Customer Reviews

DeLonghi CF210 8500 BTU Portable Air Conditioner

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We ordered this item for a lake vacation at an unairconditioned cottage; our vacation happened to coincide with a record heat wave (90+ F) in the US that lasted our entire holiday (a week). The DeLonghi CF210 8500 BTU Portable Air Conditioner got a good, real-life, test---and it's a mixed bag.

The good:

-- Arrived quickly and undamaged from Amazon (FedEx ground).

-- Good packaging---the box lifts off once the straps are cut.

-- Rolls easily on castors; important because its heavy.

-- Easy setup---our cottage had odd windows, yet we were able to vent.

-- Dehumidifies very well.

The bad:

-- Modest cooling ability; achieved at most 5-10 degrees cooler than outside.

-- When run continuously, the condensate water cup fills in 4 hours or less.

-- Requires fans (we used cheap box fans) to circulate the cooler air.

-- The vent tubing is not insulated, we wrapped it in towels.

-- Heavy (90 lb or so) and bulky.

-- Annoying safety plug that periodically turned off the unit.

-- Could not keep up in the peak heat of the day (95+); we opened up and re-cooled later nearer bedtime.

While it was not a great air conditioner (although it was a large cottage), it was a good dehumidifier and we were glad we had it at bedtime. My family does not sleep well in humid conditions and having a dehumidifier that vents outside (and therefore did not heat up the interior) was helpful.

The biggest problem with this unit is the water cup; the unit shuts off when it's full and when trying to run this overnight it will shut off at least once while you are sleeping. Our cottage quickly re-heated when the unit turned off, so we had to get up periodically to empty the water cup. There did NOT seem to be any easy way to continuously drain on this model. This was the most annoying problem we had with this air conditioner.

Overall, in the circumstances we were in (poorly insulated unairconditioned cottage with odd windows), we happier that we had it than not. It's an expensive, weak air conditioner and good dehumidifier, but in a humid heat wave was acceptable.

I've read many bad reviews about portable air conditioners but decided to give the DeLonghi CF210 8500 BTU Portable Air Conditoner a shot (there were no reviews when I bought this item in early June 2006).

The unit was very easy to setup. Just put on the exhuast hose into the window venting kit and it's ready to use. At first the air conditioner was not cooling as the compressor would not turn on. I realized that there was a red blinking light indicating that the container to hold the water was full (it was actually not all the way in). After fixing that problem, the fan actually blows cold air.

While this felt nice when you are sitting in the way of the air flow, the rest of the room (approx. 170 sq ft) does not get cooler. The parts of the room not in direct path of the air flow and particularly behind the unit remained warm because of the heat generated. Also, the fan was quite loud and it was difficult to hear the television. You do have to empty the water bucket every so often.

I would recommend this unit if one needs it for spot cooling. But as an air conditioner, it did not fulfill my expectations.

I ended up returning this unit to Amazon.

First, like most people on Amazon, mine arrived with a bit of shipping damage. It wasn't obvious from outside, but once I had it unpacked, the side panel had slipped out a bit (hard to describe, but basically, it meant I had an unpleasant cosmetic issue because the shipper decided to play roughouse with the unit). Also, shipping took a loooooooooooooong time, so make certain you don't need your unit right away.

Alright, that being said, here's a bit of ground information:

1) Having done my research, I installed mine VERY close to the window where it vents. The unit is about 18 inches from where it vents, and frankly I'd have a hard time getting it any closer, because the accordion-style vent tube likes to have a bit of space. From everything I've read, this is ESSENTIAL with portable air conditioners, as they rapidly lose efficiency, the further their exhaust air has to travel.

2) If you live in a humid environment, you're gonna empty this thing *constantly*. We live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We bought the unit for two reasons: First, our master bedroom tends to be under-cooled by our central air. Second, while hurricanes don't do much direct physical damage this far away from the Gulf, they do knock out power for extended periods -- and while we can survive without most things, a week without air conditioning is unbearable down here. So, the frequent emptying means that if we do need to use it with the power out, sleeping will be problematic. Depending on conditions, ours seems to fill up every six to twelve hours. Odds are, in the wake of a hurricane, we'd be on the six hour side of things -- so lots of waking up sweaty in the middle of the night, and emptying out the reservoir. Plus, the six to twelve hour thing includes the house having central air. As I mention elsewhere in the review, I haven't been allowed to properly experiment, to see how the CF 210 does if it's the *only* thing cooling down our bedroom for an extended (i.e., all night) period of time.

Er, and actually, I should say we bought this unit for *three* reasons. The third being that we have a 50 year old house, with unusual steel-framed windows, and no normal window unit would possibly fit through them. They're the kind that are hinged on the side, and open out, rather than opening up. Were I more worldly, I'd know what that variety of window is called. But I'm not, and I don't.

With those bits of ground info out of the way, I'd say it works quite well as an air conditioner. Puts out plenty of cold air, and I haven't noticed much of a problem with it drawing in hot air from other areas of the house. Now, admittedly, my wife hasn't allowed me to do a full-on test in this department... For some reason, she thinks there's something "wrong with me", simply because I suggested we shut off our central air for a couple of days during August, and just run the Delonghi, to see how it was in the bedroom.

I did, however, manage to sneakily turn off the central air one day while I was at home and she was at work. The house itself got up to the upper 80s inside, but the bedroom was quite comfortable. So, I'm confident the CF 210 will keep us cool, come our next cyclonic visitor. (Or even rough thunderstorm -- the regional power supplier down here has a hard time keeping the lights on during any sort of inclement weather).

Hope this review helps.

