BLACK+DECKER Smart Portable Air Conditioner, 14,000 BTU for Rooms up to 700 Sq. Ft., Smart Portable AC with Follow Me Remote and Window Kit, BPACT14WT, White

I work from home. My home office, with all its computer equipment, heats up considerably. The office is always 15-20° warmer than the outdoor temp. In the summer, 90° outside can easily mean the office is 100-110°. Ouch. Not only is 100° an uncomfortable work environment, but it's dangerously hot for any computer equipment. Small 12x12 former bedroom -- I originally tried a Honeywell 8,000BTU unit. I gave up on that after a month or so and gave that unit away. It could not cool the room, due to the computer equipment, despite the unit running pretty much constantly. I then upgraded and for the past several years I've been running a Wynter 14,000 BTU portable AC. It was loud, but it did the job of cooling the room. The condenser burnt out about 6 months ago, but it would still blow cooler air and suck the hot air out of the room. So I continued to use it until I found a replacement. It never really got "cold" without the condenser functioning (and no one wanted to repair it) but would easily cool the room to a more livable temp - around 80°. However, it ran almost constantly in summer months. So my electric bills easily climbed by $100+ each month. Naturally, I decided to replace the old unit, which was breaking down, and decided on this Black&Decker 14,000BTU unit. The B&D unit EASILY cools the room in a few minutes and keeps it cool all day (cooling, then shutting off, then kicking back on several minutes later). Overall the B&D unit is much quieter than previous units I've owned. Of course there's the sound of the fan/rushing air when it's running, and there's a loud "ca-chunk" when it starts up the condenser (as expected). But, unlike previous units, I can still talk on the phone 5 feet away without having to first shut the unit off. In addition, the hose attachment on the back of the unit is LIGHT YEARS better than any previous unit I've seen. I do not want to have to install dual hoses for venting. So I will only look at/use one hose units. I always had trouble with hoses staying connected to the units. The "unit-to-hose connectors" other manufactures proved were a COMPLETE joke with no actual "locking" ability.. it was like resting a tissue on an outdoor picnic table and not expecting it to blow off. The hose would fall off then the unit would simply be blow hot air into the room rather than venting it out - actually heating the room as opposed to cooling it. I previously had to wrap the vent hose with a considerable amount of duct tape in order to keep it actually attached to the unit. The hose connection on the back of the B&D unit is SO MUCH BETTER and fool-proof. It essentially locks in place and stays put. No more worries about the host falling off. I like this feature a great deal, even though it's such a minor thing. My ONLY real complaint is the remote control. Not in its functionality, but in its design. The LCD screen REALLY needs some sort of illumination. Forget about reading the remote screen in a dimly lit room. I really dislike how dark the screen on the remote control is. But, it's not like I need to read the remote screen repeatedly or even frequently. I can live with it. But if they wanted to improve anything, it would be the illumination of the remote screen. I can't yet speak about longevity of the unit. I tend to use a portable AC every day, 14-16hrs, from about April through to about October.. and I got this B&D unit in Aug of this year. I would expect it to last at least 5 years, if not much longer. My last 14,000BTU unit lasted a decade before it started breaking down. If I factor in the cost over a 10 year lifespan, it's well worth it when considering at a per-year breakdown. I also can't directly speak about electric costs, as I've not had the B&D unit long enough to make an adequate comparison. However, since the B&D unit shuts off for several minutes after cooling, rather than continuously running, I would anticipate energy costs to be much lower than I've previously experienced. But I do consider any energy costs to be a necessary evil to both keep computer equipment at healthy temperatures and to not have to work in a 90° office. Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase. I was strongly looking at this unit for a few weeks weeks, researching, then it hit some sort of sale at Amazon and I purchased it for much a lower price through Amazon than I could have from ANY other retailer. I did shop around several online retailers for this same model and Amazon had the lowest price by literally hundreds of dollars at the time.

