Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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103 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alen C535 Portable Air Conditioner, June 28, 2007
Portable air conditioners are very much like water efficient toilets, the higher the efficiency the more times it seems you have to flush, unsatisfactory. Portable air conditioners seem to suffer from the same problem, the higher the efficiency the less cooling capacity, though some might argue the point. You can prove this discovery to yourself by comparing, for example, a 12,000 btu portable with an EER of 12.5 at 950 watts against a 12,000 btu portable with an EER of 8.5 at 1350 watts. Its right in your face, the higher cooling watt capacity simply produces cooler air than higher efficiency less cooling watt capacity models.
The Good
The Alen C535 which debuted April 2007 is a cool delight; 12,000 btu at 1350 watts as printed on the OEM sticker. This C535 produces very cool air capable of cooling a room up to 535sq ft and puts to shame many of its 12,000 btu competitors. Upon first glance the power cord makes you think it needs to be plugged directly into the local power grid. Not the C535, it plugs into a standard 15 amp outlet and the GFI equipped power cord stays cool while many higher btu competitors require a special 20 amp outlet. The C535 is larger and heavier than many of its 12,000 btu competitors and looks like a Hummer (the SUV) brisling with an impressive number of cooling coils tucked behind it's enclosure. The compressor shuts of when the water reservoir is full avoiding overflow onto the floor and comes with a removable drain cup and optional continuous drainage. The owner's manual states the C535 will cool more effectively if continuous drainage is not installed. The C535 auto restarts after a power failure and keeps the compressor off for several mins after restart to prevent compressor damage. The C535 comes with a digital IR remote control but requires line of site to change settings. A RF remote would have been preferred. The C535 also comes with an auto on/off timer which can be programmed in increments of 30 mins up to 24 hrs and the 3 speed fan is an added bonus. If you have owned other portables there are a few niceties the C535 lacks.
The Annoying
No auto fan mode which on other portables adjusts the fan speed lower the closer it gets to target temp and higher the further away it gets from target temp. The C535 displays temp in Celsius out of the box instead of Fahrenheit but can be changed by pressing the up/down temp buttons simultaneously. Temp in Fahrenheit/Celsius can only be adjusted in even number increments of 2 degrees and the digital display on the C535 and remote only display target temp not room temp. The vent hose that attaches to the C535 does not use a safety snap off connector which could damage the housing if not properly detached before moving the unit. Advertised with horizontal and vertical louver blades, only the vertical blades can be adjusted. A horizontal left/right oscillating option would have been a nice touch. Neither Alen's website or owners manual state that this unit is self evaporative. While many portables now come with a 5 year compressor warranty, the C535 comes with a 1 year limited warranty. The owner's manual refers to buttons on the top panel that indicate you can reverse the heat pump and heat instead of cool, however there is no additional C535 series on Alen's web site with this option. The C535 lacks a handlebar to pull the unit from room to room but comes with left/right side grip slots and sits on casters.
The Conclusion
So far I am satisfied with the Alen C535 and its cooling capacity is awesome compared to my older Sunpentown 1210 rated at 950 cooling watts. Along this journey I also reviewed the Royal Sovereign ARP-1205E which is not expected to debut until fall of 2007. The ARP-1205E has a cooling capacity 50 watts higher than the C535 and claims to cool up to 550sq ft. Of honorable mention are the LG LP12000DXR and Sharp CVP12LX both rated at 1340 cooling watts capable of cooling up to 500sq ft. The Amcor PLM16000E tries to sell itself on its 16000 btu capacity, but reviews indicate the PLM16000E GFI trips often disabling the unit from auto restart and produces a not so stellar 1320 cooling watts. I also reviewed several two vent hose models which hype neutral room pressure and higher cooling capacity up to 1600 watts, but these units seemed more problematic to find ideal venting solutions and in no way adaptive for casement window installations. All said the cooling capacity of the C535 appears to be the best single vent portable AC available today. Disappointing is that Alen could have done a better job with their latest 2007 model lineup by incorporating many additional features already standard in competitor models.
