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First a little info about portable ACs, then I will review the Haier 8000 BTU.
No portable will EVER match a window AC of the same BTU, so if you have the option to install a window unit, you should do so. A window unit will be cooler and use less power. Here is why:
A single hose unit means the hose will exhaust hot air thru the hose. But it needs an intake source of air the intake will be from the room itself so you are taking the air that you just cooled and exhausting it out the window.
Next, the exhaust hose itself as noted by other reviewers, gets very hot. As hot as a radiator in the winter.
And the AC unit itself gets hot the portables have the entire unit inside the room so it is heating up the room. Window units have the working parts outside of the room so they don't heat up the room anywhere as much.
So now you are heating the room as well as dumping cold air out the exhaust.
This is why a portable can never be as efficient as a window unit. I think you would need at least twice the BTUs of a window unit to get the same cooling power. I think the manufacturer's of the portables give you a theoretical BTU rating but with the issues of exhausting cooled air and heat generated by the unit and from the exhaust you will never get the theoretical BTUs.
This is true for all single hose portables. Dual hose portables will be more efficient (good luck finding an inexpensive one), but still not as efficient as window units as they still have the issue of the exhaust hose emitting heat into the room. Putting insulation around the exhaust hose will help. But please do not use pink fiberglass wall insulation it's not very healthy for you if it is not completely sealed off ie inside a wall.
Now to the Haier itself:
The model I purchased CPRB08XCJ can be controlled without the remote all the buttons that are on the remote are also on the unit. The screws are not too short to attach the adapter to the panel you must put the screws in from the front the side facing inside the room. The instructions are pretty simple so maybe the other reviewers got an older version of the instructions or I have a different model.
Depending on the humidity, you will need to empty the unit. I had my unit on for 3 hours, and there was a lot of water when I drained it. Had I not drained it, I think the unit would have shut off once the tank was full; it is supposed to have an auto shut off. I drained it before it shut by itself.
I also tried connecting a drain hose but that was a minor disaster the fitting is just a nipple that you push a hose into (does not come with a hose) -it came loose and water got all over. It would be nice if Haier included a hose that threads onto the nipple.
The room I used it in is 8x12. The air coming out of the unit felt cool, and it cooled the room a bit but it did not cool the room well; on a scale of 1 to 10, I give it 4 on cooling, probably due to the issues mentioned above. To be fair, I used the unit on the hottest nights (so far) of this year it was above 90 degrees at night. I have not used the unit during the day yet haven't been home. I expect the unit will perform better this week, as the night temps will be in the 80s.
The unit does not have directional fins it only blows straight out. I did not think this would be an issue but it is: the exhaust hose is very stiff and it is hard to turn the unit to the direction you want it.
Also, be aware that the cord is about 6 feet long, and it is not recommended to use an extension cord. So make sure you can reach an outlet, while trying to keep the exhaust tube as shortened as possible. The closer you can get the unit to the window, the shorter the hose will be and thus the less heat will be emitted into the room.
As others have mentioned it is not easily moved from room to room you must wrangle with hose and the weight.
Overall, I do not think the cooling capacity of other single hose units will be much better. It would be a better unit if it had a separate intake hose, an included screw in drain hose, and directional fins. So an okay unit if you have no option to use a window AC, with some minor annoyances. I gave it 3 stars, but is really more like 2 and 1/2 stars.
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I was in the market for a new air conditioner for my 12x15 bedroom, and upon reading the other customer reviews was sure that for the size, BTU, and price the Haier CPRB08XCJ 8000 was going to be the right fit for my needs. Upon setup and as I began using the product I ran into several issues.
The first was that the directions on setup and installation were unclear, even for such a seemingly simple process.
Secondly, while the air conditioner is said to cool a room up to 250-300 sq feet, it was struggling to cover my 180. And while it does seem to do a better job at dehumidifying than cooling, the amount of drainage from the collected water is unmanageable. The product was said to be mostly self-evaporating with a reservoir tank that will hold the excess. I was aware that the unit may need occasional drainage. I however am unable to run the unit for more than 3-4 hours before the tank is full and shuts itself off completely. Since I am using this in my bedroom there is no convenient way to drain the tank without either completely detaching it from its window fittings and rolling it into my bathroom, or allowing it to drain into pots or pans and carrying them to the kitchen sink. The other night, while I was sleeping, I attempted to just allow the unit to drain as it cooled into a spare aluminum casserole pan but the amount of water was so great that halfway through the night it had already begun overflowing. I'm going to try to find some rubber hose to fit to the drainage spout to put out my window, but without elevating the incredibly heavy unit I cant see how it will ever truly drain efficiently. I could forgive this extra inconvenience if the unit was effectively cooling my small room, but it is all around lackluster.
