss specific prices) and ship it back to me at my expense.
Not wanting to incur $175 in shipping charges PLUS the unspecified repair fees just to return my Sunpentown Portable Air Conditioner to its unacceptably poor level of functionality I sent my unit to a place it truly belongs THE LANDFILL.
If a normal window unit won't work for you, save yourself a lot of money/time/aggravation and buy a giant industrial size fan. Sunpentown builds lousy products and provides lousy service when those products fail.
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My experience with a Supentown Portable AC Unit is very similar to what 'Thorion (Rome, NY)' reported. I purchased a WA-1200E in June 2006 and it died last week (end of June 2007). This unit was lightly used (less than 10 hours per week during warm months only) . I contacted their support staff and, although they were prompt to reply, they indicated that the unit was out of warranty and that nothing was covered. They gave me the option of shipping the unit (85 lbs) at my own expense back to their warehouse in CA. They would then determine what part(s) failed and charge me for the replacement parts, labor and return shipping. Their other suggestion / advice was to take it to a local repair shop of my choice and have them find out the problem...then order the replacement parts from them. Either way....TERRIBLE! For a costly unit like this it should last way longer than 12 1/2 months. DO NOT BUY!!!
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I was shocked at how useless this thing was. I would turn this unit on immediately when I come home from work. The initial reading on the unit would say something like 95% (house was all closed up). The unit could not even drop the room temperature below 90%. After about 1hr the exhaust hose would radiate so much heat into the room that the unit made a better heater than air conditioner. The vents blow upwards as if to cool the ceiling. You cannot adjust them vertically. The unit is also very loud.
I returned the unit after giving it a try for about 3 weeks. The other pain is returning this. You have to put it back in the box it came in with all the paper work and then carry this 85 pound box to a fedex place to have it shipped back to the manufacturer. You have to pay shipping to send it back and you are not refunded that amount. Plus there is a 6% restocking fee.
Good riddance.
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I bought this product in the summer of 07. I live in a room over the garage that gets the brunt of the sun and therefor reaches 78-80 degrees even with the AC on. At first the unit after running for a couple hours would drop the temp to 72 on a summer day but no lower. The first spring/summer I did not have to change the water at all. The next spring/summer it could only drop the temp down to 73-74 and I had to change the water 5-6 times. Now only less than 3 years later we are in the midst of our first 80 degree week. The unit is only dropping the temp to 75 and I've had to change the water twice in two days.
Please read everyone's review about how hard it is to change the water. I can confirm every complaint.
If I had to do it over I would have gone another route towards cooling my room.
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