Customer Reviews

Kenwood KW85 Portable Air Conditioner

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If only this gorgeous looking air conditioner could really cool a room!! I am so in love with the stunning sleek design and shiny bright white color. Very simple and professional looking. Sturdy build. Not cheap looking, like others I have seen at Home Depot and Sam's Club.

I bought this for my apartment. It has 8500 BTU. I planned to use it in the living room (13x15 or 208 square feet) during the day, and then the bedroom at night (a bit smaller). I opened the package immediately the night I brought it home, but once I turned the power on for the first time, I was surprised that high power, turned to be little more than a feeble blowing of air. This weak fan, does not allow any of the cold air to actually push out of the unit and cool the room!!! Even if you stood 2 feet from it, it barely blew on you!!! Who would engineer such a thing?

The real test was the next day, when temperatures outside soared to 93 degrees. My unit could not manage to make the room cooler than 88 degrees for the entire day! I decided to give it another day (maybe it need to be broken in, I thought), but again it was did the same thing.

So disappointing that such a sleek looking and digital panneled portable a/c could disappoint like this. I read the entire manual, hooked it up properly and even called the company, Kenwood. Kenwood didn't really care. They told me it is discontinued and to just return it!!

With all the terribly ugly looking portable units out there, I had really wanted this to be my new a/c, but I will have to look elsewhere, and this time for something having perhaps 12000 BTU and a fan that blows like a tornado! Please, someone, design a beautiful looking portable a/c for far under $600 that works! What a pain. I hate the thought of lugging this 80 plus pound machine back to the store.

Our unit was clearly manufactured on a Friday afternoon; Some screws were missing

on the access panels, others were half way in. It seemed to be a factory sealed unit.

Turned it on and it worked well for about 2 hours when the compressor suddenly siezed with a loud screech. Kenwood has a very poor distribution of repair centers, there are only about 4 in the whole state of New York, making service a real pain.

I was excited about having this thing cool my office... but then the hose radiated a lot of heat, the breaker on the power plug would always blow after a few hours.... then it just stopped working altogether.

I had hired a carpenter to install the hose in the wall permanently, but then he couldn't get over here for awhile - I'm glad he didn't!

The first unit I recieved appeared to have been dragged behind the delivery truck. The plastic casing was smashed in several places. Amazon customer service promptly sent me another unit which arrived with a broken coaster. I'm keeping this one to avoid the re-shipping hassle, but dissapointed with the purchase.

I bought one of these a few months ago and just today hooked it up. It seems to be doing its job (on a fairly cool day), but it is sooooo noisy. White noise I can live with, but the condenser rattles and shakes in a way that is rather startling ("What's that???") throughout the house. Too late to return it, but I think it will be used only on the hottest of days. (I'll edit to tell you how it does on a hothot day when we get one of them.)
Edit: it does not cool even one small room. At all. Total waste of money. I can't seem to edit my rating down to one star, but it should be starless.

I bought one of these piles of junk and it didn't even work for a month!! It no longer blows cold air out and actually heats up a room more than cools it now...what a piece of junk! Don't get this brand.

I bought this unit as an open box buy. It cools off 4 rooms wonderfully. I was happy to be able to download the manual off of amazon's website.

I have not been happy with Kenwood's customer service. I had contacted Kenwood several times via email in order to order parts that were missing (because I bought it as an open box item) and to receive a manual but had no success. My husband ended up making the window accessory that was missing and I ended up downloading the manual from amazon.com.

Thanks guys!

The portable air conditioner was definitely worth my money.

I bought this last month and just like other people, the box came damaged and taped together. It is a very load and very, very big unit. The new safety plug trips all the time (even though the circuit is clean and the unit is the only device on it). I would not recommend this product.

I recently purchased this unit from Amazon, When it arrived the packaging was crushed and looked as if it had been returned and resond cause alot of the styrofoam was broken. After unpacking everything was intact with all parts ok. After using it a few weeks the unit is noisy [I use it in my bedroom} and constantly needs to adjust the temp to stay comfortable. The digital display of your settings is no where near the actual temp. When the compressor runs it makes clunking sounds and constantly wakes me. The KW85 makes me wish it was fall!

After considering cutting holes in walls for wall mount units or trying to fit those ugly window jobs that always look jerry-rigged from both the inside and out I decided on a portable unit. I purchased the KW85 and had it installed within an hour after getting it home on a rather hot day. That alone was a pleasant surprise. So far (2 months later) it still works just fine.

I did take the precaution of running the dehumidifyer first for a couple of hours after initial installation so that the compressor would not be working so hard to cool the space. I also made sure that I followed the manufacturers recommendations on the unit placement and exhaust hose installation. If the intake vents are obstucted I can see how the unit would not work well, if at all.

Bottom line - if you have a minimum 3 feet x 4 feet space you can put it in and still vent properly this unit works wonderfully. If you don't have the floor space to dedicate to it and or would have to put a tight bend or more in the exhaust hose then you will likely be disappointed.

Sitting in cooled comfort with no holes in my walls... :)

ECU