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I forgot I'd already reviewed this once, and tried to write a second review as I closed in on a year of ownership. Here's my second review:

*************

Alright, I've now used my 210 for about a year, and I feel like I'm qualified, at this point, to give it a fair review.

First, I strongly, strongly suspect that many of the people who feel that it doesn't cool enough aren't using it correctly. There are a few things you MUST do, if you want this puppy to work for you.

First, and foremost, you MUST place it RIGHT NEXT to wherever it is going to vent.

Just because it comes with a six foot venting tube does NOT mean you can place it six feet away from the window and expect it to work. If you do, it won't.

Now then, assuming you've gotten your Delonghi properly vented (right snug next to the window), you have a second problem: All that water in the itty-bitty catch basin.

This part of ownership is truly awful. I agree with everyone who has complained about it. I feel your pain. If you live anywhere with any measure of humidity, you will NOT be able to go all night without emptying the unit. Which makes using it to help you sleep a true nightmare.

However, I've discovered how to make it vent out my window. And that has made me a very happy camper.

Inside the unit there's a capped vent line. If you pull out the catchbasin, you'll see it. It's a plastic tube with a black plastic (or rubber) cap in the end, and the tube is full of water. This tube is fairly short, and it's also much thicker than the hole which the user's manual seems to imply you're supposed to thread it through if you wish to vent your water.

So, I ignored that part of the manual. That is to say, I took it under advisement, and then figured things out for myself. I threaded the drain tube so it would fit *over* the catch-basin, and then hooked my own drain tube to it (since it's not long enough to use as a drain on its own.) I was lucky, as I happened to have a multi-size tube adapter laying around the house. Other people probably don't have such an adapter. I'm not sure what'd be the best approach if you had no such adapter -- but my suggestion would be to try duct tape.

Now, once you have your tube attached to the installed drain tube (and once you've removed the rubber plug from the drain tube, obviously, so the water CAN run, run your vent line out through the hole in the back of the catchbasin.

It is ESSENTIAL when you do this, that you make sure the little lever/top of the catchbasin is pushed down. That's because the catchbasin top is how the Delonghi senses when it needs to be emptied. If it isn't pushed down, the unit won't run in cooling mode, because it'll think it's full of water.

ALSO -- and this is VERY important -- the drain line seems to need gravity assist. Which means you can't run your drain tube UP a wall and out a window. You're going to have to stick your Delonghi on a table, or find some other way to give it some elevation. Buy some cinderblocks to put under it. Stick it on a couch. Heck if I know. You just have to put it on *something* to give it some elevation. That is to say, *I* had to. Maybe if your window is low enough, you won't need to. I'm not sure. The drain line has *some* pressure -- it just isn't a ton of pressure.

Anyway, once I had mine mounted (in a rather bizarre-looking manner) on top of the fairly wide table I use in the bedroom as a computer desk, with my drain line hooked up as I described earlier, draining it seemed a thing of the past.

I'll admit, though, it took me quite some time to develop this draining system -- and it's actually fairly new in practice. (For the first half year of use, we just drained it whenever it got full, which truly stunk).

I've had it running for a whiile with its newfangled drain, and have giddily watched as frequent rivulets of water pour out of my drain line, knowing that each one is one I won't have to lug into the bathroom sink at four in the morning.

Proper draining has transitioned my Delonghi from a mild convenience to a lifesaver. I hope my experience with it can help other owners & perspective owners with their own.

(Assuming it isn't some obsolete model, making my review completely and totally pointless.)

Unit delivers as promised. Easy to install. Quite running. Live in high humidity area and rarely have to drain condensation container. Bought to serve as secondary cooling for family room of home and for emergency cooling via generator during black or brown outs.

Great buy for the money.

It does not cool as well as it says it should - 850 sq. feet. and a small plastic piece (cord winder) broke immediately and I've asked for a replacement which they did not send.

This air conditioner runs well. It is pretty quiet and cools my bedroom efficiently. I was annoyed with having to empty the water tank every 4-6 hours as the temperature outside reached well into the high 90's and the humidity was almost 100%. Now that the weather is cooler I empty the tank every 10-12 hours.

I have friends who have portable units, and this one majorly underperformed. In order to receive any cooling at all, you have to stand in front of it. In fact, aside from making noise, it really did almost nothing. It was also clearly damaged when I received it.

Avoid this at all costs. If there is a good part about this story, it's that Amazon has a great return policy. Very quick pickup. But on the other hand, this product is simply a waste of time.

The unit was ordered from J&R via Amazon and received in a seriously damaged and patched-up package. There was a wheel missing, the deflector fins loose in the bottom of the box and other damage. J&R refused to ship an immediate replacement, so I ordered a second one on my cost as I needed it urgently. This was never delivered as UPS returned it to J&R due to a confusion oner the damage claim. After numerous phone calls J&R and Amazon finally reimbursed the double cost and the shipping. DeLonghi should find themselves better distributors.

I don't agree at all with a lot of the reviews that have been posted about this item. I have been more than pleased with the reults of this air conditioner since I got it 6 months ago. If your expectations are that this air conditioner is going to cool your house, you are expecting too much. It does what it says it does, and that is to cool a mid-sized room.

We have this unit in our bedroom, and it cools the bedroom nicely, even when the temp was in the high 90's. It, however, is not meant for large rooms, nor does it ever say that it does. Is it the greatest air conditioner on the planet? No. But it gets the job done, and for the price it is more than reasonable.

[...]
The water reserve is too small so it fills up before morning and shuts off. No fun waking up in a sweat. Plus the breaker switch has tripped several times from over heating. The exhaust hose is properly installed so it should not shut off.

Nothing is outstanding when compared to DeLonghi's glowing feature write-up.