Costco Members: Danby 12,000 BTU 3-In-1 Inverter Portable Air Conditioner

waterchange

Jul 22, 2021 4:27 AM

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Joined Jan 2007

waterchangeJul 22, 2021 4:27 AM

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Quote from TheLug

:

HOLD UP! Ok so I had my first and unfortunately I assume deal breaker experience. It has been running for about 5 hours today. It just warned me that I needed to empty the water tray. I had my other TCL unit running for a month and never had the tray fill up. I can only assume the difference is it's grabbing the 90% humidity air from outside since it's a dual hose setup, and since it's using that it's much higher that the 50% in the room the TCL was pulling. If it can't even last through the night that's a deal breaker. I'll do so research but it might get boxed up. Just sucks as my initial impression was so great. Frown

any advice welcomed.

I would use continuous drain. Attach the clear plastic hose to a large jar or gallon milk container, and don't worry about it. I'd do this anyways even if the internal water tray doesn't fill up quickly because it makes it trivially easy to deal with the collected water.

TheLug

Jul 22, 2021 4:31 AM

83 Comments

Joined Nov 2012

TheLugJul 22, 2021 4:31 AM

83 Comments

Quote from manfromnowhere

:

...or it could also be much better at dehumidifying the air which is why it's drawing much more moisture from the air inside your home. What's the humidity level at inside? We switched to split ACs in every room but had window ACs before and on really humid days water would just be pouring out the back of the window units.

Nah internal is 44-50. The dual hose unit pull the air to be conditioned from the outside. So that air out there is like 80-90%.

3

TheLug

Jul 22, 2021 4:32 AM

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Joined Nov 2012

TheLugJul 22, 2021 4:32 AM

83 Comments

Quote from waterchange

:

I would use continuous drain. Attach the clear plastic hose to a large jar or gallon milk container, and don't worry about it. I'd do this anyways even if the internal water tray doesn't fill up quickly because it makes it trivially easy to deal with the collected water.

The instructions say not to do that. I guess I could try to rig it?

UN0335

Jul 22, 2021 4:34 AM

1.6K Comments

Joined Dec 2007

UN0335Jul 22, 2021 4:34 AM

1.6K Comments

Quote from TheLug

:

HOLD UP! Ok so I had my first and unfortunately I assume deal breaker experience. It has been running for about 5 hours today. It just warned me that I needed to empty the water tray. I had my other TCL unit running for a month and never had the tray fill up. I can only assume the difference is it's grabbing the 90% humidity air from outside since it's a dual hose setup, and since it's using that it's much higher that the 50% in the room the TCL was pulling. If it can't even last through the night that's a deal breaker. I'll do so research but it might get boxed up. Just sucks as my initial impression was so great. Frown

any advice welcomed.

I was wondering about your earlier comment about not having to empty the TCL?
If you run an air conditioner in FL (or anywhere humid) you're going to have to deal with condensate (water). The fact the unit is making water means that is working well. That water is coming mostly from the air in the room, not from the air coming through the hose.

A lot of these units use the hot condenser to deal with some of the water, but in humid conditions it's not going to get rid of it all through evaporation. The Danby says continuous drain is applicable for dry mode only, but I bet you could use it for cooling mode also, (assuming you have a place to drain it to via gravity). They probably don't want you to remove all the water during cooling mode because it boosts efficiency (slightly) by using that water to cool the hot condenser.

1

waterchange

Jul 22, 2021 4:35 AM

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Joined Jan 2007

waterchangeJul 22, 2021 4:35 AM

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Quote from garylapointe

:

I use a single hose A/C in my 4th floor bedroom and it saves me a fortune on the A/C for my places as it's a pain to cool the 4th floor (and I like it extra cool to sleep).

I'd like to find a dual hose A/C instead (I can't put a window one in the window at my condo) and I'd keep the other for backup (or the other upstairs room), but the reviews aren't so hot on this one, I think I'll keep my eyes open for the next deal.

It's Costco. You'll likely get a perfect unit and be happy. If not, you have to lug it back to Costco but otherwise there's no downside. For $399, you really can't to beat this deal (I own two of these).

TheLug

Jul 22, 2021 4:36 AM

83 Comments

Joined Nov 2012

TheLugJul 22, 2021 4:36 AM

83 Comments

It's still running now. I bet it stops tonight ugh.

2

UN0335

Jul 22, 2021 4:37 AM

1.6K Comments

Joined Dec 2007

UN0335Jul 22, 2021 4:37 AM

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Quote from waterchange

:

It's Costco. You'll likely get a perfect unit and be happy. If not, you have to lug it back to Costco but otherwise there's no downside. For $399, you really can't to beat this deal (I own two of these).

Actually, you don't need to lug it to Costco, UPS will come pick it up.

UN0335

Jul 22, 2021 4:42 AM

1.6K Comments

Joined Dec 2007

UN0335Jul 22, 2021 4:42 AM

1.6K Comments

Quote from TheLug

:

Nah internal is 44-50. The dual hose unit pull the air to be conditioned from the outside. So that air out there is like 80-90%.

