
Portable Air Conditioner Comparison? Which Portable A/C is Best in USA?

Customers awarded Coolzy best portable air-conditioner for 2022 and 2023.
A Coolzy produces more intense local cooling than traditional portables. Coolzy is the only truly portable cooling solution.
A Coolzy is much quieter, smaller, lighter, and provides the lowest cost, most environmentally responsible cooling solution in the world.
Read more to understand why Coolzy is able to provide the best portable cooling solution.


- A wall-mounted split air-conditioner creates 12,000 BTU every hour, enough to cool a 130 square metre room by 18 – 22 °F.
- 92 BTU cooling per spare foot.
- The wall unit cools room air and transfers heat to an outdoor unit with a compressor and fan.
- The fast-moving cool air mixes with room air and spreads through the room.
- The air-conditioner draws about 900 – 1,200 Watts electricity.
A normal portable room air-conditioner creates 12,000 BTU cooling every hour and draws about 1,200 Watts electricity.
However, it provides much less room cooling, only 5 – 7 °F. Why?
A: About 2,700 BTU offsets heat radiating from the hot exhaust pipe.
B: About 6,500 BTU offsets heat from outside air sucked into the room. This air replaces the room air sucked into the machine and pumped outside through the pipe.
C: Only 2,800 BTU remains to cool the 130 square feet room: 22 BTU per square foot, one quarter the cooling from the split AC.
*(numbers change slightly, depending on temperature, humidity, window kit installation, door opening, building structure, and the characteristics of the aircon model)


Coolzy creates about 3,500 BTU cooling every hour and uses only 340 Watts electricity.
Coolzy focuses the cooling on one or more people nearby, over 40 square feet maximum floor area. That’s about 90 BTU per square foot, so the cooling is four times more intense compared with a portable AC.
The small amount of warm air rises to the ceiling, just like warm air from your kitchen refrigerator. It escapes through the open window (or doorway).
The cool air jet provides up to 300 BTU per square foot cooling intensity at three feet distance.
The apparent cooling inside the optional Igloo tent is 14 – 18 °F, much the same as with a mini-split air-conditioner, but with 70% – 80% less electricity.
Now consider size, weight, noise and the total cooling cost.
Coolzy is smaller, much lighter, and easy to carry. You can use it anywhere, even outside in sheltered places.
A normal ‘portable’ air conditioner is too large and heavy to carry without help, and must be near a window or doorway.
A ‘portable’ air conditioner makes about the same noise as a kitchen juicer. It is too loud for most people to sleep with.
Coolzy makes much the same sound as an electric fan, ideal for sleeping.

When and where do you need cooling?
A split air conditioner is great for cooling a crowd.
However, using a split AC all the time costs more than most families can afford, and you install one for every room where you need cooling (or heating in winter).
Coolzy is great for one or two people sleeping.
Coolzy is fine for chatting or watching TV together.
Coolzy is great for working at a desk or in a large space like a warehouse.
Coolzy allows cooling and privacy.
There’s no need to be in the same room as everyone else to be cool.
Coolzy is the only truly portable cooling solution.

What’s the total cost?
For five months cooling in summer Coolzy costs just $300 a year including purchase repayments and electricity.
For five months cooling in summer, each single split air-conditioner costs about $1,200 – $2,500 a year including purchase repayments, installation, and electricity.
A portable air-conditioner provides only slight cooling, and still costs $500 a year, of which 80% is the cost of electricity.
Coolzy is the least expensive, simplest, most sustainable cooling solution.
(assumes average USA electricity tariff $0.15, tariff in some cities can be up to $0.30. Monthly payments for 3 years, interest rate 18%)