Thirdly I think calling this air conditioner portable is a little misleading. In order for me to move the unit into another room I need to unplug the unit from the wall, disconnect the exhaust hose, unscrew the window fitting to change the size and remove it from my window frame then transport the unit to the other room and refit the exhaust hose and window fittings . It doesn't sound like too much, but the whole process takes about 15-20 minutes. i suppose by purchasing several of the panels that go into the window frame I could keep those preinstalled into other windows in the house, but with all of the extra expense and hassle I just don't think this air conditioner is worth the fuss.
I had also tried researching some troubleshooting methods, but Haier doesn't even list this product on their website.
Lastly, because I purchased the air conditioner sponsored by amazon but sold by this company called Beach Audio I cannot return the product to amazon. Beach Audio has a 30 day return policy that excludes certain items including air conditioners regardless if they are defective or not. It was my mistake for not researching this before my purchase, but I was told that their return policy was 30 days and I didn't see the need to investigate it further.
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I have two LG 9,000's for the bigger rooms which I LOVE but needed one a bit smaller for my babies room (the central AC is horrible at cooling upstairs!), so we got this one the other day and it is perfect. You don't need to drain it so I don't know what the previous review was talking about. It is self evaporating and uses it's own water cond. to cool itself. The window mount it much better then my LG's too. It's a very stylish and a small box AC that works wonderful and keeps me less stressed at night worrying about the comfort of my 18 month old at night. I have a thermostat reading in my room that tells me the temp in his room and this AC keep it exactly at what I wanted it to. Love it so far and recommend for sure!
Honest reviews on Haier Portable Air Conditioner, 8000 BTUs, CPRB08XCJ
I was looking for a good, small, and cheap portable unit to install upstairs in my gameroom, HOA does not allow for window units. This unit preforms fairly well for its size. It does not have a water collection bin through you must drain it through a hose, but I have a central unit that removes alot of the humidity.
The installation was fairly easy except for a few small problems, it comes with 4 tiny screws that are supposed to attach the exhaust hose to the window spacer, but they where not long enough, I had to use 4 tiny bolts and washers instead.
When installing it remember to keep the exhaust hose as straight as possible any bends reduce efficiency. Also I bought some insulating wrap form home depot and covered the exhaust hose. I used a temp gun and saw that the exhaust hose had a temp form 95-110 degrees. The window insert they give you is a joke also you should install some insulation around it also.
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Update on review:now one year later moved to garden level in Brooklyn cools much better than on the 5th floor south side apartment but still doesn't cool a large room even with cool air coming out solution -a very good fan to circulate the air. It is a fabulous dehumidifier but handling the water without a nearby drain is a problem still emptying buckets adn working on a solution . . .perhaps a fish tank pump from the bucket out the window :-).
Original review: We needed an air conditioner for a small East Village apartment in New York City for one of our kids going to school there. The apartment windows are on the south side. The alternative to this kind of portable unit was to have (and pay) for the installation of a window bracket and still buy a unit so we gave it a try. It does a great job given the windows allow the blast of hot sunlight in the afternoon (curtains are bound to help).
There is NO issue with water drainage when it is just being used as an air conditioner. The unit auto-evaporates as it works. According the the manual you only need to worry about drainage when you have it in dehumidifier mode. NYC is plenty humid in the summer and there has been no problem with the unit which is humming along 24/7 for two weeks now.
It is wonderful not to have a window blocked with an air conditioner box or to worry about taking it out for winter (or covering well enough to keep out the cold). Things that would improve this unit: include small screws with nuts instead of sheet metal screws to attach the exhaust conduit to the plastic window 'sleeve' and toss in the box some standard foam window weather stripping to pad underneath the window-sleeve.
