Are DeLonghi Portable Air Conditioners Good?

Are DeLonghi portable air conditioners good & worth it? DeLonghi is widely known as a reputable brand that produces great electronics. Let’s have a look at whether you should spend the money or not!

Quick answer: Yes, DeLonghi portable ACs are good, but they are more expensive than most other brands. The main advantages are that they are quiet, have more advanced features and some do not give off greenhouse gas emissions. However, for most people, there are many lower-priced air conditioners that will do the same job.

Are DeLonghi portable air conditioners good? Are they any better than other brands?

Overall, DeLonghi offers innovative products with some unique features and benefits, but the extra features come with a higher price.

Affordability is a significant factor in choosing a suitable AC unit. You want to get your money’s worth.

So, let’s see what you (usually) get with a DeLonghi portable AC. Of course, the exact features differ by the specific model.

Are DeLonghi Portable Air Conditioners any different?

Delonghi portable air conditioners usually come with the following features:

• LCD control panel
• Smart mode
• Timer setting function
• Ventilation only function (cleans the air from the room without cooling)
• Heat pump
• Dehumidifier function
• Wifi connectivity

That’s about the same features most other portable AC brands also offer. Of course, cheaper models will have reduced functionality. But above a certain price point, all portable ACs offer these features.

Overstated marketing claims on DeLonghi portable AC sales pages

DeLonghi offers units equipped with basic features all the way up to the De’Longhi Pinguino Care4Me, which is fitted with wifi connectivity and an artificial intelligence-supported thermostat to detect the room temperature and alter the temperature accordingly.

However, that “artificial intelligence” should be taken with a grain of salt. I’d expect it to be a regular thermostat. At most, it has an advanced temperature control algorithm embedded (if even that).

But I am convinced that there is no real artificial intelligence. Since I can’t find any further information about that AI anywhere, except it being mentioned on sales pages, I suspect it’s a marketing claim.

Salespeople throw these fancy words all over their product descriptions, but oftentimes they are plain wrong. If anyone from DeLonghi reads this and has evidence for AI with some more info, contact me. I am happy to correct my statements.

DeLonghi portable AC quality depends on price point

On the one hand, a reasonably priced DeLonghi unit is similar to many other affordable AC units. However, a high-end DeLonghi may offer technology that other brands have not yet incorporated.

Overall, there are expensive and inexpensive DeLonghi Portable Air Conditioners, and depending on what you are in the market for, it depends on whether you will benefit from using DeLonghi.

For example, SereneLife, Whynter, or Black+Decker offer at least the same functionality, but at reduced prices.

I would recommend you to check out this SereneLife portable AC (click here to view it on amazon) before you get a DeLonghi model!

Also, they are a lot more popular than DeLonghi.

Many shoppers recognize the DeLonghi brand and assume it is automatically better than its alternatives. Although DeLonghi does offer a fantastic range of quality products, there are also many great competitors that you should consider.

Are DeLonghi products better than other brands?

Compared to its competitors, DeLonghi offers a more comprehensive range of products. You may be more likely to find a portable air conditioner unit with the exact features you require with DeLonghi. However, this does not necessarily mean DeLonghi products are better than other brands.

AC units should be compared against other units with a similar price point, and DeLonghi is generally on the higher end when it comes to pricing, so DeLonghi should be compared against other high-end brands. The main benefit that DeLonghi products are known for is the relative quietness of the units compared to most other portable air conditioners.

Many light sleepers have negative experiences with portable ACs due to the high noise level they produce. DeLonghi offers some of the quietest units on the market, with a quiet mode of 46dB. Although this is not silent, it is far less than the average dB of portable ACs, which is 56dB.

According to Purdue University’s “Noise Sources and Their Effects” research, this is louder than a library, but quieter than a conversation at home. Quite good for an AC.

Besides the unit’s quietness, DeLonghi and other leading brands such as Honeywell offer interchangeable benefits.  When shopping for a portable air conditioner, you should first identify a price range they are comfortable with. Then you should compare the quality and features of each AC to identify the one that suits their personal needs the most.

Despite quality and features being essential aspects of shopping for an AC, the price range is most important, as similarly priced products will usually have similar levels of quality.

Is getting a DeLonghi portable air conditioner worth it?

Any decent portable air conditioner will work wonders for your sleep quality and comfort throughout the day. There are many benefits to using a portable AC unit. 

However, Delonghi is one of the most expensive portable AC brands. So the question is, does Delonghi offer added benefits to its cheaper counterparts?

The simple answer is yes, but you can improve your comfort levels massively, even with a much cheaper portable AC.

Any portable AC with good reviews is capable of cooling your house and creating a more comfortable environment. Also, all portable ACs come with the same main advantages compared to full air conditioner systems, such as

• Cooling & heating only the room you are in reduces costs and saves energy
• Cheaper to buy
• Easy to move to a different room or household
• Easy to set up

DeLonghi portable ACs come with fancy extras (you might never use)

Whether you purchase a DeLonghi air conditioner unit, or a more affordable one, you will still experience all these benefits. However, if you buy a DeLonghi unit, you will receive extra benefits such as noise reduction and modern technological innovations like AI (if that’s really true, which I doubt), and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Whether or not DeLonghi products are worth it depends on your budget. If you have a large budget and enjoy gadgets and luxuries, DeLonghi is worth it. 

If you are on a budget and require a functional portable AC, you should not splash out on a DeLonghi.

The only time I’d recommend going over your budget when buying a portable AC, is if you have trouble sleeping due to noise. If you need silence to get to sleep at night, investing in a DeLonghi product would be a smart move.

Or just use any regular AC and earplugs.

Are DeLonghi ACs more efficient?

DeLonghi ACs are not necessarily more efficient than any other brands’ units. The reason for this is that the energy usage of the conditioners is a result of the BTU (British Thermal Unit).

The BTU is the cooling power of a unit; a higher BTU is suitable for a larger room.

The energy consumption of a unit directly correlates with the BTU. 

On average, a mid-sized portable AC uses at maximum cooling settings 2900 watts per hour, and a large-sized unit can use up to 4100 watts per hour. 

Whether you use a DeLonghi unit or one of its competitors, this figure remains the same.

Rather than picking a brand, pick the right AC size and insulate your home

Shoppers can estimate the energy usage of a portable AC by its BTU. The average BTU for portable ACs ranges from 6,000 BTU for a small bedroom (150 square feet) to 14,000+ for a large room (400 square feet.)

These estimations assume that the user uses the AC in a well-insulated household and has placed it in an area with good airflow. If neither criterion is met, you could require a higher BTU AC to cool the same-sized room.

With global awareness of climate change growing, many people would like an efficient portable AC to reduce its impact on the planet. 

An advantage of some DeLonghi portable AC units is that they do not give off greenhouse gasses. Instead, they use R290 propane, a refrigerant-grade propane that reduces environmental impacts compared to traditional alternatives. Air conditioning is responsible for 3.9% of the world’s greenhouse gas production.

Conclusion

DeLonghi ACs are exclusive; they look and feel better and are quieter. Besides these advantages, DelLonghi products only offer the same experience that any other portable AC does.

DeLonghi may be your best option if you are in the market for a top-of-the-range product. But if you are shopping for functionality, you do not need to purchase a DeLonghi product.

The brand is definitely at the forefront of innovation in the portable AC industry, but even with all the extra technicalities, the primary function stays the same; to cool down a room.

That said, DeLonghi is an excellent brand, but the extra gadgets which come with the units are usually not worth the additional cost.