Portable AC: Single-Hose vs Dual-Hose BTU and Venting, Compared

Start from the SACC figure, not the number on the box

Four of the six units here carry the same 14,000 BTU ASHRAE rating: the LG LP1419IVSM, the Whynter ARC-14S, the De’Longhi PAC EX390LVYN and the BLACK+DECKER BPACT14WT. Their SACC figures, the ones the current federal test produces, are 10,000, 9,500, 8,600 and 7,700 BTU.

Across the whole set, SACC lands between 55 and 75 percent of the ASHRAE figure. The Friedrich ZHV16DA sits at the top of that range at 12,000 of 16,000 BTU. The LG is at 71 percent, the ARC-14S at 68, the De’Longhi at 61, the Whynter ARC-122DS at 58 and the BLACK+DECKER at 55. There is no single conversion factor, which is why the ASHRAE number cannot be used to compare brands. Read the smaller figure on the spec sheet or EnergyGuide label and size the room from that.

De’Longhi rates the PAC EX390LVYN for up to 700 sq ft on its product page, the only coverage figure in this set that traces to a manufacturer page.

What single hose and dual hose mean on these spec sheets

The LG, De’Longhi and BLACK+DECKER are single-hose units: one duct carries room air outdoors, and replacement air comes from wherever the apartment lets it in. The Friedrich and both Whynters are dual-hose: a second duct brings outdoor air in to feed the exhaust side, so the room is not being emptied to run the machine.

None of the documents retrieved for these six units quantifies what that difference is worth in cooling, so the honest answer to “does single hose cool worse” is that the published figures do not say. What they do say is which configuration each unit has and what SACC figure it carries, and the two do not line up neatly. The dual-hose Friedrich publishes the highest SACC in the set at 12,000 BTU. The single-hose LG publishes the second highest at 10,000 BTU, paired with a variable-speed Dual Inverter compressor, the only single-hose unit here to name one. The dual-hose ARC-122DS publishes the lowest at 7,000 BTU.

What the set does settle is the weight objection to a second hose. The three dual-hose units publish net weights of 60 lb (Friedrich), 68 lb (ARC-122DS) and 73 lb (ARC-14S). The two single-hose units with a published weight come in at 62.7 lb (BLACK+DECKER) and 70.99 lb (LG). Both the lightest and the heaviest published figures belong to dual-hose machines, so the second duct is not showing up as a weight penalty in this group.

Measure the window opening before you choose anything else

For a renter, the kit range is the specification that decides whether the unit can be installed at all. Five of the six units publish one, and they do not agree.

The Friedrich kit adjusts from 15.7 in to 47.2 in (40 cm to 120 cm) in both width and height, the only published kit here that closes below 20 in; its maximum is also the shortest in the set. Both Whynter kits run from 20 in to 56 in long and are 6.5 in wide. The BLACK+DECKER kit runs from 20.5 in to 59 in (145 cm at maximum). The LG kit covers 23 in to 60 in wide for vertical-sliding windows, or 23 in to 60 in high for horizontal-sliding ones. De’Longhi’s range appears in no document retrieved; the installation manual returned a 403 error on every attempt.

An opening between 15.7 in and 20 in is inside only the Friedrich range. An opening between 59 in and 60 in is inside only the LG range, and one between 56 in and 59 in fits the LG or the BLACK+DECKER. Anything over 47.2 in is outside the Friedrich’s published range, and anything under 23 in is outside the LG’s.

Compare the low-speed noise figure, not the headline

Three manufacturers publish more than one noise figure. LG publishes four: 53 dBA at high, 50 at mid, 47 at low and 44 at sleep. Whynter publishes under 47 dBA low and under 52 dBA high for the ARC-122DS, and under 51 dBA low and under 56 dBA high for the ARC-14S. Friedrich and BLACK+DECKER each publish a single 54 dB figure with no speed attached, and a lone number should be read as the high-speed figure. De’Longhi publishes none in the material retrieved.

On the lowest published setting the figures are 44 dBA for the LG, under 47 for the ARC-122DS and under 51 for the ARC-14S, with no low-speed figure at all for the Friedrich or BLACK+DECKER. If the unit will run on a low setting overnight against a shared wall, those three are the only units that document that setting, and the LG and ARC-122DS are the two lowest.

Draining, the outlet and the stairs

Without central air, the portable unit is also the apartment’s dehumidifier during cooling season, and the published figures are large: 91 pints per day for the Friedrich, 82 for the ARC-122DS and 71 for the ARC-14S. LG publishes 6.8 pints per hour rather than a daily figure, so its number does not slot into the same column without a conversion LG has not published itself. BLACK+DECKER and De’Longhi publish no dehumidification figure in the material retrieved.

How the water leaves matters more day to day than the pint figure, and the comparison table lists each published method. A gravity hose only runs downhill, so the Friedrich’s continuous drainage needs a floor drain or a container lower than the outlet.

On the outlet: the five units with published electrical figures draw between 10.5 A and 13.0 A at 115 V. The ARC-122DS is lowest at 10.5 A (1,200 W), then the ARC-14S at 11.6 A (1,300 W), the LG and BLACK+DECKER at 12 A (1,370 W and 1,400 W), and the Friedrich at 13.0 A (1,500 W). Friedrich specifies a 125 V, 15 A circuit and a NEMA 5-15P plug. None of the retrieved manuals states a dedicated-circuit requirement, and the spec sheets cannot tell you what else your building has wired to that outlet.

On the stairs: compare net figures only. Friedrich publishes 60 lb net against 75.8 lb shipping, and LG 70.99 lb net against 77.60 lb shipping. The gap is packaging, about 16 lb in Friedrich’s case and under 7 lb in LG’s, and a listing that gives one weight without saying which is not telling you what you will carry.

Heating, the one figure nobody puts on the box

The Friedrich is the only unit in this set with a documented heating function, a 9,000 BTU heat pump. No heating function is published for the BLACK+DECKER BPACT14WT in the manual or product page retrieved. For an apartment that also lacks central heat, the Friedrich is the one unit here documented to do both jobs.

When a single-hose unit is enough

The single-hose LG publishes the second-highest SACC in the set, the only four-speed noise breakdown, and a kit that reaches 60 in. If the room has one sliding window between 23 in and 60 in, the lowest documented low-speed figure matters to you, and 10,000 BTU DOE covers the space, the LG’s spec sheet supports it on every factor it publishes. What it does not publish is a daily dehumidification figure or a drain hose. The BLACK+DECKER’s case rests on 62.7 lb net and a 20.5 in to 59 in kit, against a single 54 dB figure, no published dehumidification capacity, and the lowest SACC among the 14,000 ASHRAE units at 7,700 BTU.

A dual-hose unit is the stronger choice on published evidence when you need the most SACC available (the Friedrich’s 12,000 BTU), drainage documented as continuous or automatic (Friedrich’s gravity hose, Whynter’s auto-drain), or an opening narrower than 20 in (Friedrich only). The ARC-122DS is the reminder that hose count is not capacity: dual hose, the lowest published low-speed figure of the dual-hose units, the lowest draw in the set, and the lowest SACC.

What the evidence does not settle

The De’Longhi’s hose configuration and SACC figure come from the Amazon listing and a third-party page rather than a manufacturer spec sheet, and five of its seven factors are unpublished in anything retrieved. Its 700 sq ft coverage claim, confirmed on De’Longhi’s own product page, is the point in its favor that can be checked.