DeLonghi PAC W160HP/B

Awesome portable air con!! – I have had this portable air con almost 10 years now, model PAC W160HP and it's still going strong. I have a huge combined lounge, dining and kitchen area plus there is no door to close this area off from rest off the apartment and this unit has been able to keep us cool in 35+ degrees throughout summer. I get the afternoon sun beaming on my… Read more

lounge room area and without the air con it's like walking into a sauna. It has been excellent for me and I cannot fault it. I drain the unit after each summer and take care of it. I've had an error come up once which was just asking to be descaled which i ran and that's it. It's kept us cool for a very long time and I've been very happy with this unit overall.

Garbage – Don't even think about wasting your money. Big $ item. 2 years of pretty average performance. "HP" fault so I took the covers off to see if there was an obvious fault and what I saw stunned me. The whole evaporator coil had corroded to a big solid pile of green gunk. I always followed all the descaling instructions - I have a water filter on my… Read more

tap so it only ever got fed with reverse osmosis filtered water. There is just no excuse for the state that the thing is in. Every screw is rusted. You'd swear it was 50 years old in there. I've had Delonghi products before (which is why I bought this one) and been happy but this thing is beyond belief. I would have been disappointed if it was a $250 no-name unit - but what they charge... they should be ashamed. Its beyond repair, really. If anyone unlucky enough to have one of these pieces of crap wants to contact me they can have what's left for free. It might donate some cheap plastic piece that is broken on yours or something... which might keep you going for another 5 minutes or so... I'll certainly be avoiding Delonghi products in the future. They got me once - not again.

Piece of – have had nothing but problems with the reverse cyle air conditioner i bought. 6 weeks old and needed a new part now a few months later not blowing cold air. avoid it is a piece of ... it has been not working more than it is working waste of money.

Avoid – Still runs after 3 years but its noisy, now the water system doesn't work anymore since the last tank refill, it was only used lightly, hasn't even asked for a descale in all this time from limited use and has already failed. Instead of drawing 1000w it now constantly draws 1400w because of the lack of water cooling function, which means it draws… Read more

more air out of the room to cool itself and has to work harder and longer to cool the room, so its less efficient in 2 ways now and it doesn't take a break anymore, out of warranty except for the compressor.

Disappointing – Sorry to say not worth the money.The noise level is horrendous . Have had two machines replaced due to faults.. Just very disappointing .

Met expectations – Ok so it's bulky. It's also noisy. But it cools better than I expected after reading the reviews. A split system is a better solution but we don't all have that luxury. It copes with my smallish 2 bedroom North facing unit with ease and for that reason it deserves at least a "good" rating. If you have no option but a portable don't hesitate to buy one.

Absolute Problem – Noisy, hose gets e extremely hot, will not cool lounge room in my tiny 1 br unit. the problem is the condenser is cooled by water and a paddle, the lime rust and calcium build up cause the paddle to go brittle and fail. i always descaled properly. i will never buy another delonghi product after my experience with customer care, there is no care, one summer of little cooling paddle and water condenser, seems common

A welcome relief – This was the best $760 I have spent all year! Our newborn was up all night fussing due to the heat, and my wife was going a bit nutty from lack of sleep, so with no hope of getting a split system installed -well, like, "immediately" (it's summer, after all), I took an executive decision and visited Bing Lee. Yes, most of the stuff you read about… Read more

portable air conditioners is true to some extent. They are inefficient, they pull a small amount of warm air into the room and they are loud-ish (the TV has to go up a few knotches in volume), but the thing about this unit is that it has restored our sanity by giving us cool, cool air. Today, it was 37 C outside, and a beautiful, comfortable 25 indoors. And it is cooling a large area - an 8.5 x 5m loungeroom, an 8.5m x 1.5m hall (with 3m ceilings), and an 8.5m x 5m bedroom/ensuite - or around 1/3 of the entire house. Now, our house is quite well insulated, so I am sure this helps too. Cools a large area. Sanity restored. Loudish - although it is quieter if operating in air-air mode as the water pump is quite loud. This must be expected from a portable unit though.. It's also very big and heavy. The window insert is crap - lots of gaps, and too small. It would also be better if the air hose was insulated.

Very good portable – whilst portable air conditioners arent as good as fixed ones, sometimes you dont have the option of a fixed one when renting. I bought this one second hand and its been working well through the summer, helped me sleep on very warm nights. while its a bit loud (like all portables) it doesnt kick in and out loudly like some

Disappointed Big Time – Just on 3 yrs the compressor is on its way out. It hasn't been used all that much.Not happy about having to pay hundreds of dollar's to it get fixed. Even when happy to give me a new compressor,still too much money to get fixed. I paid $1500.00 for the PACW 160HP. I have seen and heard that they are not that great. They are heavy, They make alot… Read more

of noise. People have had problems with the pump also.The amount I paid it should have lasted for an decade no problem. There is no point fixing it.

