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Summer can be brutal in Australia. The unrelenting heat makes air conditioning essential, but installing expensive split or ducted systems isn’t always possible for everyone.
Fortunately, there are portable air conditioners that can provide sweet relief.
Whether you’re a renter unable to install a split system or just looking to cool down your back room, the best portable air conditioners can help.
How to choose the best portable air conditioner
Portable air conditioners allow you to cool specific rooms or areas of your home, office or campervan at a fraction of the cost of a ducted or split system.
Whether you are looking for one of the models listed below or something different, the important things to consider when choosing the best portable air conditioner for your needs is the same.
Room size and placement
Like with an air purifier, the biggest consideration when choosing a portable air conditioner is the room (or rooms) it will be used in.
To find the best model for your needs, you’ll need the air conditioner to be powerful enough to cool the largest room you plan on using it in. Here’s an approximate guide for air conditioner size requirements to room sizes:
| Room size | Air conditioner capacity (approx) |
|---|---|
| Up to 15m² | 2.0kW – 2.5kW |
| 15m² to 25m² | 2.5kW – 3.5kW |
| 25m² to 30m² | 3.5kW – 5.0kW |
It’s important to choose up to the largest room. You can always use lower settings if you do move it to a smaller room.
The other key consideration is where you will place the unit in the room.
Because all portable air conditioners need to be vented, you need to have a location that is within distance of a convenient window and a power point.
You may also need to drain out the water catchment, so it can’t be placed somewhere difficult to reach.
Reverse Cycle
Do you need your portable air conditioner to only cool in the warmer months? Or do you want a machine that can also heat when it’s cold?
You can buy reverse cycle models, which will allow you to stay comfortable all year around.
Dehumidifying function
The truth is that all portable air conditioners function as dehumidifiers as well. What you need to consider is how well they do it.
If you live in a humid part of the country, a portable air conditioner that can remove a higher amount of moisture from the air is going to make your life much more comfortable.
If you’re after a dehumidifier without the cooling function, look at our guide to the best dehumidifiers in Australia.
Water disposal
Portable air conditioners work by taking the warm air in your room and cooling it down. Cooler air is blown back out into the room, while hot air generated by the cooling process is pumped outdoors through the vent.
But during that cooling phase, moisture from the air is condensed and the water will need to be disposed of.
Some models have a drip tray that will need to be manually emptied periodically. Others will pump the moisture out with a hose.
More premium models feature a self-evaporation feature which will pump the moisture out of the vent with the warm air.
While self-evaporation is obviously the easiest method, remember that if your unit does have a drip tray, keeping it clean is important for hygiene.
Energy efficiency
Portable air conditioners can be expensive to run. With the cost of electricity skyrocketing, it’s important to consider the costs of running a portable air conditioner.
New portable air conditioners need to display a zoned energy rating label for air conditioners. However, most portable air conditioners typically don’t have any star ratings on these labels because they are actually not very energy efficient.
Volume
Portable air conditioners can be loud, particularly at the highest cooling setting.
While split and ducted aircon systems keep the noisy parts outside, portable units are all indoors, which can make them distracting.
Look at the noise output specs and try and find models with lower volume outputs.
Remote control and timer function
As we’ve already noted, portable air conditioners can be quite expensive to run due to the fact they aren’t overly energy efficient.
To try and manage this, ensure your unit has good control features like timers to turn off automatically.
Also look for something with a remote control so you can easily turn off the unit when it has done its job.
Wi-Fi and smart features
Some newer portable aircons feature integrated Wi-Fi and support for digital assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant.
These features aren’t necessary for the running of the machine, but can be nice to have. This is especially true if you’re looking to better integrate your portable air conditioner into an exist smart home system.
Price
Portable air conditioners are an attractive option as they are typically more affordable that ducted and split systems.
But that doesn’t mean they are cheap. Low energy efficiency and higher running costs mean that the money you save up front could cost you a lot more in the long run.
That said, if a portable machine is your only option, expect prices to vary from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand, depending on features and quality.
These are the best portable air conditioners in Australia right now:
Teco 3.3kW Reverse Cycle Portable Air Conditioner with Remote
This 3.3kW portable air con unit offers reverse cycle heating and cooling, so it will serve you well all year around.
There are two fan speeds, an auto setting and it comes with a remote control to easily let you set a time, adjust fan speed and configure the settings.
It has an air flow volume of 390/280 cubic metres per hour, can dehumidify your home at 40.8 Litres per hour and offers built in Wi-Fi connectivity.
That's great for the Alexa and Google Assistant functionality cooked in as well.
The Teco 3.3kW Reverse Cycle Portable Air Conditioner with Remote comes with convenient castors to wheel it around to the room that needs it most, while there's a Window Exhaust kit included
With 10 reviews on Harvey Norman and an average score of 4.7/5, it's the best model on the market right now.
Polo PC47C 4.7kW Cooling Only Portable Air Conditioner
Ideal for rooms up to 33 square metres in size, this cooling only portable air conditioner from PoloCool features three fan speeds and an integrated timer.
It comes with a ventilation kit supplied, plus plenty of power to help cool down larger rooms in Summer.
It's not the quietest portable air conditioner on the market, but it's also hitting the end of its life, so can be picked up at a discounted price if you shop around.
With an average rating of 4.6 from 47 reviews on Harvey Norman, it's well corth considering, particularly if you can find it discounted.
Teco 4.7kW Cooling Only Portable Air Conditioner
This cooling-only air-con from Teco comes with a 1.5-metre window exhaust hose, a silver-ion filter and integrated Wi-Fi connectivity.
Three fan speeds and an auto setting, plus a sleep function, help make it perfect for all hours of the day. It can pump out 152.7 Litres per second of cool air, and dehumidify a room at up to 1.8 Litres per hour.
Harvey Norman customers seem to love this model, with an average rating of 4.5/5 from 10 reviews.
Dimplex 4.5kW Multi Directional Portable Air Conditioner with Dehumidifier
This innovative portable air con can dehumidify your room while cooling it at a rate of 2.9L/hr.
Dimplex guarantees it will cool room sizes between 21-34 square metres, even when the temperature is as high as 43ºC.
With an included window kit suitable for sash and sliding windows, this portable air conditioner boasts a soft touch control panel and LED remote control.
It also has a self-evaporative system which requires no drop tray or drainage hose, making it easy to maintain.
With an average score of 4.39 across 25 reviews on JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, this is a great portable option.
Goldair 2.63kW Cooling Only Portable Air Conditioner with WiFi
With support for Google Assistant and Alexa through the Goldair's Wi-Fi connection, you can easily control this portable air conditioner with your voice or smartphone.
It only cools, but with a 2.6kW cooling capacity, it's got enough power to take the edge off on those impossible Summer days.
There are three fan settings and a timer to help you save energy, and it comes with both an exhaust hose and a window kit in the box.
On Harvey Norman, the Goldair 2.63kW Cooling Only Portable Air Conditioner with WiFi has an average score of 4.4/5 from 18 reviews.
How we chose the best portable air conditioners
Review sites – including this one – are subjective by nature. Everybody has a different opinion of what is best.
So to try and counter the fact that every best guide on the internet has a different opinion of what is best, I approached this list by combining the customer reviews across leading Aussie appliance retailers.
I collated the review scores for portable air conditioners from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys to come up with a list of models available to Australians.
I then consolidated the scores across model numbers to find the list of the best 5 models in Australia you see above.