The Addendum
While many portables promote self evaporative / internal water reservoirs as a better alternative to portables that use a removable drain cup, the realization hits you as you pull your portable to the door to drain it... Wait a minute, what's that trail of water on the floor leading to the door? While portables with internal water reservoirs appear to be more appealing, they can fill up and often overflow when you tilt them. Not to take this much further, my goal was to find the coldest single vent portable available today. Surprisingly there where not that many when I limited my sub search to maximum cooling watts / sq ft capacity. Amazon, ConsumerSearch, PortableACguide (sorted by cooling watts), & Air-Conditioners-America where valuable resources in my research, and owner reviews like this where the most contributing factor in my final decision.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alen C535: Does What It's Supposed To, July 29, 2007
First off, this is the only stand-alone AC unit I've ever purchased, and it's the only one I've seen in action, as far as I can remember. Of course, I'm sure I've sat in air cooled by such a unit before, but how often do you pay attention to what kind of air conditioner someone else has? Anyway, the point of this is, I will not compare this to other stand-alone AC units, because I can't.
The Good:
- The unit works with my building's terrible electrical system. Before ordering, I was worried about whether or not the C535 would cool my whole apartment, and whether or not my electrical system would be able to handle it. I live in an old studio in New York, with, of course, and old electrical system. I have to turn off the fans and the TV before I can use the stove or the circuit breaks. To my surprise, the C535 doesn't seem to strain my system anymore than my stove does. I can't have everything running at once, but I'm not sitting in the dark.
- The dehumidifier works splendidly. The main reason I got the air conditioner was to remove the stagnant, stale, and humid air. Within about 30 minutes of turning it on, I noticed that my throat felt dry and I needed a glass of water. My apartment is drier, cooler, and even smells better.
- The water tank fills rather quickly, so I have to empty it once a day. This is a good thing because it's just so easy to do. Pull a plastic handle, empty the reservoir, push it back in.
- I feel comfortable having a 1 year warranty from Alen. I haven't had anything go wrong with this unit, but it's nice to know I've got some worry free time.
- It's not very noisy. The unit is less noisy than my fan set to high level. It's definitely noticeable at first, but quickly fades into the background.
- Set up, aside from the horrible window kit (see below), is very easy. Just plug it in and push "Power". That is, of course, once you move this behemoth into place. It's around 90 pounds, so get a friend to help you lift it out of the box. There are built in handles and well oiled wheels to make things easy once the unit's on solid ground.
The OK:
- I don't know how long other units would take to cool my apartment. This unit does it, eventually. I've had it set to 64 degrees for about 20 hours. It's now probably in the low 70s in my apartment. It's certainly better than the humid 90s it would be otherwise though. I don't know if I just have hot air leaking in somewhere, or if the unit just isn't strong enough, or if I'm expecting too much from air conditioners in general. My apartment is less than the advertised maximum square footage, and has low ceilings, by the way.
The bad:
- The window kit simply sucks. Most of the pieces don't lock together in any way, and the one piece that does lock to its mate does it very poorly. I spent half an hour trying to get the window kit to sit in my window properly, but pieces became detached or the whole thing fell out completely every time I turned my back. I ended up just sticking the exhaust hose in my window and duct-taping it in place. Needless to say, this isn't what I would have preferred.
- The exhaust hose stretches to only 5 feet. A lot of people might think that this is more than enough length, but I don't. The reason that I bought this unit instead of a normal window unit is that I live in a basement apartment, and therefore my windows only open up by about 8 inches max. Also, my windows are up by my ceiling. A 5 foot hose means that I have to have the unit directly underneath my window in order to reach it with the hose, and there's no room to move it anywhere. I have had to rearrange everything in my apartment to accomodate it, and now I have a huge eye-sore right next to my bed. It would have been nice to have, say, a 10 foot hose that I could have some room to maneuver. I think that a lot of people who buy portable AC units do so because they don't have standard windows or something similar. As such, I think Alen should really have provided these people with a bit more leeway.
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