Shame on you Delonghi. You deserve one star rating You ripped me off.It ended up in the dump.

Oh, why did I not read the poor reviews : (

Compressor not working.

Not worth it! – It is now collecting dust cause that's all it good for. Dropped temp by 5' only, I followed the instructions. Then after using it for 3 months and following the instructions for storage, went to use it again then error. I called the company to organize for it to be repaired and was informed I had to transport it 40km away, well that doesn't work… Read more

if you don't have a car! So it's now collecting dust. The colour. Loud, bad warranty service, heavy appliance, didn't work effectively

Good – This review is for the PACW160HP (not the 160B): I have an apartment, and had already installed a small (2.6Kw cooling) split system in the lounge room, but was looking for additional cooling for the master bedroom (20 sq/m in size), where installing a split simply wasn't possible. My choice was between a portable or a window/box unit. I… Read more ·  1

chose the PACW160HP because I didn't want to sacrifice the window completely, plus I wanted the heating option for winter too (hence the 'HP' model). Here's what I've found after 2 months of daily summer operation in WA:

Performance: When running on water (water-to-air), it cools the room effectively; with 30C+ temperatures outside, I can get the room down to about 24C with the door closed and the blinds down. This unit also runs without water (air-to-air), but I haven't found it to be anyway near as effective that way.

Leaks: none yet. The unit will take about 3 jugs of water (using the supplied jug), but as a precaution I've been running it with a max of 2.5 jugs only. This lasts about 3 hours with the temperature set to 20C. A higher temperature setting (24C) and water-save mode extend this by 1 to 1.5hours.

Noise: It's noisy. With the temperature set to 24C in sleep mode with the fan on the lowest speed, I can't sleep. My g/f is a heavy sleeper and she can't sleep through it either. The fan itself isn't that noisy, but the compressor makes a fair bit of noise, and the compressor makes a bit of a clunk when it starts up. I don't know if window/box type units are any quieter - I have never used one. When running air-to-air, the unit is noisier again.

Efficiency: The unit doesn't seem to radiate much heat when running. I have the unit pretty close to the window, so the exhaust duct doesn't seem to radiate much heat either. I can run this unit, and the split system, and my LCD TV (all three on the saem circuit) at the same time without tripping the circuit breaker, so there don't seem to be issues there.

Features: according to the brochure, it has an Ionizer mode (the "Biosilver Techsystem") to improve air quality. I can't access this feature, even though the remote has a button for it. The user manual indicates that it's available on "certain models only." I'm not sure what the deal is there.

Other considerations:

The unit is big and heavy (check the specs online), and must be transported upright. For me, this meant paying for delivery.

You'll have to allow for an effective footprint of about 750mmx750mm because the unit can't sit flush against the wall - there needs to be some room at the back for the exhaust air duct to snake out and up to the window vent. A window/box unit doesn't have this limitation.

The window insert for the exhaust duct that was included with the unit is not great. It's only about 1000mm in height, but I think most domestic windows are typically taller than this. My window is 1200mm, so the insert was no use for me. Fortunately the unit comes with an additional plastic flange for 'permanent' installation, so I bought a piece of MDF ($10), cut it to size, painted it to match, made it airtight/soundproof using self-adhesive brush seals ($7), and used the supplied flange to make my own window insert. This made for heaps better sound-proofing from outside noise, and stops airflow from outside too. In comparison, the supplied insert is pretty flimsy. This solution was cheaper than having to completely replace the window, which I would have had to do if I chose a window/box type unit, plus I can still slide the window open if I want to.

My window has a micro venetian blind and I can still use the blind when the unit is in place and connected up, but it does requires a bit of man-handling when I want to roll the blind up. I'm not sure I could have kept the blind if I chose a window/box type unit.

In summary, the unit seems pretty good for what it is. Given that we can't change the laws of physics, the noise is something that you just have to accept when a portable a/c unit is your only option. Cooling capacity. Extra fittings. Noise, physical size, missing features(ionizer?).

Impossible to live with – Bought the HP version in February 2011. Absolute nightmare since day one. Was not a hot summer so very rarely needed. Even so, condenser tank filled after a few hours use. Instructions to drain don't work (except once by luck) so have to drain with hoses. Hoses too short to clear drop down flap so water all over carpet. Have to move furniture… Read more

every time so real pain. Has been idle till current spell of cold weather. Go through process of filling with water, difficult through small opening and no level indicator, switch on and suffer clunks and noisy operation until after three hours the dreaded "HL" message reappears and of course the instructions in the manual for draining just don't work. Apologise to dinner guests for freezing cold apartment, stagger up from garage with electric heater and answer embarrassing questions about why I have an expensive device that just doesn't work.