We have a small room of about 120 sq ft that contains 3 PCs which dual function as space heaters. This room already stays fairly warm all on it's own, just to be clear. The PCs simply make the room warmer if not outright hot. This is great in the winter, as we can regulate the room temp by merely opening the window and using a fan or two. However, come late spring, the temps begin to hit 60+ F and higher this room can start becoming unbearable with two or three space heaters running. When the temps are 90 F and over, forget about it. Unless, of course, you're seeking that extra dry sauna experience and don't mind it costing you a new graphics card and possibly a new CPU as well. So we picked up this little bad boy hoping it would assist us in overcoming our desperation by providing the chill we so desire and our poor PCs so desperately need. This little thing is super easy to setup and install. As others have mentioned, depending on your window size, you may need to trim one of the insert pieces. Our windows slide horizontally and the insert was, quite fortunately, just the right size. Had the window been even an inch shorter we would have had to trim the insert extension so that it would not clip the hose. The included foam strips were nice, but a bit thin. You may need to double them up or even get some thicker padding to get a good seal. We waited 24 hours to turn it on but when we did, let me tell you that the tears of joy began to flow like Niagra Falls. With the unit set up and in place, we turned it on. The arctic blast that it produced felt nothing short of amazing. Not miraculous, mind you. Don't expect to keep your snowman best friend alive year round. But it is amazing! I set it to 66 F, let it run for an hour, and then began to stress test my PC to see if the temps would be lower than usual. The answer was filled with happy expletives but it essentially boils down to Yes! Yes it keeps the room and the PCs much cooler. My PC was testing at a minimum 10+ C cooler than before, even after three consecutive stress tests. The AC unit does produce some noise, but we find it more than acceptable given it's ability to keep the room cool. Later on we fired up two of the three PCs and started up a game that we know can push the computer temps up. After an hour of playing, when the room would normally be getting uncomfortable, we were literally just chillin' out and the PCs were running great at well under their usual operating temps. So we have been running this unit almost every evening and sometimes during the day too. Our warmest day has been about 80 F but I have no concerns when it comes to this thing keeping pace at 90 or even 100 F. If I'm wrong, then I will edit my review, but I'm feeling pretty confident that day will not arrive. For now, we are running it at 68 F when we turn it on and it is splendid to say the least. My only real complaint is that the screen on the remote doesn't work properly unless you pinch one corner of the remote down rather hard. Granted, we understand that this is likely a fluke and not indicative of most units. We honestly don't really use the remote so it's largely been a non-issue, but I could see it being a real disappointment and extreme inconvenience for some people, especially if they have mobility challenges. Overall, a great unit though. So do we: like it? Yes! recommend it? Yes! love it? Pretty much yes (but we're not going to marry it.) want a 2nd one for our bedroom? Yes yes yes! Despite the lost stars for the remote, we feel that the unit truly deserves an overall 5 stars as it is easy to set up, easy to operate, and works really well. Will be ordering another of the same (or possibly slightly more powerful) for our bedroom.

