Buying guides

The guides below sort window and portable air conditioners by the question you start with: the room to cool, the cooling capacity, the type of unit, a feature such as an inverter, or a brand. Each guide ranks its picks on specifications the makers publish. Portables are compared on their SACC rating, the seasonally adjusted figure the Department of Energy uses, and window units on their BTU rating, so the two types are never ranked against each other on the number printed on the box. When a maker does not list a figure, the guide says so instead of guessing.

If you know the room, open a room guide first; if you already know the capacity you need, a capacity guide narrows the list faster. Each guide links to Learn articles that explain terms such as SACC, CEER, venting and drainage in plain words, so you can check what a spec means before you pick a unit.