TCL - 450 Sq. Ft. 10,000 BTU 3-in-1 Smart Portable Air Conditioner - White

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• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Great Portable AC - Works Well and Keeps It Cool

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  • Top 25 Contributor

  The TCL H10P36W is a 10000 BTU portable air conditioner capable of cooling a 450 sqft space. The unit can be controlled locally on the touch panel, via remote, or through an app interface. The air conditioner has 3 operating modes – cooling, fan only, and dehumidification. Living in the St. Louis region we see reasonable temps up until June, but what often creeps up is the humidity. With my house I would rather keep the windows open as long as possible and avoid kicking my AC on. I tried this out last year but found I would get parts of the day where it was just too warm and there wasn’t enough cross breeze. Fans can only do so much, and once the heat gets in it takes a while to pull it out. With this portable AC I feel like I can overcome some of these brief warm periods, and be able to keep my overall energy costs down. It will also be useful to spot cool on those blazing hot days in the summer or when I’m cooking. The design of this cooler is extra beneficial to me since my HOA does not allow window units on the front of your house. The H10P36W unit includes the exhaust hose (~5ft), window kit (fits windows 20.5-59"), remote, and 3ft of clear drain hose. The exhaust hose has to be assembled to slot the accordion duct hose into the unit side and window side adapters. The duct expands The unit itself is pretty heavy – around 70lbs. Rolling it around on the wheels works great, but would be difficult to move up and down levels in your house. Before powering the unit on you need to hook up the duct and vent the hot air out of the space you are looking to cool. The duct clicks into the window kit opening which is then held in place by closing the window down onto it. In my case I set the window kit up to vent outside my upstairs living room. A word of caution if using this on the ground floor – your window won’t be secure unless you have an alternate way to prevent the window being opened from the outside. I used a dowel cut to length and wedged it between the top of the window and the upper window casing. This prevents the window from being opened. It’s not necessary to hook up the drain line unless you plan to run it in “Dry Mode” for dehumidification. The rate in which the unit fills up its internal drain pan depends on how humid the air is. Longer drain hose is readily available from a hardware store – I would recommend PVC reinforced vinyl tubing since it won’t kink due to reinforcement braiding. If you need a longer exhaust hose you should be able to source 6” flexible hose from your local hardware store. With the unit powered on you can set your temp and fan speed with the remote or touch panel. If you decide you want to control it via app you need to download the Smart Life app and follow the setup process. It’s a fairly easy process, but it does have pitfalls. I like rolling my smart device controls into my Google Home app, so that’s how I set it up. In the Smart Life app setup it asks if you want to link it to either Google Home or Alexa. I chose the Google route and the app jumped over to the Google Home device setup. Once I finished in the Google Home app I figured it would jump back to the Smart Life app. However, it did not do this and it surprised me to find that the Smart Life app didn’t show the AC unit in its device list. The AC was recognized and controllable in the Google Home app, but its widget only had a fan speed control, and on/off options. There was no temp setting in the widget, but I could use voice commands to control the temp. It was odd to say the least. I plan to re-run the setup and skip the Google integration until the device is fully setup in the Smart Life app – I’d like to see if the Smart Life app has more controls. For now I am OK with using the controls on the remote. With the unit on you can adjust the temperature setpoint, fan speed, and louvre angle. With the fan speed cranked up it makes a decent amount of noise, but certainly below that of a box fan. Unfortunately we have had really cool weather recently – 2 days in the 70’s and the rest 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. On the days in the 70’s I was able to keep the upstairs at 75° with 5 kids playing on their devices and the windows shut. This was a much larger space – around 900sqft – but the AC unit kept the main area (400sqft) plenty cool. I adjusted the fan louvre angle down to project the cold air further away to cool the larger space. If I wanted to focus the cooling in the immediate area I directed the louvre upwards so the cold air would reflect off the ceiling, and the cooling effect was more localized. I can see this being used in the summer when the main AC struggles to keep that upstairs area cool when everyone is home, or if we are cooking. It doesn’t make much sense to run the full AC unit just to cool a bunch of areas we aren’t using – i.e. bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallways. One of the problems we see in our house is how much the humidity sticks around when we have the windows open. The basement is already more humid throughout the year because of the sump pit along with the fact that it’s a basement. We have had a lot of rain recently so the moisture is the air is more noticeable. I put the unit in the basement and used a short garden hose to route the condensate line to the sump pit. With the unit in Dryer mode I was able to noticeably drop the moisture in the air to after a few hours of running. You could hear the steady trickle of water into the pit after just a little bit, but that tapered off over time. Honestly this feature alone gives this portable AC a use throughout the year. I am going to look into getting a longer exhaust hose. I plan to use this in my garage where I can vent it into the ceiling plenum. Right now the current hose is nowhere near long enough to reach, and I don’t feel like cutting a vent hole in my siding just for this purpose. I use my garage for my home gym and to work on home repair/DIY tasks. Its miserable in the summer, and this AC unit would really be able to take the edge off the summer heat. Overall, this is a really nice cooler. The dryer mode works great at pulling moisture out of the air, and the cooling mode easily cooled off our living room. The setup was straightforward and the controls are easy to understand. Honestly the only thing you need to be aware of is the weight of the unit will make moving it up/down levels cumbersome. Its an awkward lift and at 70ish pounds it’s not light. Just make sure to empty the condensate pan before carrying it around.