Update: After 14 months it has died. I only got one summer out of it. Warranty is only 12 months so I might be screwed. The compressor turns on but the air is warm. I've tried everything from hard reset to emptying the water to cleaning the air filters. I emailed the B&D service center but no reply yet. $500 to use it for one summer is a tragedy. I cannot recommend this unit to anyone. My AC unit looks brand new, I've barely moved it, and it doesn't even look used. My 15 year old AC unit downstairs still works and it's some no name Chinese brand. I should have gone to Costco and bought any AC unit there. Costco has a no question return policy....... I have a 10-15 year old portable AC unit that was handed down to me and it still works for the most part however it is extremely loud, smells musty even though I have sprayed lots of Armor All AC vent/duct odor neutalizer, almost twice the size of the Black and Decker, and it is not super cold anymore. So I looked to buy a new portable AC unit for my master bedroom and settled on this Black and Decker. I really wanted to get an LG or Asian brand just for reliability but all of them are at least a few hundred more than this Black and Decker. So after doing a lot of research and reading review sites online as well as Amazon, I settled on this one because it was the cheapest I could find for 14K BTU. Pros: - Affordable for one room comfort instead of paying $25K for whole house AC. - Ice cold. Cools down my 365 square foot master bedroom from 80 degrees F to low 70's after about an hour. My upstairs gets warm and collects all the heat in the summer. - Very easy set up. After removing from the box I put together the window contraption(without the foam insulation for the window edges) and in about 10 minutes I was enjoying cold air. - It's much more quiet compared to my old unit that I replaced(my old unit is 10X as loud lol). However the Black and Decker compressor makes a high pitched whining sound that others have mentioned which is annoying at first but I guess I tune it out because like I said it's still 10X quieter than my old one. - It's a lot smaller than my previous AC unit(my other unit is twice the size. - Supposedly it will tell you when you need to drain the condensation tank which is great because my previous unit gave zero indication. - Comes with remote which will come in handy when I need to use it while I sleep. - Draining the tank should be easy because it has handles on the side to grab when picking it up. In comparison, my old unit was twice as big and had no handles to grab onto. This unit comes with a tube that you can use with a drain pan if you like. - Good price compared to other 14K BTU units, all the others are like $650 to $900. Cons: - It seems outdated, maybe this is an old model but for 2024 you would think it would be more high tech. Like with an LCD/LED screen on the actual unit with more intuitive controls, etc. You have to use the cheap remote if you want to have access to more functions ie. Changing the direction of air from left to right, plus there is a function on the remote called MAX function for cooling which is the fastest way to cool your room. I have no idea why they couldn't include both of these functions on the top panel of the AC unit?? It's only accessible using the remote for some reason. - When the compressor is on it makes a really high pitched vibration noise. It was the very first thing I noticed the first time I turned it on. It's not a deal breaker for me because like I said, my previous old AC unit is 10X as loud. - The 2 blue lines for standby mode cannot be turned off. So at night the blue lines illuminate your room and are very annoying. I have to put a book or magazine over it at night. In summary, if you are on a budget and need a portable AC unit that can cool down a 365 square foot room easily then this could be for you. If money is no problem, then you should spend on a better brand like LG or Midea.

I really want to give this 4.5 stars but there is no option for half stars. I live in South Florida where temperatures in the summer can get to 96+ and often stay in the high 80's at night. My home is about 2,700 sq ft and my master bedroom is the furthest room from the A/C unit and thermostat. Even with the A/C set to 72 at night our master bedroom stays at a warm 78-79 degrees. This. year I decided to remedy that with a portable A/C. My master bedroom is approx 250 sq ft not counting the bathroom and small vanity area. I have been using this portable A/C for 3 weeks. I wanted to give it some time before I wrote my review. I also wanted to note that I have never had a portable A/C unit before so I do not have anything to compare this to. Overall I am very pleased with my purchase. The price point was very good for the benefit I am receiving as these can get pretty pricey. Installation: It was pretty easy to install. I did have to cut the window piece to fit the window. My window is 24 inches wide. The reason it has to be cut is due to it being longer than 20 inches but not longer than 30 inches. There is one piece with the hole for the vent, and then a second and third piece you can slide back and forth to make it longer to fit your window. However, I only needed an additional 4 inches so the sliding piece covered half of the hole. Therefore, I had to cut some length off of the second piece so that it wouldn't cover the hole. It was very easy to cut with just a box cutter to create the line and then I was able to snap it in two. I did use the foam pieces provided with the unit for insulation but based on other reviews I plan to replace it with a more heavy-duty weathering strip. I didn't want to spend the money until I knew I was going to keep the A/C unit. Cooling: I won't go into the different features I use the "auto" feature only which is to have the A/C unit speed up or down, turn on or off