Amcor MF12000E Slimline Portable Air Conditioner

Review by Richard Tinley, posted on 6th July 2011.

Unit certainly cools well and seems pretty well built. I particularly like the fact that the unit expels most of the moisture captured from the room out of the exhaust, so the tank doesn't need frequent emptying. The temperature control is disappointing. When set to the minimum of 18 degrees, the compressor cycles on and off in a room temperature of 22 degrees. This is made worse by a timer that won't let the compressor start for 5 minutes, (instructions say 3 minutes), after switching on, so the compressor stays off more than on when on automatic. The unit is also pretty noisy, but this is a case of you get what you pay for. For a temporary solution operating in manual control, this unit offers great value for money.

Review by Tony Tsang, posted on 28th June 2011.

This is the only portable air conditioning unit I could find that is small and powerful enough to fit our daughters room. The unit performs well on manual setting, but appears to be slow to reach the set temperature in auto mode. The only problem is that our daughters find it too noisy to sleep when switched on at night. So it's great to cool the room before sleep, but not so good if it needs to be on to maintain a cool room during sleep on a very hot night like last night. Overall, I still think it's good value for money at £182.

Review by Mike Keily, posted on 15th May 2011.

Having been very pleased with the MF10000E, I decided to now try this 12000 version which arrived with speedy excellence from airandwatercentre. I like these machines because they are light enough to take to France and Spain in the boot of my car where they are then carried up flights of stairs to various apartments.....A life saver in blazing summer heat there. The 28kg 12000 is a little heavier than the 23kg 10000 and it does blast out a little more powerful icy chill. The 50dB noise has considerable more rattle however, and the possibility of waking neighbours in the night becomes a niggle. The remote does not operate the machine so easily as the 10000 version.....possibly due to a different inbuilt angle at the receiver. I taped a bit of cardboard wrapped in aluminium foil over the receiver hole which has helped the beam enter easier from a lying in bed position. This machine as with the 10000 needs to stand level on a sturdy chair etc so that the water can drain in to a large bowl rather than keeping the plug in (keeping the plug in can soon fill the inbuilt store on high-humid days which would stop the freezer working). The short 1.5m air exit pipe length is something you have to live with since the machine can overheat if you try to extend it much further. Tips: The inbuilt water storage seems to be a thin plastic bowl seen between the castors.....Don't let the weight of the machine rest on that bowl else it may crack and then leak residue water which would be messy but not necessarily detrimental. Carefully clean the three filters twice a year (I doubt that you could ever get replacements). Always put the light setting in 'Freeze' never on Auto or Fan.....You want it to always thow out chilled air ....right? If the machine is ever unplugged or if there is a powercut, then it will not retain your last settings....so keep an eye on the setting lights to ensure that 'Freeze' is lit as mentioned here. All in all there is no other machine on the market which is so light and useful...and at a very low price, but you will need to be prepared to consider the above points before buying one. I think that I would probably revert to the 10000 version next time, but Amcor does not exist anymore so we may never again be able to buy such a powerful lighweight machine when stocks are gone? I would be lost without one of these machines which blast cold fresh filtered air at me on unbearably hot sticky nights where no ordinary fan can suffice. Portability and price are their main strengths.