The Whynter ARC-14S is a dual-hose portable A/C designed for medium-sized to large rooms. It advertises coverage of 500 ft² (46 m²) and a capacity of 9,500 BTU/hr. It features a dedicated dehumidification mode, and you can operate it using the control panel or the included remote control.
Our Verdict
The Whynter ARC-14S is okay for large rooms. Its capacity is sufficient for most living rooms and larger offices, but it'll struggle to quickly cool bigger open-concept living spaces in a timely fashion. Its compressor is also rather loud, and it can be distracting if you have it running while watching TV or listening to music. This unit's power consumption is also quite high.
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Relatively quiet at max settings.
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Cooling capacity is sufficient for all but the biggest of spaces.
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High compressor noise.
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High power consumption in maintenance and cooling phases.
The Whynter ARC-14S is a middling choice in bedrooms and other small rooms. It's a very bulky unit, making it a nuisance to squeeze into smaller areas. It's also relatively loud at lower settings and very power hungry, and can have a noticeable impact on your energy bill if you use it often in warmer months. It's simply oversized in terms of cooling capacity for small spaces: its compressor cycling can result in relatively big swings in the ambient perceived humidity of a room, leading the space to alternate between feeling comfortably cool and cold and clammy.
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Cooling capacity is sufficient for all but the biggest of spaces.
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Struggles to maintain consistent temperature and humidity levels.
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High compressor noise.
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High power consumption in maintenance and cooling phases.
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Bulky dimensions.
The Whynter ARC-14S's combined efficiency is disappointing. It consumes a lot of power while cooling a room, and since it uses a non-inverter compressor, it needs to cycle on and off instead of operating at a lower speed to maintain a consistent setpoint.
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High power consumption in maintenance and cooling phases.
The Whynter ARC-14S isn't especially flexible and will likely be oversized for many environments. Its compressor cycling causes big swings in a room's ambient humidity, sometimes leaving the air feeling cold and unpleasantly clammy. Thankfully, this doesn't result in big swings around the desired setpoint temperature.
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Struggles to maintain consistent temperature and humidity levels.
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High power consumption in maintenance and cooling phases.
The Whynter ARC-14S is on the louder end of the scale. While its fan noise is moderately low overall, its compressor can be a nuisance, especially at lower settings, as it's significantly louder than the fan noise. While it's not likely to wake most people up in the middle of the night, it will be distracting if you have it set up in a family room or entertainment space.
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Relatively quiet at max settings.
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High compressor noise.
- 6.8 Large Room
- 5.8 Bedroom/Small Room
Performance Usages
- 5.5 Combined Efficiency
- 5.7 Oversizing Tolerance
- 6.5 Noise
Changelog
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Whynter ARC-14S is only available in one color variant: 'Black.' For those interested, here's a photo of the product label.
Let us know in the comments if you come across another variant of this air conditioner.
Compared To Other Air Conditioners
The Whynter ARC-14S is a dual-hose A/C, designed for medium-sized and large rooms. In terms of pricing and market positioning, it's placed squarely in line with a wide variety of other dual-hose models, some of which have inverter compressors, like the Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL or the brand's own Whynter NEX ARC-1230WN. The ARC-14S's lack of an inverter compressor is its biggest weakness, resulting in substantially higher power consumption, lower capacity, and more operating noise than those alternative products.
The Whynter NEX ARC-1230WN outclasses the Whynter ARC-14S in almost every respect. The NEX ARC-1230WN's inverter compressor gives it a major advantage in terms of operating efficiency when it comes to maintaining a setpoint, even in under-sized spaces: it can simply drop down to a lower speed to match the required load instead of constantly cycling on and off. It's also much quieter at lower cooling settings.
The Whynter ARC-14S and the Hisense AP1022HW1GD are pretty evenly matched A/Cs overall. Both are non-inverter portable dual-hose units designed for bigger spaces. However, the Whynter's compressor cycling is far more regular than that of the Hisense, minimizing swings in temperature when it's placed in an undersized environment. It also results in more frequent and just as noticeable changes in ambient humidity during operation. The Hisense is also quieter and takes up less room.
The Whynter ARC-14S is simply flat-out better than the Whynter Elite ARC-122DS. The ARC-14S does take up a little more room, with a taller, wider body, but its slightly higher capacity mostly pays dividends in most situations. It's faster to cool most rooms, and its compressor isn't stressed as hard when cooling bigger spaces, improving overall energy efficiency. That said, the Elite ARC-122DS does pull ahead in terms of operating noise.
Test Results
This A/C comes with additional covers for its hose ports for when the unit is stowed away, as well as a cover with an integrated pouch for stowing the manual and user manual.
Like the similarly designed Whynter Elite ARC-122DS, setting this unit up can be tedious. The exhaust tubes require quite a bit of effort to snap onto the body, and they need to be screwed onto the window bracket instead of using a more common easy-snap system.
The Whynter ARC-14S has decent capacity. It's likely to struggle if you're using it to cool a large open-concept apartment all by itself, but it's best suited to most living rooms or bigger apartments and offices.
This unit's cooling efficiency is disappointing, especially for a higher-end dual-hose unit. Like the Whynter Elite ARC-122DS, it has high power consumption relative to its cooling capacity.
The Whynter ARC-14S is inefficient at maintaining a setpoint. Its non-inverter compressor has to cycle very frequently to maintain the desired temperature.
It's worth mentioning that this unit's thermostat is very poorly calibrated and reads too high, leading to its inconsistent performance in this regard. We set a target temperature of 22 °C (71.6 °F) instead of the 21 °C (69.8 °F) target to accommodate for this poor calibration.
This A/C unit does a poor job of maintaining a stable humidity level. Its high capacity, combined with its compressor cycling, leads to noticeable swings in perceived humidity, resulting in the air feeling alternatively cool and dry and clammy and cold.
If you're worried about getting an A/C too large for your needs, consider a model with an inverter compressor, such as the Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL, or, if you have space for a window unit, the Midea U-Shaped MAW12V1QWT. Inverter compressors simply run at a lower speed rather than cycling on and off, allowing them to match the required load of a smaller space.
This unit comes bundled with an additional activated carbon filter that you can fit over the washable filter to minimize odors while the unit's running. It's the same filter included with the Whynter Elite ARC-122DS. Given the results of our investigation into filter quality for air purifiers, we expect that this filter is too insubstantial to have much of a real-world impact.