to keep the room at the desired temperature. It took only a couple of hours for this portable A/C unit to cool my room from 79 to 75, I was very impressed. I keep the unit on 24/7. I keep it at a temp of 76 during the day and I turn it to 73 when I come home in the evening so it is nice and cool when we go to bed. There is no doubt when it comes to cooling it cools the room, there is definitely a noticeable difference in our room now. Noise: As I stated I have nothing to compare this to but I will admit it is not silent. That said no A/C unit is silent. It did take us some time to get used to the noise as it does kick on and off or speed up and down in the middle of the night to keep the temperature at 73. I tried the sleep mode which seemed to be a more consistent noise but woke up that morning and my room was bordering on 77 degrees. If there is a portable A/C unit that is whisper quiet I would love to know, I can only assume it would cost a fortune. Cleaning: It says to clean the filters every week. I did not realize this but on week three I took out the filters and they were not dirty at all. I also checked to see if there was any water to drain and there was nothing. Maintenance so far has been super easy. It's a Keeper: Based on the fact that over time we have been able to get used to the noise the benefits of a cool room at night are well worth it! Pros: **Works quick and fast to cool room **Can say it easily cools a 250 sq ft room **Easy to use **Remote included to use from afar if needed **Easy to clean filter and drain options Cons: **It is a little noisy but not more than any other A/C I assume **No real scheduler to turn the unit on and off at specific times There is a "timer" on the remote control but I am looking for something I can set to say at 7:00 am turn the temp to xx and at 6:00 pm turn it to xx. I would LOVE to see an app of some sort incorporated with this so if you were away on vacation and forgot to turn it off you could do so. UPDATE: 03/28/25 I wanted to come back and update my review after using it for 8 months. I am still happy with the A/C for now but here in South Florida we are in the cooler months so I have not had to run it much. I am still amazed at how fast it can cool down my room. Usually, around 6-7 p,m I will turn it on to a temp of 70 (as it is 78 in the room). When we are ready to go to bed at 10:30 it is 71 degrees in the room. Due to the "not hot nights" right no,w I turn it off when we go to bed, usually by morning it is about 74 in the room. This is much better than 78 all night. However, as the nights get hotter we will have to turn the A/C back on during the evening, I am actually not looking forward to it as it is louder than we would like. I don't know if other A/C's are quieter but I do wish we could find something that is quieter. Update: 11/17/25: I wanted to update my review again to say that the A/C unit is still going strong, and this was an excellent purchase for us. We used it over the summer months, and it made sleeping a lot more comfortable. Are room is usually around 80 degrees. I would turn it on at 6 pm, and by the time we would go to bed, it would be around 73-74. It stayed at the correct temperature all night. I then turn it off during the day when we are at work and repeat this process every day. It has been a lifesaver.

4 YEARUPDATE 2022: It's been 4 years since I've purchased this portable AC unit. I've been using it everyday, when it's not summer I simply use the built in fan for air flow when I'm working and white noise when I'm sleeping. When it's blazing hot during summer I have the unit blasting cool air in my home office while I'm working and when I am done for the day and want to chill outside of my office I can run my central air and save A LOT of money on my electric bill. This is an absolute must buy if you're looking for some AC relief without breaking the bank. I will without a doubt buy a brand new one the moment this thing breaks down on me but it's been going strong for 4 years now and I still can't see it breaking anytime soon! ORIGINAL REVIEW: The central air in my house is broken and it would cost me nearly $7,000 to fix it so I decided to pass and buy this portable air conditioner and it gets the job done for a far less price. It’s only been a couple of days since I’ve used this thing and it’s been a LIFE SAVER. It gets up to 110F where I am and this ac unit cools down my room within minutes! I set it to turn off after 1 hour to save energy. I don’t expect this thing to cool down my entire living room but I always go to my room after work and I’m satisfied so far. My only complaints is the less than helpful instruction manual to set this up but you can get an idea on how to install this thing from YouTube, my other complaint is that it’s fairy loud but honestly the benefit far outweighs the cons so it gets 5 stars in my book. I’ll be sure to update my review if I encounter any problems, but as of now I’d highly recommend this unit if you want to beat the summer heat every year. UPDATE 08/19/18: It has been about 2 months since I’ve bought and used the unit now and I still stand by what I said about this device, it is a LIFE SAVER! My area has been consistently hot all summer with temperatures ranging from 99F - 107! And not once did I ever feel the summer heat indoors. This was definitely worth the purchase and is an amazing investment for future summers to come. UPDATE 05/17/21: It has been 3 years since I’ve owned this portable air conditioner and I firmly believe this is by far one of my greatest investments. It has reached upwards of 119 degrees where I live over the past 3 years of owning this AC unit and it’s been a LIFESAVER. I do not regret buying this and I can say with full confidence I would immediately buy a new one should this one fail; as things stand however, I don’t see it failing anytime soon!