The dual hose units DO NOT pull the air to be conditioned from the outside! They pull the air from the outside to cool the condenser. The air in the room is cycled through the machine continuously.

8

waterchange

Jul 22, 2021 4:56 AM

3.3K Comments

Joined Jan 2007

waterchangeJul 22, 2021 4:56 AM

3.3K Comments

Quote from TheLug

:

The instructions say not to do that. I guess I could try to rig it?

Ah, I glanced over the manual where it mentioned the continuous drain for dry mode. Outside of the crazy PNW heat dome days, it's rare that I run the AC more than a couple of hours each night so I'm going to roll the dice and leave the continuous drain connected. It would definitely bother me if I had to frequently drain the unit from the bottom drain.

forumz

Jul 22, 2021 5:01 AM

3.3K Comments

Joined Aug 2011

forumzJul 22, 2021 5:01 AM

3.3K Comments

Quote from TheLug

:

HOLD UP! Ok so I had my first and unfortunately I assume deal breaker experience. It has been running for about 5 hours today. It just warned me that I needed to empty the water tray. I had my other TCL unit running for a month and never had the tray fill up. I can only assume the difference is it's grabbing the 90% humidity air from outside since it's a dual hose setup, and since it's using that it's much higher that the 50% in the room the TCL was pulling. If it can't even last through the night that's a deal breaker. I'll do so research but it might get boxed up. Just sucks as my initial impression was so great. Frown

any advice welcomed.

dual hose units are much more efficient. single hose units create negative pressure, which pulls in hot air from outside into the home. dual hose will pull in hot air from outside as well, but it's more contained and not pulling in hot air from random crevices in your home. it'll push back out the hot air through the second hose, preventing your home from heating up since there's no negative pressure.

4

jovialjoy

Jul 22, 2021 12:49 PM

5 Comments

Joined Nov 2014

jovialjoyJul 22, 2021 12:49 PM

5 Comments

Quote from TheLug

:

HOLD UP! Ok so I had my first and unfortunately I assume deal breaker experience. It has been running for about 5 hours today. It just warned me that I needed to empty the water tray. I had my other TCL unit running for a month and never had the tray fill up. I can only assume the difference is it's grabbing the 90% humidity air from outside since it's a dual hose setup, and since it's using that it's much higher that the 50% in the room the TCL was pulling. If it can't even last through the night that's a deal breaker. I'll do so research but it might get boxed up. Just sucks as my initial impression was so great. Frown

any advice welcomed.

You were running this in cooling mode or dehumidifier.. I thought these acs got self evaporating..

ck90211

Jul 22, 2021 1:25 PM

394 Comments

Joined Oct 2008

ck90211Jul 22, 2021 1:25 PM

394 Comments

I bought one and son bought one for inlaws whose AC needs R22 refill and did not want to spend money filling, converting or getting a new unit.

After 10 days of waiting in heat, a Danby mini fridge arrived instead of an AC. WTF Costo. When I used online chat to ask them to send my AC all they were willing to do was (1) cancel my order, or (2) escalate my case up and wait for 2-3 days for them to figure out with Danby on what happened.

And a day later when son's order arrived the unit rattled like crazy; turned out one of the plastic fan blade inside is broke and is obstructing the fan's spinning.

While I can't blame Costco online for Danby's F-up, I am very disappointed by Costco online failing to step in to get a right/prompt resolution from the vendor who direct shipped the product. My inlaws are 80 and need this to avoid heat stroke; not a new/broken AC or a mini fridge.

3

likeaw

Jul 22, 2021 1:51 PM

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Joined Nov 2006

likeawJul 22, 2021 1:51 PM

2.7K Comments

Just look at a mini split system. Heard good things about them. I have 2 similiar units to the Danby's and not very happy with them. One has stopped cooling after 2 years, the other is working but not great (noisy and water removal). Would not buy again!

Last edited by likeaw July 22, 2021 at 06:55 AM.

2

nottrollin

Pro

Jul 22, 2021 2:38 PM

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Joined Feb 2012

nottrollin

Pro

Jul 22, 2021 2:38 PM

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Quote from NastyN8

:

What's the $50 off $500 from?

https://slickdeals.net/f/15158383-costco-50-off-500-through-7-25-2021-check-your-email-ymmv?v=1

nottrollin

Pro

Jul 22, 2021 3:11 PM

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Joined Feb 2012

nottrollin

Pro

Jul 22, 2021 3:11 PM

11.9K Comments

Quote from likeaw

:

Just look at a mini split system. Heard good things about them. I have 2 similiar units to the Danby's and not very happy with them. One has stopped cooling after 2 years, the other is working but not great (noisy and water removal). Would not buy again!

I believe most people are using Portable ACs because they have no other options.

Here's a mini split install from This Old House. It took 2 guys a full day, plus an electrician to run the 220V circuit and permits and inspections on top of that. I would guess easily $2,500 in my area. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2...aOI&t=195s
Nothing against mini-splits but it's apples to oranges.

6

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Costco Members: Danby 12,000 BTU 3-In-1 Inverter Portable Air Conditioner

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