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  Posted 1 month ago by DaveW

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Convenient, performant, "smart," portable AC!

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  • Top 1000 Contributor

  TCL - 450 Sq. Ft. 10,000 BTU 3-in-1 Smart Portable Air Conditioner H10P36W Summary: Convenient, performant, "smart," portable AC! Use: Cooling in our MIL ADU can be quite spotty. It's about 600sqft. We've tried a few window units, but they are insightly and ultimately don't get the coverage we would like - even for such a small space (divided by a few walls). We've been wanting to replace the recent unit that seems to struggle with a portable unit like this TCL for some time. The opportunity arose and we are glad we did. This high-powered unit was a snap to install with very few parts to worry about. If not obvious, the instructions quickly made short work of doubts (mainly the window assembly). I literally had my 60 year old FIL assemble it and he was done in a short while. He is crafty, so I shouldn't have been surprised. But given how he reacts whenever I mention things like "It's Alexa enabled" I expected some resistance. We use Alexa devices to manage our home and ADU, but our MIL/FIL aren't really fond of her. The app installation made connecting the unit to our Wi-Fi easy and itself resembles controls for popular smart thermostats like the Ecobee or Nest. The control itself works just as expected and we expect to be the primary way to manage the unit. The unit has a very clean look on its own and while connected to the exterior the paneling/tubing looks just fine. From the exterior the window slider offers a much sleeker look than a huge box hanging outside of the window obstructing light. The biggest problem we had with the more traditional AC units is that they all want to hang right off the window. Only the bedroom windows can allow that due to their orientation. The rooms where guests spend most time in the ADU is the living room and adjoined kitchenette. They are opened vertically. This portable unit allowed us to put cooling in the space we most needed it - in the front rooms. The power of the unit is perfect. Though rated for a smaller space, we find that it cools the desired rooms fast enough especially if we close the doors to the bedrooms. We can adjust the positioning of air flow by adjusting the vents or just pivoting the unit itself. The 10,000 BTU is certainly adequate. We experience the first of the initial warm days (89) just a few days ago and we were glad to have this unit available. We hope it will be able to keep up with the more intense summer heat. Pros: * Size. The size is great. They can seem bulky, but they can be easily maneuvered out of the way when not in use. They don't really take up that much space, even in smaller spaces like an ADU. * Cooling power. This unit packs a whallop! It cooled the entire ~650 sqft space rather quickly - with the coldest rooms being the most used during the day, and the rear rooms just a peak (keeping it just cool enough for the MIL/FIL). We are thinking we won't need the window units in the bedrooms. But, keep in mind, it is rated for 450sqft. So we will keep bedroom doors closed on taxing days. * Controls. The controls are straightforward and the controller and mobile app make using the unit a breeze. Easy to understand and operate even for "old foogies" like my ILs (this is how myu ILs refer to themselves). * Smart. The Alexa and Google controls will definitely be a perk for our younger guests as they are natural tools for them. We print out sheets of commands for controlling the home/ADU for those un-initiated. LOL. It seems to help. The units work basically like other smart thermostats do. * Assembly. The unit was quick to assemble and was done so by my FIL. Aside from the smart (Alexa/App) part of the setup, I'm not even sure he needed the instructions for assembly. Cons: * I'm hard pressed to find something I'd consider a con. The unit is nice looking (for an AC unit), portable, smart enabled, and really chills a room quickly - all stuff it said it does. I did check to see if they had their instructions online, though, and I see that they appeared to have already introduced the new model. So finding the precise documentation to this product model wasn't straight forward from TCL's website (featured broken links). The new model documentation looks similar, though, so that may be why. It was nothing a quick search couldn't handle, though. I always save PDF versions of manuals for future reference, if needed. We definitely recommended this unit if you have a small space you need to condition during the warm and hot summer months! If you live in a humid environment, you can also use this unit to dehumidify, though this isn't something we could test at the time.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Rhostam

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Portable Cooling!