After doing quite a bit of research, I decided to purchase the Black & Decker 14,000 BUT Portable AC. This unit is fantastic. I bought it for use in my 12' x 14' office. The office has two persons (my wife and I) and many computer systems (7 large servers, a couple of desktop systems, numerous battery backup units, numerous monitors, etc). To make matters worse, the office unfortunately gets full sun for more than 5 hours throughout the day. Though we have a central AC, the thermostat is in the family room ... so either the office is comfortable and the rest of the house if 68 degrees ... or the house is comfortable and the office is 86 degrees. Moreover, cost goes way up if we keep the office cool ... even if we were OK with the rest of the house cold like the north pole. Before this unit ------------------ Before we received this unit, the office would run anywhere from 82 - 86 degrees many times higher during summer. With this unit, we were able to keep the office easily at 72 degrees (much colder if we wanted). Shipping & Packaging ------------------------- Shipping was great. The unit arrived in perfect packaging and was free from any scratches, dents or any other marks. Unpacking was very straight forward. As a reminder, the unit needs to be upright. Per the documentation, they suggest the unit be left upright for at least 6 hours before use ... preferably 24 hours. I decided to wait the 24 hours since I did not know how the unit was handled during the shipping process. Operation ------------ The unit pushes some seriously cold air. Like all AC units, when it starts-up, cold air does not come out immediately. But within 30 seconds of starting, it was blowing freezing cold air. Within 5 minutes the room cooled down and during the day, it maintained the temperature with ease (we set it for 72 degrees). In fact, we did set it down to 65 degrees and it would run until the room reached that temperature ... that was just simply too cold for us. Quiet ------- This unit was much quieter than we expected. Even when on video conference calls using speaker-phone, there was no issue. Others on the call could not tell the unit was running. I am not saying the unit is stealth quiet, but the noise level was surprisingly low ... on-par with the fans from my computer servers. Why Returning? -------------- If the unit was so great, they why would I return it? Well there were two issues with the unit I did not like: 1) Placement and 2) Security Placement ---------------- Based on the layout of our office along with the servers, desks, multiple monitors, etc ... there was no real convenient location to put the unit. So how did we know the unit works well? I temporarily moved desks / computers out of the way so I could mount the hose and pass-through to the window. Originally, I had planned on drilling a hole in the wall (this is a 6" diameter hose!!!) and putting a one-way flange & baffle with a fine screen mesh to ensure no outside critters could get in. I bought this with the intent of installing it somewhat permanently. Even with this in mind, where I could place the unit would not be close enough to the flange for the exhaust hose. I could buy additional hose extensions but because of the diameter of the exhaust hose, I just could not easily run the hose behind desks, etc. Keep in mind the hose does not make 'right-angle' turns either. Also, the exhaust hose is rather sturdy - which is actually a good thing. Security ---------- The window mounting assembly is actually quite easy and seemed to work well for the intended purpose. As a reminder, I only ran the unit for a few days so not sure what the long-term durability of the hose and mounting assembly would be like. In any event, I am very security conscious. I did not feel the window mounting option allowed me to secure the window effectively enough to prevent someone from pushing the baffles in and then getting inside the office and our home. Who is this unit for ? ------------------------ This unit works exceptionally well especially for someone that needs to cool down a reasonably large room quickly and quietly. This probably would work great for 2nd floor (or higher floors) homes where outside access to the window would be limited or non-existent. I have decided to order a Mini Split AC instead. It will allow me the flexibility of placement and will enable me to maintain the security aspect.

