Vonhaus' portable air conditioner put an end to my bedroom overheating at night — it cooled down the room in record time and will be a game-changer this summer

I feel like it is important to begin this review by saying that I haven't tested this type of unit before so I really did step into the process not knowing what to expect. However, as the owner of an old house with first floor, vaulted bedrooms that can get unbearably hot thanks to the poorly insulated roof, I was keen to see what the best portable air conditioners could offer me – and whether the VonHaus Air Conditioning Unit 9000 BTU was going to live up to my hopes.

This unit combines air conditioning with fan and dehumidifier modes and, in the past I have tested some of the best fans and dehumidifiers, so I was keen to see what it could offer in these departments too.

While summer hasn't quite hit here yet, I was still able to get a good idea of the cooling capabilities of this unit thanks to a few unseasonably warm spring days – here's how I got on.

In a nutshell

Combining air conditioner, fan and dehumidifier in one, where this unit really comes into its own is its ability to cool even large rooms down really quickly. It is heavy and instructions for set-up might be a little sketchy but when it comes to lowering the temperature in my son's over-heating-prone bedroom, I couldn't have asked for more.

About your tester

Natasha Brinsmead

I'm Natasha, a freelance homes and interior journalist who has been writing for a whole array of publications for over 20 years on everything from renovating a wreck to choosing a paint colour for your living room. As such, I constantly have home envy and am always on the lookout for the latest and greatest products, appliances and accessories for my home.

I tested the VonHaus High-Performance Air Conditioner 9000BTU right at the end of April when temperatures were unseasonably warm for a week or two – around 22°C on the day I was testing the air conditioning mode. I positioned it in my son's bedroom which gets particularly stuffy and warm, especially at night.

Find out more about how we test fans and portable air conditioners.

Specification

• Cooling capacity (BTU): 9000BTU
• Recommended room size: Up to 18m²
• Noise levels in cooling mode: 65dB
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 30.3cm x 67.3cm x 28.9cm
• Weight: 22kg
• Wattage: 1005W
• Functions: Air conditioner, fan, dehumidifier
• Other features: Timer, 'night' mode, remote control
• Window kit included: Yes

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

This was my first time testing any kind of air conditioning unit so I was a little unsure of what to expect in terms of how portable air conditioners work. Given that this model combines an air conditioner with a fan and dehumidifier, I kind of thought it would be a similar set-up to when I've tested these types of products – it wasn't.

Firstly, it is really heavy and, when boxed, pretty unwieldly – I had to get my teenage son to help me get it off the doorstep and into the house, and then upstairs where I planned on testing it in his bedroom.

Then came the unboxing. There was a fair amount of packaging in the box, but it was mainly cardboard which can be recycled easily. Getting the actual unit out was a bit of a struggle given its weight, but I got there in the end.

Now to the part that, personally, I found really tricky – setting the unit up to use as an air conditioner. Before I could even think about using the machine I needed to fit the window kit that came included as it needs to be vented to outside. You can use this kit with sliding windows or hinged, like mine. The main issue lay in the rather confusing instructions rather than with the kit itself, which is made up of a large sheet of fabric with a zip down the middle. Basically, you use self-adhesive Velcro strips to attach it to the window frame and the window itself so that you can open the window to let the exhaust hose vent to outside yet keep everything else sealed up.

After I'd looked at the instructions a fair few times, I found a video online that took me through the steps and, eventually, set-up was complete – for context this took the best part of an hour. After this, things were plain sailing.

What’s it like to use?

The window kit fiasco was something I wish I'd known before buying an air conditioner but, after the initial set-up, this unit is super simple to use via the control panel on the unit itself or with the remote control. It is easy to switch between the three different modes – fan, dehumidifier and air conditioner – as well as to change the temperature and speed settings. There is also an uncomplicated timer that means you can look forward to a nice cool room when you've been out and about.

My son's room measures just under 11m² and this unit can cool spaces up to 18m². I set it to cooling mode, closed the door and left it to get to work. When I came back around 15 minutes later the room was lovely and fresh – not uncomfortably so, but just right and perfect for a hot summer's night.

