Everstar MPA-08CR Portable Air Conditioner/Dehumidifier Review

The Case

Living in Texas means that it's going to get hot in the summer.  Very hot.  Our house has central air, but my bedroom only has one vent instead of everyone else's two, which means that my room is constantly twice as warm as every other area in the place!  Everyone got sick of me turning up the A/C and freezing them out of their minds, so it was decided that a portable unit was needed.  After a little price checking, I settled on the Everclear MPA-08CR Portable Air Conditioner/Dehumidifier.  Since I've had it, my life has been much cooler, but it's definitely not the end-all, be-all when it comes to the air conditioner world.

The Good

If there's one thing the Everclear air conditioner does well, it's cool the room, which, of course, is what's most important.  There's a noticeable change in temperature after a few minutes of run-time, and it succeeds in maintaining a room's temp level as well.  One of my main problems with the warm room is that I have trouble sleeping when I'm too hot, and with the Everclear, that dilemma is really no longer an issue.  I can set the temp I want before I go to bed, and the MPA-08CR will do the rest.  And, just in case I do wake up in the middle of the night wishing for a temperature change, I have my handy-dandy remote to take care of it with.  No more getting out of bed to adjust a thermostat!  Also, the air conditioner rests on wheels and is very portable, so you can change it's position to hit you anywhere in a room, or just transition it to another part of the house completely!

The Bad

It's definitely not the prettiest air conditioner, and it's assuredly not the smallest.  It always reminds me of Artoo Detoo, the droid from Star Wars, and that's about the correct size of it, too.  The most frustrating thing about the Everclear is its ventilation system.  It has a huge plastic tube that runs out of the back to a window, where it can pull or expel air to the outside.  The problem is, the seal at the window isn't airtight, so you can get hot air slipping into your house even as the Everclear runs overtime to cool it.  Plus, there's no grill or mesh for the tube that runs outside, and I have this insane fear that some vicious creature, like a rabid racoon or something, will someday invade.  Hey, don't make that face.  I already admitted it was an insane fear.  (Which still doesn't mean it might not happen!)  And be prepared to empty the water storage container on this baby almost daily, depending on your use of the air conditioner itself.  Generally speaking, a night of constant cooling will nearly fill it.  The repository for the water is not very large at all, and requires constant attention.  This air conditioner does the job, but it's definitely not top-of-the-line.

The Verdict

Three stars!  If you need to blow some cold air without spending hundreds, you can achieve your goal with the Everclear MPA-08CR Air Conditioner/Dehumidifier!