In the middle of this summer on the hottest day of the year, my central HVAC died on me. Being that it was in the middle of the summer, I couldn’t get an HVAC technician in for weeks I have an 8 1/2 year-old French bulldog and it is so important that she stays cool So I hopped on Amazon and purchased the Black & Decker portable air conditioner 12,000 BTU and I am so happy that I did!!! It took several months for my HVAC to get fixed I was able to keep my bedroom hallway and both bathrooms, nice and cold with this Black & Decker portable air conditioner I had no problem, setting it up myself I attached the hose and used the window kit that came with it, and was up and running in five minutes. It took very little time for my rather large master bedroom to come down and temperature from 90° to 68. This portable AC was my savior for the rest of the summer! It’s a work horse. It ran for days on end without issue. I love that it was portable. I was able to get an extender for the hose and roll this into my hallway so I was able to cool off my home office on days that I was working from home. Then those evenings, I would just roll it back into the bedroom. If someone hasn’t given me another standup air conditioner I would’ve purchased a second one of these for my living room and dining room area. The only thing I wish they would change the remote control It needs to be backlit. But other than that, it’s a very convenient feature that I really appreciated having It’s nice to be able to control the temperature of this machine without having to get up and go over to it, especially in the middle of the workday The airflow was very strong and it was adjustable. I was able to adjust the angle of the flow quite easily. I’ve never used a product like this before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but this definitely exceeded my expectations. My HVAC is now fixed, but we are definitely keeping this close. Our HVAC is an older system and our master bedroom doesn’t cool off so well with it so next summer we’re going to be setting this up in our master bedroom for added cooling. This machine ran for two months straight without ever turning it off. We experienced nothing but great cold air from it. Thank you, Black & Decker for making such a great product and keeping my family cool during one of the hottest summers we’ve ever had!! Such a great product. Easy to set up, seems to be very durable, and it didn’t take up a ton of space If you are looking for a great AC system that will cool off larger areas of your home. I highly recommend this Black & Decker portable air conditioner.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, this AC is simply fine. It doesn't excel at its job, nor does it really even meet my expectations, but it's also not disappointing enough to me to ask for a return / replacement. For starters, this thing is LOUD. There is no way I can sleep with it on (I have it in my bedroom), as it sounds like someone is running lawn equipment next to me. I have no way to measure the actual decibels, but it's too much. Also mine kind of grumbles a little bit? Like it has a motor inside that already trying to die, but only sometimes. I do like the look and size. It's unassuming, and despite being heavy it is relatively compact (at least, compared to ones with similar cooling ratings - more on that later). And setup was fairly easy - all I had to do was plug in the unit and go. I also appreciate the packaging - assuming your courier delivered it upright, the box slides right off and you're close to being done. I generally like the remote as well - most stuff is relatively intuitive, but I did have to consult the manual for a few buttons. However, it feels like most of the functions of this unit and remote don't actually do anything... For example, on the product page it lists "Auto Air Swing". I have toggled that on and off, and there is no distinguishable difference in where the air is blowing. Fan speed? Nope, moving through these does nothing on my device. The one saving grace is that On/Off works and the timer does as well. One of the big reasons I purchased this unit was both the manufacturer and the BTU rating. Black+Decker is a brand that I'm familiar with, and while they have been moving towards the "everything is junk and replaceable" model that so many brands are flirting with, I haven't had issues with them... yet. I hope this unit will be reliable, but I'm not impressed so far. The hose accompanying this unit is not well attached to the plastic connector collars, so when the unit is on it blows hot air backwards from the collar back into my room (I wrapped the area in tape, since - and I'm not an expert - hot air is the opposite of cold air, which is what I DO want blowing out of my AC into the room). On top of that, all their advertising uses the outdated and generally inaccurate ASHRAE system, since in that one it's easier to "get bigger number, is good". When you find the more updated DOE rating (8,400 vs 14,000), it falls short of some of the competition at the same price. In fact now that I write it out, I do wish that I had gotten the one from a certain wholesale store for the same price... If you don't have local options, this will do, but it's not a great deal for what you're getting. But it's fine.