Never have I wasted over a thousand dollars so completely as I did with this purchase. Of course Delonghi website has no opportunity to complain, just warranty forms and a list of service centres. Judging from others' comments about trying to get parts and commitment from this manufacturer I guess I am in for a nuisance ride.

My advice is do not buy this product!

Expensive, poor design, does not work as promised, noisy.

best of a hard pick – I recently bought this brand new from 2nds Warehouse for $599, but most places are asking over 1K. It is for a granny flat, approximately 45 square metres. All the sales people flat out denied that there was any portable that could do the job in a room this size, and to purchase a fixed system. I wasn't going to splash out thousands of dollars… Read more

either! So, I settled for this, and it cools the flat down well on warm days in about 1hr. Someone above said it sounds like a truck, but I disagree- it sounds like an air conditioner. There are a few operating modes, the actual air-conditioning is the loudest, but I can still study with it next to me. If you say it is high maintainence, you are probably a couch potato by trade, and in that case it would be. There are many options on the market, but I'm glad settling for this. powerful, silver ion filter, air ionizer, low maintainence, different operation modes a little bulky

Terrible – It is my second DeLonghi in 2 years. The first needed repair after 12 months and failled again a month later. I received a new replacement 4 days ago and found that two of the coaster wheels at the bottom was kept in place by a single screw rather than 4 it was designed for. The result was that they bent backwards when I pussed the device over a… Read more

carpet. It has now been four days since we received the new device and it decided to dump all its tank water over the carpet. Similar to an error with my previous device. There is now a leak in the water system. I will never buy another nor recommend it to anyone. In the past 12 month the device spilt a tank of water and aircon ail onto my cartpet. I now have an new unit and it is following in the same track after 4 days. Good cooling when it has water in it. Noisy, poor workmanship, many trips to fill its water tank.

Bad – I would not recommend it. This unit was missing several parts when I purchased it, 2 rear filters, condensation hose for the heat pump, window lock. I have tried for 3 months to get these part from Delonghi Sydney Dec 2010 to March 2011. They have always sent the wrong parts 3 boxes so far, so I cannot use it for winter or use the dehumidifier.… Read more

They have the worst spare parts. My opnion buy something else, ther are far better portable air conditioners on the market now that do the same thing for a lot less money. Cools a 4mt X 4 mt room very well at 22 degrees. Thats about it. To big and hard to move around, so noisy it's not funny, cannot sleep. Needs extra window cover only comes with 2 and that means you have to make your own and delonghi will not sell one as an option.

woeful – i hate this thing. at best it cools ok in summer but you will spend hours refilling the thing with water. You also have to do this in winter if you try to use it as a heater. basically it does not work and freezes up in a couple of minutes. i'll be selling this thing soon as i can. oh and it sounds like you have a car running in your room. one star reasonable cooling no heating; very noisy, poorly made;constant filling with water

Good – I got the B model as a bargain however would have opted for the HP if they had given me a better deal. Apart from the noise it is a great unit, but then what can you expect from a portable. Luckily I'm a very heavy sleeper and can sleep through it. Have to slowly pour the water using a supplied jug otherwise will spill everywhere, would've been… Read more

nice with a smaller nozzle or even a pump, but thats just nit picking. More nit picking would be the exhaust, as it is this massive 14cm in diameter exhaust bugs are likely to fly in. Solved this by going to a cheapo store and getting some mesh to cover the whole. After one weeks use, sure enough there were plenty of bugs caught on the mesh (maybe I should employ some lizards or something to come eat them lol).

Cooling with this unit is fantastic I have a 4x4 room and this unit is plenty for that size. I only really use this on the low settings as this is sufficient, even on those scorching Sydney days though I probably can't say the same for other states perhaps.

Overall its a great unit, a bit pricey for its noise as I have read in other reviews you can probably get the same cooling with about the same noise level for significantly less. Probably only worth it if you don't mind spending that extra 400 for so over other units. Enjoy!! Cooling ability, Noise, bulky size.

Excellent – I bought DeLonghi as it was recommended to me by a friend and would do the same to anyone else. Got a great discount price and it is a great machine, does exactly what it says it will and despite it's size, i have absolutely no problems with it. Very happy i went with the Delonghi over any other option. Stylish, excellent cooling, portable bulky unit, difficult to move around