Customer Reviews

Unistar DF158 Multi-functional 4-in-1 Portable Air Cooler

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

 

 

This unit is nothing to write home about but I guess it serves its purpose. I purchased this fan for my small studio apartment. To be honest I'm slightly disappointed. If you are looking for a medium sized unit for an office or small apartment this unit does help.

That being said, don't be misled by the air cooling feature. This is not an air conditioner and will only give you slightly cooler air flow. The fan on high isn't really powerful. The two reusable ice packs are nice so that you can rotate them in. The timer control works well so that you can set it to run when you leave or go to sleep and it will continue to run for 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours. The setup and controls are very user friendly. You can get this unit up and running within 2 minutes of opening the box.

I don't think I would buy this unit again. I'd probably look for something with a higher speed fan or something that cools the air a little bit better.

This unit works reasonably well in my small bedroom that has large windows (no windows that open however) that face into the morning sun. The room can get quite hot and stuffy with no way to circulate air from nearby sources. This room does have darkening curtains to cut down the sun load and I am sure that gives the cooler some assist. I live in the pacific northwest state of Washington where the humidity is moderate. This cooler sits on a table at the foot of the bed. I ice it up and put it on high breeze and oscillate and it works quite well. I can sleep comfortably. That being said, I have awoken to some very hot mornings and the unit blowing warm air which makes me more uncomfortable. At this point if I add cool water and ice and the ice packs it will cool the room down fairly quickly. I don't mind the hum of the motor noise and the wind sound effects. It helps mask annoying noises and is actually pleasing to me and helps me fall off to sleep quicker. I am not sure how effective the ion option is. It is not recommended for large rooms or very hot areas but for a small room, office cubicle or dorm, that you need to cool down to a comfortable degree, it works fairly well. It is small and streamlined and easy to port from room to room. It looks attractive. It tends to cool an area directly in front of it from about 1-5 feet. Oscillation will get you a few feet at the sides as well. The timer is a nice plus. I would not recommend this unit to cool down a large room...it simply won't do it. But for a small room space and ice water added it should be effective enough to do a decent job for the money.

I was tired of sweating to death in my hot cubicle, and all my old fan did was blow the hot air around. This unit did the trick. I'm not sure it would cool off an entire room in a home, but it works nicely in my cube. Also, because it humidifies and oscillates, it doesn't dry out my contact lenses like my old fan did. It's a little noisier than the fan, but not enough to be heard by my fellow cube-dwellers. The little freezer bottles that come with it are just that, really little and don't stay frozen for long. I find I have better cooling results when I refill the water reservoir with ice cubes and water a couple of times a day.

This is the perfect size cooler for my bed room. The desk top size fits into the limited space and the timer allows for the cooler to cool my room very comfortably while I sleep. I am thinking of buying another one for my daughters room as well. Also dorms would like this cooler. I dont have control over the ac in my building so the extra cooling this gives is great.

I purchased this for my camper van. I noticed that some campgrounds either charge extra for using the air conditioner or they don't allow it; so I needed a way to stay cool in the heat of the day instead of air conditioning that causes my nasal and sinus passages to be congested.

After it being so effective in my camper van, I started using it in my den when I am home alone to save on my cooling costs. I don't try to cool the whole room, I just put it a few feet away from me and add water. It really blows out cool air and I have to shut it off sometimes because it is already on the low setting.

And I love having another negative ion generator in the house. The air coming from this swamp cooler smells and feels fresh like the outdoors. I don't see it cooling an entire room, but for the spot cooling needs I have, it is more than adequate and is exactly what I need. And I breathe much better now because I always use the "ion" option.

I also like the fact that the filter is permanent and only needs to be washed instead of replaced - adding to the total cost of ownership.

I bought this little unit for my office desk, which is in a completely mirrored and barely insulated building, giving it the "ant in magnifying glass" effect in the afternoons. It gets up into the 90's in here in the afternoon and I was going home with clothes wet from sweat every day. I bought this unit for just my desk, which is in a large open area, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference in the whole room but hoping it would just keep me personally from sweating. It does a wonderful job, even being in Alabama, where you'd think adding humidity to the air would be a no-no. It seems like once it gets as humid as it is here, though, this thing could no more humidify this room than it could cool the whole thing.

Anyway, I find that techni-ice packs, which you can also get on Amazon, work best with it. They last all afternoon so I just have to refill the water once but can keep the same ice packs.

Last but not least, Kaito was great to work with. Great customer service, fast delivery, and when the ice packs were missing with the original order, they sent them priority with no questions asked.

Techni-Ice Travel Pouch Spare - 7.75" x 5.5" 6 cells

Well, it was hot in California these past few days and my room has no AC. Since i cannot paid for a portable AC so I bought this little cooler/fan. Well, it was easy to use and it looks nice, I place ice and water in it to cool my room down; my room was about 98 degree and after running it for 1 hr I check the temp again and it was 91 degree. In a way I guess it does work but not as powerful as the real AC. If the days are HOT then this little guy can only do so much, but if the days were like 80's degree then it will cool the room down.

I am actually extremely disappointed in my purchase. I bought the fan to put in my daughter's room where there is no A/C. The fan on high is extremely weak, as stated in another review. The ice packs do not stay cool for long and even using ice cold water and the packs, you get about an hour of air that is a bit cooler than room temp. I find myself having to change the ice every hour but then I have to go to bed myself so when I get up in the morning, my daughter's room has been disgustingly hot and humid!!!! The machine itself is designed well, but every button you push beeps very loud which will wake a sleeping baby if you try to reset it while they're asleep. The water tray doesn't hold that much at all. I would've returned the machine if I hadn't thrown the boxes out already. Honestly, a regular standing fan cools better!!!

so I got this air cooler for my room in Los Angeles for the constant 90+ degree daytime weather. I bought it not expecting the strength of an air conditioner but to provide enough cooling for my room.

It turns out (once I did more thorough research post-purchase) that there are several important things about air coolers:
-It can cool the air up to 12 degrees -- but only when you're directly in front of the airstream. Leaving it on and leaving the door closed will probably do nothing except humidify the air and cause potential damage to electronics and other objects that need to stay relatively dry.
-Putting ice in the water tank will prove to be an unnecessary task, since even when the ice is initially in the tank the temperature will not be significantly lower and the ice will be melted well within the first 15 minutes of use.

I was extremely disappointed with the results I got from this cooler, but at the same time I should've known exactly what it was capable of before I bought it. The description on this page does seem to leave out some problems that an air cooler has. To remedy this I'm buying techni ice packs that can supposedly keep the water icy cold (apparently even colder if your freezer is capable of doing it) for an extended period of time. All in all, if you can't install an a/c unit and want something to keep you cool as long as you're in front of it, buy this. If you want something that can cool down your entire room, buy bigger, better air coolers that can blow the cooled air faster and stronger around the room.

While I did not expect this to work wonders, it does not cool a tiny 8x8 room at all. The fan barely blows on the unit I received, and placing ice in the tray didn't seem to make an effect at all. We left it on in there for a few hours, and when we came back it was still just as hot inside as it was outside. Perhaps I just got the factory lemon. :(