Are Portable Ac Units Viable At Home? My Verdict After Testing One During A Heat Wave

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The EcoFlow Wave 3 is simply a portable aerial conditioner and heater that costs $1,299 connected its ain and $2,299 pinch nan add-on battery.
• This is simply a portable aerial conditioner and heater that is much powerful than its predecessor
• It is besides off-grid fresh for camping, RVing, and moreover helping successful a pinch.
• The Wave 3 is pricey, large successful immoderate settings, and is not arsenic businesslike successful utmost heat, nonstop sun, aliases shelter camping.

For Prime Day, nan EcoFlow Wave 3 pinch nan artillery add-on is connected waste for $1,399 astatine Amazon, a sizable 39% discount.

Many parts of nan US are sizzling correct now, incapable to flight nan utmost power alerts perpetually flashing connected nan news and our phones. I regularly knowledgeable triple-digit temperatures while surviving adjacent nan godforsaken for 10 years. But there's a large quality betwixt that and nan 100+ temperatures pinch humidity levels supra 60% galore of america are presently experiencing connected nan East Coast. 

Also: My AC strategy isn't blowing acold aerial - 5 easy and speedy fixes that experts recommend

Like galore unlucky Americans, 1 of nan 2 overworked aerial conditioner units near america hanging during nan latest power wave. HVAC repair companies are swamped pinch work requests, and we were struggling, truthful I pulled retired nan EcoFlow Wave 3.

This portable portion is an upgrade from its predecessor, nan Wave 2, and features Auto, Dehumidify, Sleep, and Pet modes. Aside from being comparatively dense (over 50 lb erstwhile you adhd a battery), nan Wave 3 is easy to group up and link to nan EcoFlow mobile app. The instrumentality uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to link to your phone, which you tin past usage arsenic a distant power and to set settings, giving you an other furniture of convenience. 

I've been testing nan EcoFlow Wave 3 sporadically for a fewer weeks, but began utilizing it much religiously aft nan summertime power rolled around. 

Also: Buy EcoFlow portable powerfulness stations and aerial conditioners for astir 50% disconnected for Prime Day

My husband's location agency is well-insulated and soundproof, but it's an summation that wasn't decently incorporated into nan home's existing HVAC strategy and doesn't person immoderate windows. As a result, it gets very basking successful summertime and very acold successful nan winter. 

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

This room turned retired to beryllium a awesome spot to trial nan Wave 3 erstwhile nan canine days of summertime began. By routing nan exhaust vent done an existing opening built into a wall to way cords, nan Wave 3 successfully lowered nan somesthesia by almost 20 degrees successful nether an hour. 

It maintained nan group somesthesia for arsenic agelong arsenic nan instrumentality was powered on. The artillery lasted a mates of hours erstwhile utilized successful Max mode, which is nan highest setting, but you tin agelong it to up to 8 hours erstwhile you usage it successful Eco mode.

Also: Storms and bad weather? How to prep your tech up of imaginable emergencies

I recovered nan EcoFlow Wave 3 champion suited for insulated areas complete tents and places not built adequately for ambiance control. It's a adjuvant comfortableness measure, but 1 you shouldn't trust connected for safety.

The Wave 3 is much powerful than its predecessor, but it isn't meant to switch a full-size aerial conditioning unit. It features 6,100 BTU for cooling and 6,800 BTU for heating, which is astir half nan capacity of a wall-mounted portion that costs astir a 3rd of nan price. So you're paying other for nan convenience of portability of nan Wave 3, particularly erstwhile paired pinch a artillery and portable star panels. 

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Whether that convenience is worthy nan value hinges chiefly connected nan individual usage case. 

Once our upstairs A/C discontinue successful nan mediate of a power wave, I had to repurpose nan Wave 3 from a testing portion to cool down my kids' playroom during nan time and a chamber astatine night. The apical floor, wherever nan power concentrates during summer, reached up to 93 degrees, pinch nan outdoor somesthesia astatine 102 degrees. 

Also: I'm beating nan power and taking these 5 gadgets to nan excavation this summer

My kids are location for summertime break, and they emotion spending clip successful their playroom, which has each their toys, trade supplies, and a TV, but they couldn't do it erstwhile it was 90 degrees there. I decided to group up nan Wave 3 connected a array successful nan playroom and trim retired a portion of foam for nan model utilizing nan stencil included pinch nan unit.

I past routed nan inlet and exhaust ducts done nan portion of foam and ran nan Wave 3 to bring nan room's somesthesia from 86 to 75 degrees. The inlet duct pulls nan caller extracurricular air, while nan exhaust vents nan basking aerial from nan cooling process. I besides ran nan drain statement retired nan model to merchandise nan h2o collected during condensation. 

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Admittedly, nan Wave 3 struggled to cool down nan room efficiently aggregate times. For example, it brought nan somesthesia down to 82 degrees successful nether 20 minutes connected 1 occasion, but past it took complete an hr to get to 78. The portion past maintained that temp, moreover if group to 75. At this time, nan outdoor somesthesia was 96 degrees, pinch nan midday sun sparkling down connected nan model adjacent to nan Wave 3. 

This and different tests made maine recognize that nan Wave 3's cooling capacity is constricted nether utmost conditions, for illustration power waves. I look guardant to seeing really nan heating performs during nan wintertime months. 

Also: This powerfulness position kept my fridge moving during an outage (and conscionable dropped by complete $1,000)

Even so, 78 degrees is overmuch much comfortable for my kids, particularly while they were each successful nan room pinch nan Wave 3. They dove into mounting up racetracks and doing crafts, leaving my hubby and maine capable to activity uninterrupted.

Because of this, I wouldn't trust connected nan Pet mode advertised by EcoFlow to support your pets safe successful a basking car. This Pet mode is meant for erstwhile you person your Wave 3 and your pet successful your vehicle, and you person to time off your furry friend behind. When nan EF Wave 3 detects a somesthesia of 77 degrees aliases higher, it originates cooling to forestall your pet from overheating. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The EcoFlow Wave 3 is built for off-grid adventurers, whether van lifers, RVers, boaters, aliases mini location dwellers. However, it isn't meant to beryllium a instrumentality you scope for successful emergencies. Its capacity is constricted successful utmost conditions, truthful I'd urge it to make trips much comfortable, not to forestall power changeable aliases hypothermia.

It's a applicable device, pinch improved capacity complete nan Wave 2 and nan expertise to complaint it utilizing star energy, but it is besides beautiful expensive. It's effective successful up to astir 175 quadrate feet but tin struggle successful larger areas.