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Portable air conditioners are useful if you want the option of cooling off more than one room in your home without having to install multiple window units. And in this respect, the LG LP1417WSRSM ($599.99) exceeds expectations. With 14,000 BTUs of cooling power, it’s more powerful and less expensive than the Frigidaire Gallery Cool Connect Smart Portable Air Conditioner. It did a great job of cooling in our tests, and is relatively quiet and easy to move from room to room. But for a smart home device it comes up a bit short in terms of features, particularly in terms of app control.
Design and Features
Measuring 29.5 by 17.4 by 14.7 inches (HWD), the LP1417WSRSM shares the same basic size and shape as the Hisense 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner With Wi-Fi, but it sports an attractive two-tone white and light gray finish with shiny silver trim, as opposed to the dark gray Hisense model. As the name states, it’s a 14,000 BTU air conditioner designed for use in rooms of up to 500 square feet. It doesn’t come in any other power levels.
The top of the unit contains a dual oscillating fan assembly and a control panel with buttons for power, selecting an operating mode (Cool, Fan, Dry), raising and lowering the set (target) temperature, and adjusting fan speed (High, Low). In Dry mode the AC acts as a dehumidifier that can remove 3.1 pints of water per hour.
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The panel also contains Timer, Wi-Fi, and Sleep indicators. The Timer feature allows you to set automatic on and off times, and the Sleep feature shuts the unit off after eight hours and operates the fan at low speed for optimal sleeping comfort, but neither option can be enabled using the app and must be enabled from the included remote. There’s also a 1.5-inch LCD panel that displays the set temperature, fan speed, and timer settings, but it doesn’t display the current room temperature, nor does the remote. However, you can see it in the app, along with the current mode, set temperature, and fan speed settings.
The four casters on the bottom of the cabinet had no trouble rolling across thick carpeting, and the handles on either side of the unit make it easy to push the 75-pound unit around. The rear holds an exhaust port, two removable air filters, and two drain plugs for removing any water that may accumulate in the internal drip pan. The remote will flash an E5 message when the tank is full.
The mobile app (available for Android and iOS) can be used to control multiple LG products that support the company’s ThinQ smart technology, but the AC doesn’t actually interact with those products, or with any other smart devices for that matter. Moreover, the LP1417WSRSM lacks support for If This Then That (IFTTT) applets, and lacks support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice activation like you get with the Frigidaire Gallery Cool Connect.
The app’s Dashboard screen displays a list of all connected LG products and has a Register button for adding new devices. The AC icon shows the current room temperature and status (On/Off, Wi-Fi connected). Tapping the icon brings you to a screen where you can turn the unit on and off and change the operating mode, set the temperature, and switch the fan speed. Here you can also change the Airflow Mode from Up/Down Swing to Oscillating. The gear icon in the upper right corner of the Dashboard page takes you to a Settings screen where you can edit the AC name and network settings and enable push notifications.
In addition to the Dashboard there is a Mode screen that offers five one-touch presets, including Home, Away, Vacation, Pleasant, and Sleep. You can program each preset to make the AC turn on or off, and each can have its own set temperature point, fan speed, and cooling mode.
Installation and Performance
The LP1417WSRSM was easy to set up. I positioned the unit close to a window, attached the exhaust hose, and installed the sliding window kit. I then attached the hose to the window adapter and was ready to download the app and connect to my home’s Wi-Fi.
I created an account and logged into the SmartThinQ app. I hit Register, selected Air Conditioner from the list, and selected Portable. I was instructed to press the fan button on the unit for three seconds, which illuminated the Wi-Fi LED indicator. Using my phone’s Wi-Fi setting I connected to the AC’s SSID, entered the password provided in the app, and hit Join. I returned to the app, entered my home Wi-Fi information, and was connected within 45 seconds.
My 360-square foot bedroom was no match for the LP1417WSRSM’s 14,000 BTUs of cooling power. The AC needed around 15 minutes to register a 10-degree temperature drop (from 80 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit), and as was the case with the Hisense 10,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner, it was quieter than the Frigidaire Gallery Cool Connect Smart Portable Air Conditioner.
The Sleep feature worked well, as did the Timer, but the app can use some work. I was able to turn the AC on and off, change fan speeds, and raise and lower the set temperature, but it would not accept Mode (Cool, Fan, Dry) changes and always reverted back to the last mode entered on the control panel or remote. Additionally, I never received any push notifications. That said, the various Mode presets worked wonderfully, and I didn’t experience any of the Wi-Fi connectivity issues I saw with the Frigidaire unit.
Conclusions
The LG 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner LP1417WSRSM doesn’t offer some of the smart features we loved about the now-defunct Quirky Aros window unit, such as power usage and cost reporting, and it doesn’t interact with other smart home products. We’d like to see a bit more functionality from the mobile app as well. And if you don’t need 14,000 BTUs, you might want to check out the 10,000 BTU Hisense model.
But the LG air conditioner is the most powerful smart unit we’ve seen, and in our tests it did an excellent job of cooling without making a racket. It also offers more cooling power for less money than you’ll pay for the Frigidaire Gallery Cool Connect Smart Portable Air Conditioner, and it’s quieter and easier to move.
3.5
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The LG 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner LP1417WSRSM is powerful and easy to move from room to room, but it lacks a few key features and controlling it via app was problematic in our tests.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/lg-14000-btu-portable-air-conditioner-lp1417wsrsm