Royal Sovereign Portable Air Conditioners —
I bought this yesterday after stumbling across it at Sears. I actually returned another brand that I just bought after I saw this one. Why? Superior quality. I live in South Florida and hurricanes are a fact of life down here. Life without generators and some kind of cooling after a storm is downright unbearable (90+ degrees and >90% humidity). I actually paid more for this than the unit that I returned but it is well worth it. First, it draws 950 watts of power. Most units are in the 1,200 watt range. When you are surviving on generators that means less fuel when fuel isn't available. Second, my bedroom can get ice cold with this unit. Not just cool. The remote is great. Adjust the temperature from your bed if it gets too hot or cold. It's a compact and attractive unit so you won't mind having it out in the open. Although it still makes some noise it is much quieter than a window unit. And a nice feature is how easy it is to move from room to room. Rolls easily on casters with little effort. Assembly of the window frame? Less than 5 minutes. A ten year old could do it.
Durability gets a 4/5 because the exhaust hose popped out of the window mount when assembling and over time I think this might cause wear. But if that's the only issue then I am well pleased.
Stingy on energy even without the energy star rating. A must for keeping electricity bills down or preserving precious fuel after a storm. Costs a little more than most units but "you get what you pay for". That simple. Five stars.
Gotta run. I have to turn down the AC now. I am freezing!