I also tested the fan mode – both the low and high speeds offered powerful blasts of air, although you should be aware that this is simply circulated air as opposed to cooled – just as with a standard fan. One of the negatives I found was that there is no oscillating option. Instead, you manually adjust the louvres to direct the air where you want it – definitely something to note.

When it came to the dehumidifier, I did feel it was lacking a couple of functions. I have a Meaco dehumidifier that works brilliantly and comes with all kinds of useful features to look out for when choosing a dehumidifier, including a humidity indicator, removable water tank and oscillating fan that can be used in laundry mode to get clothes dry faster. The VonHaus unit has none of these – the main negative for me is the lack of water tank. You have to connect a drainage pipe and direct it into a container such as a bowl or bucket instead.

Water drainage is also something to note when using the unit as an air conditioner. When full, an alarm sounds, meaning the integrated water container needs to be emptied. However, it isn't removable so you need to attach the drainage hose to an outlet near the base of the unit. This outlet is really close to the ground which makes getting any kind of vessel other than a baking sheet underneath it to catch the water really tricky.

And, finally, if there is one thing to know before installing air conditioning it is the associated noise levels. I had expected an air conditioning unit to be a little noisy, but I have to say, this one was more boisterous than anticipated. Using a decibel app on my phone I got a reading of 67.7dB on high speed and, to be honest, this is comparable to my vacuum cleaner – I'm imagining this could be too much for many people to sleep with. I had assumed that selecting the 'sleep mode' would quieten things down but actually it works by automatically increasing the pre-set temperature by 1°C after one hour, then another 1°C after the second hour and dims the control panel light.

All that said, if you had the air conditioning running prior to going to bed, it would do a great job of cooling the space down ready for a sweat-free slumber. Even after returning to my son's room after the unit had been off for some time, it had stayed cool.

Running costs

The portable air conditioning running costs of this unit came out lower than I expected, although this will obviously depend on the power setting you use, the length of time you use it and your electricity costs.

Based on the April 2026 energy price cap figure of 24.67p per kilowatt hour, to run the air conditioner for one hour costs roughly 25p.

I don't know about you, but I would be quite happy to pay that to cool down the rooms upstairs in our house which can become uncomfortably hot in the midst of summer making a good night's sleep nigh on impossible.

Cleaning and maintenance

As I mentioned, emptying the water from the tank can be a bit of a struggle and you have to take care of the water produced in dehumidifying mode yourself. Other than that though, maintenance and cleaning are really easy. The filter does need to be cleaned from time to time and you will need to remove a couple of screws in order to do this.

The unit can be moved from room-to-room easily once up and running thanks to the castors it sits on and its carry handle.

The most important thing to consider, as part of looking at whether it is worth fitting air conditioning in the UK as whole, is where you will store this air conditioning unit when not in use. It is quite large and needs to be kept upright in a dry, well-ventilated area, ideally indoors. It also needs to be emptied of all water and allowed to dry out so that it doesn't accumulate mould while not in use.

What do other online reviews say?

Online reviews are generally really positive, with users praising how quickly and effectively it cools spaces down.

A fair few reviews mentioned noise levels, stating they would find it hard to sleep with this running in the background, although if you are using it elsewhere in the house, such as in a living space or for trying to cool down a hot kitchen, this wouldn't be so much of an issue.

And, finally, a few people were a little baffled by the size of the fabric section of the window seal and, like me, found it a bit fiddly to fit.

Who should buy this product?

I've thought long and hard about how often I will use this and how useful it will be long-term. For the last couple of summers, finding ways to keep bedrooms cool has been a priority and they really have become pretty unbearable on a hot night. This really would make a huge difference in that respect. Personally, I probably wouldn't mind the running noise too much, but for some people it would definitely be too much. The solution would be to let it blast for a while prior to bedtime with the door closed.

I think where it would really come into its own, though, is in a hot, stuffy living space or kitchen diner where the noise wouldn't matter too much. It would be particularly useful if you had pets who were finding the heat too much too.

I also think that anyone who works from home, looking at planning the perfect work space, would benefit from placing this in their home office where both the fan and the air con would come in handy on a hot day.