Arctic Air Pure Chill Evaporative Air Cooler By Ontel - Powerful 3-Speed Personal Space Cooler, Quiet, Lightweight And Portable For Bedroom, Office, Living Room & More

At 10pm, it's 84 degrees in the house and the humidity is a dripping 63%. The A/C runs and runs and I'm wondering how much longer till it cools the house down a few degrees. It's still 3 weeks until it could be serviced.I'm quite glad I ordered the Artic Air Chill during Amazon Prime Days. It was a featured item, and at the time I thought maybe it would be a handy cost-effective way to supplement cooling the bedroom and not need to have the entire house set to 72 degrees, or so. The A/C could be at 75 or higher (to reduce indoor humidity level) yet the bedroom would be comfortable for sleeping. I was skeptical to buy it, but I *do* recommend it, particularly for purpose, especially its price point. It does what it claims to do. i truly appreciate owning the Artic Air. It does what it claims to do.Before I forget, I must mention that I had two occasions to use the toll-free contact number for Ontel/Artic Air (the brand) that's on the insert inside the box. The Customer Service Representatives I spoke with each were knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. You can actually to speak with a person about any questions, issues, etc; how refreshing and yes, reassuring. They're available by e-mail as well. Their superb Customer Service alone gives me confidence to use and purchase additional or other products.I didn't expect my A/C had NO coolant! How does it lose 3+ lbs of coolant in one year, when used only perhaps 3-4 months a year -- those hot sweaty "dog days of summer" in the midwest, when its so hot even the birds are walking (as Dad says).So enter the Artic Air Chill. Easy to set up, easy to use, easy to clean, easy maintain. The most important part is to have water in the resevoir.It suggest putting it on a sturdy nightstand or table top, not on the floor. The unit doesn't vibrate but it is small [about 7in cube] and lightweight and holds water. By lifting the lid, pour water into the wide reservoir by using a pitcher --something with a pour spout, so you have control over the amount, direction and speed of adding water and avoid spillage. The unit needs water to create the cool air flow. Without water, it will just blow warm air.The best part of the unit is the dispensing of COOL AIR! For the second night, I used their suggestion to soak the filter and place it in the freezer for awhile. The air seemed cooler, but also seemed to stay cool longer throughout the night (2nd night was 86F & 71% indoor humidity at 11pm).Any which way that enables one to sleep: adjust the vent, adjust the fan speed, slide the lightweight Artic Chill left/right or move it to a different tabletop: it's entirely portable. The cord is 2-1/2 foot long. If physically moving the unit after putting in the water, just be mindful if possible spillage. The plug/cord is an entirely separate piece from the unit. I also chose to sleep at the foot of the bed :) I aimed the unit and vent at my feet/legs. It probably has nothing to do with the unit at all, but it felt cooler, less obtrusive that way vs the air blowing directly on my face.Yes, it's noisy, but its okay, sort of like a loud humming "white noise". The fan speed is adjustable, as is the front air flow vent. It has a calming nightlight: cycle through the choice of colors by pressing the button on top of the unit.Condensation forms on the front vent grid, so to protect your tabletop, I suggest putting the unit on a plastic tray or vinyl placemat, small plastic bag with a dish rag on top, or double-folded dishtowel: something to prevent water droplets from getting on your furniture. The condensation isn't a lot, but water spots are difficult to remove from furniture.Oh yes, the nights are definetely better WITH Artic Air than without. I was/am able to actually sleep .. and my central A/C was kaput.The A/C tech came yesterday ($700 for coolant + service call!) but I used the Artic Chill in my bedroom and kept the house A/C at 75F degrees. Artic Chill kept my bedroom quite comfy for some much needed sleep.

After a week of sweltering heat and my own living room air conditioner not being able to keep up enough to get the cold air to my bedroom, even with a fan helping to pull it from the living room to my bedroom, I decided to give one of these a try.I had seen commercials and wondered just how good they could be. I held off buying because I was afraid of being disappointed and throwing away money I really don't have to spend. But after melting in bed for a few nights and waking up drenched in sweat, I thought, "Why not, what can it hurt? Even a little relief is better than none, right?"They advertise these like they are mini-A/C units but they aren't. They are a glorified fan. They require ice, ice water and soaking then freezing the filter unit as their means of producing "arctic" air. As you probably know, anything frozen eventually melts. The frozen filter will melt and become a wet filter. The ice will melt. And the cold water will become room temp water.Of course, the freezing and use of ice is only a suggestion for that "extra burst of arctic blast". But I wanted to see just how cold this baby would get, so I wet & froze the filter, used bottled ice water and put ice in the tank for maximum effect. The air blowing from this thing was no cooler than the air pulled in from my hallway by my box fan AND it was 3 times louder on its HIGH setting than my box fan is on the HIGH setting. It is drowning out my box fan as I type this.I mean I wasn't expecting it to be great or leave my room with icicles hanging off the ceiling but I expected to notice SOME type of improvement in the room temperature from this as opposed to the current room temp or the air temp coming through my box fan. There was zero difference.And to add insult to injury, the unit gets condensation on the outside of the box from using ice and super cold water, so it leaves a runny, dripping mess behind. I tried to go in with little to no expectations except that it improves the temp of my bedroom a couple degrees so I don't sweat as much when I sleep and I was STILL disappointed. It's been running a few hours now and the room temp is no better for it.Merriam-Webster defines "Arctic" as follows:2a : bitter cold : frigid arctic airb : cold in temper or mood an arctic smileI think they missed the mark by a lot. It is going back tomorrow.

Does it cool? Yes, and when it does, it does a good job. The whole freezing the filter thing didn't really work for me though (not even when I left it in there overnight, when I used it, it defrosted and dried out in 10 minutes). But I think it would do much better in very small spaces, like a storage area under the stairs kind of small. Not a room cooler. Even with it blowing directly on me, the only areas of me cool are the ones being blown on; the rest of me is sitting in the 95+ degree room.Cooling works for about 3 minutes when I get the filter wet. I finally got an ice chest, filled it up with ice water, so that I can drop the filter in it every 5 minutes to make this thing blow cold air again. In my opinion, this should not be listed as an evaporation cooler, as there is no constant flow of water. This is basically a fan that has a filter you can get wet if you want.But don't get the wrong idea. When this works, it works. But for my situation, it is hit and miss depending upon the day. The hotter the day, the faster the filter dries out. Overnight, when it is down to the mid to low 70's, the filter stays wet longer and the air gets cold enough that even I have to lower the fan speed (and I am all about cold air).So in conclusion, only 3 stars, because I have to constantly get the filter wet to get it to actually work.