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  • Top 50 Contributor

  I live in Phoenix, AZ.  I have a home office which is about 250 sq ft.  Over time I've added more and more equipment. In my office I run 3 servers, 5 notebooks, 2 NAS units and numerous smaller computers. During the winter the extra heat from all the equipment helps keep the house warm without running any heat.  However in the summer my office temperature will often rise to over 84 degrees (when outdoor temps rise above 110).  And the hum of the servers becomes most annoying.  Several years ago I had my AC company add an additional air return vent in my office.  This helped most of the year, but in July/August (the most humid months (due to summer monsoon storms), I still can't keep the office temp below 80, where my servers run much more comfortably (me too).  My new plan is to add this TCL rollabout unit (wheels on bottom) to my office.  I'll vent it out the window and put a permanent drain out to the patio (which has its own drain).  And I love the idea that this is a smart device that I can control remotely.  I already have smart temp/humidity monitors in my office.  I normally keep my house at 78 degrees.  Which typically has my office at 79 degrees.   Unpacking the TCL was easy to do (You do first have to set up a TCL User Account. Installing their Smart Life-Smart Living app was easy to do.  I was surprised by all the functionality that it offers for other home automation products.  The app only supports 2.4GHz WiFi (which is pretty common) so make sure this band is selected when connecting the device.  There are 3 ways to put the A/C into pairing mode (press the "FAN" button 6 times quickly, press the "ON/OFF" button down for ~5s, or hold the "MODE" down for ~3s); once one of the above done the display will "AP" displayed on the LED display.  Then in their App select add device (BTW: I suggest adding the room name the A/C will be in first).  And then your "Smart TCL Portable AC" will be displayed in your "Home" location.  It can now be controlled from your smartphone.  The controls consist of the Mode setting (Auto, Dry, Cool or Fan).  Speed (Auto, low, med and high).  Function (Sleep, Wind, degree F or degree C) and Timer settings (you can set many start/stop times).  The handheld IR remote offers the ability to change most of these from the remote.  The only function that is not obvious is the wind option, this has the AC init blow air from the right to left then left to right.  When the unit is off the vent on the top of the unit closes. Given it was April, I could not really test the unit with the outdoor temps over 110. But I was able to set the unit to 73 degrees and see how long it took to bring my 78 degree office down to 73 (with the outdoor humidity was only 24%).  I tried it with my office door closed (easier to do) and open (harder but more like I work).  Starting at 78 and turning the unit to auto and temp to 73.  It took 23 minutes to get the temp down to 73 blowing straight. It took less than an hour for the temp to rise back to 78.  I repeated the test with wind mode enabled and it took 19 minutes to bring the temp down with the door closed. With the door open I expected it to take longer to cool from 78 to 73 degrees.  And it did, it took 33 minutes with wind mode off, and 30 minutes with wind mode on.   Great, but what about 70 degrees, continuing with wind mode on it took another 30 minutes to go from 73 to 70 degrees, but it did , which leads me to beleive it will be fine in the summer keeping the office around 78. The unit is not exactly silent, you can hear its fan, but it does do a good job of circulating air.  So I had it running well over 3 hours, and there was no water in the drain outlet (AZ is dry).  So I can't say much about its dehumidifier capabilities. I'm happy with my portable AC solution.  With it set to auto and set to 78, it currently sits perfectly quiet all day in my office.  The unit seems to only have 2 fan speeds, the higher setting is much noisier than the low.  But it circulates air within the room very well, for me this is very important. I'd rather hear the low pitch of this AC than the high pitch whine of my server fans. I tested it with Amazon Alexa and it worked fine.  It also supports Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit, which I did not test.  The unit weighs 63 lbs, it's on wheels and comes with a 5' cord. It's 27" tall, 14" wide and 16.5" deep. The shipping box came well packed and protected. My HVAC dealer had proposed two much more expensive proposals.   I believe I've solved my office AC problem.

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  Posted 1 month ago by 3Tcubed