Portable Air Conditioners, Decoded by the Real BTU Number
Every portable air conditioner sold in the US carries two BTU ratings: the advertised ASHRAE-128 number on the box, and the DOE SACC (Seasonally Adjusted Cooling Capacity) number that reflects real-world duct heat leakage and infiltration. The SACC figure typically runs 15-50% lower than the advertised number for the same unit. We don't test units ourselves — we compile the numbers each manufacturer has already disclosed (or hasn't) into one neutral, cross-brand table, something no single manufacturer's site will show you.
Every explainer of "what is SACC" online right now is published by a manufacturer describing its own product line. None of them put a TURBRO next to a Midea next to a Honeywell next to a Costway in the same table. That's the gap SACC Decoded fills: the SACC Reality Index, a versioned, source-cited dataset of advertised BTU, disclosed SACC, the derived gap percentage, hose configuration, and disclosed room-size coverage for current popular models.
The one thing to know: A portable air conditioner sold as '14,000 BTU' is almost always reporting an ASHRAE-128 laboratory rating, not what it will actually deliver in your room. Since the DOE's 2017 test procedure and its 2023 update, manufacturers must also disclose a SACC (Seasonally Adjusted Cooling Capacity) rating, which factors in duct/hose heat leakage, infiltration of outside air, and cycling losses. The SACC number typically runs 15-50% lower than the advertised ASHRAE figure for the same unit — a '14,000 BTU' unit is commonly an 8,000-12,000 BTU SACC unit in practice. Neither number is 'fake'; they measure different things.
Small Room & Budget
Entry-level units where the SACC gap runs widest (up to 50%) — sized to the disclosed SACC coverage, not the box number.
3 picks →
Large Room
Higher advertised-BTU units for bigger spaces — which of them actually publish a SACC figure, and how far it falls from the advertised number.
3 picks →
Dual-Hose
Dual-hose designs reduce (not eliminate) the negative-pressure infiltration that hurts single-hose performance in real rooms.
3 picks →
Start with the dataset
How we work
We're a research-based site: we compile the advertised and DOE-disclosed figures manufacturers already publish on their own spec sheets and major retailer listings, and we label every calculated gap as derived. We have never tested a portable air conditioner ourselves, we don't publish prices or star ratings, and we never accuse a brand of lying — both numbers are legitimate results of two different test procedures. Read our full methodology →