Portable Air Conditioner Review: LX-140 Soleus 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Heater

Review of the LX-140 Soleus 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Heater, Dual Hose

I purchased this product with the expectation of cooling off my house. I had hoped to turn my furnace fan on and distribute the cool air through the entire house. However, I was not realistic in my expectations.
 
This Soleus portable air conditioner will do exactly what they say it will; 500 sq ft or slightly more is the limit of its ability. But be sure to take into consideration the humidity and temperature of your area.
 
I live in the Atlanta area where it's very hot and very humid. I had to keep the machine at max cooling to get the temp down to something livable. During the hottest time of the year, it could not do much more than get the area down to 79 degrees at best. I suspect it was because I was trying to move the cool air around the entire house with the furnace fans and box fans. So I made it work a lot harder. Taking this into consideration, the product did admirably well. It cannot be expected to take the place of a 3 ton air conditioner.
 
The controls are a bit difficult to set, and it did not seem to be able to retain my settings once there was a power outage, but since I left it on max all the time it didn't matter much to me.
 
During the cold season, i found this unit to warm up the area very quickly. Wonderful heater! However, there is, in my opinion, a major design flaw that makes me think the manufacturer desperately needs to improve this product. The unit will heat up the house, but it also dehumidifiers the warm that it is bringing into the house. This is good, but there is a 5 pint resevoir which must be emptied when it is filled up. The unit will cease to function until you do so.
 
But here is where the design flaw enters in: They give you a little tray to empty the water into, about 1/4 of an inch deep, and the drain is not much more than 1/2 an inch above the floor! The tray would have to be emptied 20-30 times before you can conclude the process. You end up getting most of the water on the floor! To expect the end user to drain the reservoir in the manner they suggest is ridiculous. I found that this machine can only be drained in a certain way unless you want to cause a total mess.
 
To drain it you must do one of two things:
 
1. Build a stand that will take the unit off the floor so that you can attach a drain tube to it and draint it into a container larger enough to hold the 5 pints, or
 
2. Use a shop vac that sucks up water and put the hose right at the drainage tibe when you pull out the stopper
 
I have an old vacuum cleaner that I use and it drains the water without getting it all over the floor. If you are willing to use either of these solutions, then this unit is for you. I have found that on humid, cold day I need to drain it every 24 hours. So obviously the air conditioner stnad would be the better solution.
 
All in all, it is an excellent unit if you can get around the design flaw. It is so good a unit that I have to recommend it to friends as long as you understand what its limitations and design flaws are. I hope this helps you with your decision making process.
 
Best Uses: Garage/Shed Cooling, Living Room Cooling, Bedroom Cooling, Efficiency/Studio Cooling, Office/Commercial Cooling, Kitchen Cooling
 
Overall Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
 
Learn more about the LX-140 Soleus 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Heater, Dual Hose.