BLACK+DECKER12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner for Rooms up to 550 Sq.Ft. with Remote Control, White

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.

I am a little confused with all the negative reviews saying that this product is not worth it. So far, this product has done wonders for me. Unfortunately, it has not quite been a month yet since purchase, but it has been well worth the money!I understand seeing these negative reviews would turn people away considering the price, so I am going to give my honest feedback.I live in an apartment complex, a townhome, and we are not allowed window units; however, the AC does not reach the entire upstairs very well, and the maintenance team likes to do as little as possible about it. So, we had to invest in one of these, and I can honestly say, I am so thankful I don’t have anymore sweaty nights!The temp goes down to 64 degrees which is super, super comfortable. I do not sleep with it that low, but I love a cold, cold room, so I sleep with it at 68. If my door is open, it will cool most of the upstairs (three bedrooms).I have had some complications with understanding the controls and keeping the AC part running constantly, rather than just the fan. The fan will always be running regardless of the actual unit running, which still does keep it cool, but def not as strong as the actual unit pushing out a repeated cold. It is hard to explain because I am still figuring it out, but ultimately the hard AC does work constantly, and no matter what, it’s always blowing cold air.If you’re worried about the apartment complex not allowing window units, but you really want to be cool, get this. The part the has to go in the window is not big at all, and it actually, from a glance, just looks like you have a window fan, and it sounds like it too.My only complaint with this product is that because the AC part turns off and on to fan mode when it thinks the room is cool enough, it will constantly wake me up in the middle of the night. It will wake me up when it starts to turn on and off because it does sound like an actual AC unit when it turns on, and that got so annoying.That is why I wish I could figure out how to get it running constantly rather than turning off every time it feels like the room is at the temp it needs to be.To address one final complaint, I seen a lot of complaints about the noise. I would say, if you sleep with a fan on, the noise is FINE. I don’t sleep with a fan on anymore because the noise that it makes blowing, makes up for the noise from the fan. As I stated already, it’s just the kicking of it turning on and off that keeps me up. I have found that if I leave my door open when I sleep, it runs most of the night because it is also trying to cool the upstairs, not just my room.As for energy efficient, I will have to come back to this when I get the electric bill for next month- being that I have not had it a whole month yet.