BLACK+DECKER BPACT10WT, 10000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner Unit, Window Vent Kit, 4 Caster Wheels, White

1) it is a small AC for a 14,000 BTU, ideal if you are trying to save space.

2) The sliding window panels used to connect to the vacuum cleaner looking attachment isn’t sturdy enough enough, the plastic pieces tend to bend when trying to connect. Luckily I had my old window set up from my 12k BTU Amana portable AC which was much more durable. I suggest B&D make those sliding window panel a heavier.

3) it blows ICE WATER cold when running optimal, but there is a catch here. The fans on this unit seems very sensitive to obstruction of air through the rear vent. I noticed after a day or two of running the fans started to malfunction to the point it sounded broken and I had to turn it off. I took the screen out and started it up again and it instantly started running great. To further test I put a piece of towel over a small portion of the fins at different points and the fans started to instantly malfunction. I think this is the give-to-get rule with a 14k BTU AC this small, because of its size you have to keep the screen VERY CLEAN at all times. I washed it every time I use it, and I have yet to have malfunctioning fan issues. When clean it blows very cold as will do so on any fan speed.

4) the remote works well, it can pick the signal up without you facing it with all options working immediately.

5) The unit has strong fans, it can blow air 10-15 feet up or down depending on how you adjust the louver’s. It was able to cool a 400sq ft space that was 80 degrees to 67 degrees in a half hour, it’s a little bull dog of an AC and it will run through the night.

6) if you are lazy, don’t buy this, to get optimal performance you need to clean it/drain the water etc more often, but the reward is it kicks ass on a hot day.

The installation instructions say the kit will fit windows from 20.5″ to 59″. It also says cutting will be required if the window is smaller than 20.5″. Now, I’m not a mechanical genius by any means, but when you have two slides, each being 27.5″, cutting is going to be required if your window is smaller than 27.5″. So I have no idea where the 20.5″ came from. But there’s also the vent hole to take into account, and assuming you don’t want slide B to cover the vent hole, the smallest window this kit is going to fit into (without modification) is about 38″. Moreover, assuming we ignore the existence of slide C (which the manual does), if you have two 27.5″ pieces, you’re not going to make anything 59″ long. So given that you’ll need at least an inch of overlap to connect slide A and B, the largest window this kit will fit into is about 54″.

My window was about 35″ wide, so I had to cut a few inches off slide B. After I did that, the kit fit just fine. Now, for some reason, the manual says you should cut slide A for smaller windows. I have no idea why they’d suggest that. Cutting slide A will in no way help the kit fit a narrower window, i.e., a window less than 38″ but greater than 27.5″, so don’t cut this piece. You have to cut slide B if your window is less than 38″, because slide B will cover up the vent hole otherwise. If your window is really narrow, i.e., less than 27.5″, then it would make sense to cut slide A because you wouldn’t even be using slide B at that point.

For cutting slide B, I used my circular saw with a standard wood cutting blade, and I went slow. If you’re going to use a circular saw with a wood blade, clamp the slide down firm and go slow. It worked fine for me, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you have other options. A blade with smaller/more teeth would be better.

As far as the actual unit goes, it gets cold. That’s the most important thing to me. While this is my first portable air conditioner, I’ve used a number of window-mount air conditioners in the past, and one thing you never want to do is have to return one. So if it gets cold and is otherwise usable, then I’m mostly happy.

The only reason I didn’t give this unit 5 stars is the thermostat doesn’t seem to do anything. I put it on 70, and let it run 5 hours. It got my bedroom ice cold, and the compressor never shut off. It must have been 60 in my room at that point. So the unit doesn’t seem to care what the temperature is set at. That said, I’ll probably just use it on the max setting and turn it off when it gets too cold. It’s just not worth the trouble to return a bulky/heavy item like this over a thermostat problem. It gets cold, and for that I’m thankful.