At long last, the British summer is finally here! You’ve probably found this review because you’re sick of trying to work, sleep or simply live your life through a sweaty summer in a country where the aged housing simply isn’t built to keep you cool. Or perhaps you’re looking to get ahead of the curve and pick up one of the best portable air conditioners before the rest of the sticky weather arrives.
Here, I’m reviewing the new MC Series Pro 10000 air conditioning unit by MeacoCool. The number refers to the unit’s BTU (British Thermal Units) rating, and in this case 10000 BTU means we’re looking at an AC unit designed to cool spaces of between 18 and 28 square metres, or about 190 to 300 square feet. MeacoCool also makes similar units with ratings ranging from 7,000 (enough to cool about 12 square metres) all the way up to a whopping 16,000 BTU (40 square metres). For context, the average UK home has a total floor space in the region of 94 square metres and the average purpose-built flat is about 58 square metres.
This means the 10,000 BTU air conditioner reviewed here is probably overkill for the bedroom I use for my work-from-home space but, with the internal doors open and windows closed, should do a decent job of cooling other parts of our circa-50 square metre London flat. The unit reviewed can cool, act as a dehumidifier, or simple circulate air with no other effect. It cannot warm air, but MeacoCool’s CH models (standing for cool and heat) can.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 review: price and running costs
New for 2024, the MC Series Pro 10000 is a portable, mains-powered air conditioning unit that carries a recommended retail price of £399.99 and is available to buy at Meaco. Meaco claims the unit can cost as little as 27p to run per hour, based on an energy tariff of 24.5p per kWh.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 review: Design
The unit measures 701 mm tall, 341 mm wide and 335 mm deep and weighs a fairly substantial 24 kg. Although heavy (you might need help getting it up the stairs), it comes with a set of four castors pre-installed, making it easy to wheel from room to room. Unlike permanently-installed air conditioning units, like those often seen in hotel rooms, portable models like this use a wide ducting pipe to expel warm air out of an open window.
The MeacoCool MC Pro 10000 comes with a duct hose that is 15 cm in diameter and up to 1.8 metres long. Its design means it can be extended or contracted, and bent to whatever angles you need to run the hose from the back of the unit to a window. The hose attaches to the back of the unit at one end, then to a window kit at the other. This AC unit comes with two window installation options; one uses a set of three sliding panels which are about 11.5 cm wide, adjust to fit in an open window of almost any size, and connect to the exhaust duct. I installed this kit at the bottom of a vertical-opening sash window.
The other option is a flexible window kit, which incorporates a large piece of fabric and velcro fastenings for fitting to a window frame. You then open the window behind the fabric and attach the duct so that it expels warm air through a hole in the fabric. Both systems are designed so that the warm air can get out while cool air created by the air conditioner stays inside the room.
An air conditioning unit is never going to win a beauty pageant, but as these products go the MeacoCool MC Pro’s is inoffensive. It feels well made and there are two digital displays for showing the temperature and mode settings. Two screens might feel like overkill, but it’s handy to see what the unit is doing from almost any angle. The top panel houses buttons for power, temperature, mode, fan speed and a child lock function, plus a button for the sleep mode and a timer. These are all replicated on the remote control too, which is powered by two included AAA batteries. The remote feels quite cheap, but the rubber buttons are all responsive and feel like they were built to last.
I initially thought the unit had a swing function, where the vents on the front would move up and down electronically. This isn’t the case, however, so instead you’ve to position them manually – and the same goes for a set of three vertically-arranged fins too. These all work well and really make a difference to the air flow. Since I mostly had the AC unit positioned between a bed and a window, I positioned the vents to fire cool air upwards, clearing the bed and filling the room with a nice, cool breeze.
I went into this review not knowing much about AC costs. Given these are the sort of products you buy just once, with an expectation that it’ll last for many years (the warranty is 24 months, incidentally), I don’t think £400 is too bad. You can’t get the best smartphones for even double that these days, and it’s about the same as a PlayStation 5. Paying this amount for the blessed relief of staying cool during the sticky summer months – plus the added benefits of better sleep and a more comfortable work environment – I think is well worth it.
As for running costs, I found the Pro 10000 actually beat the manufacturer’s claims. With the temperature set to 19 degrees centigrade and the fan speed on low, the unit consumed 0.59 kWh of energy in an hour at a cost of 15p, according to my smart energy metre. And remember, that also includes all other power usage in my home for that hour.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 review: Features
This air conditioning unit has three distinct modes. The most obvious is cooling, while the other two are called Dry, where it acts as a dehumidifier as well as AC, and Fan, where it circulates air around the room but doesn’t do anything else. MeacoCool’s CH models also have a Heat function for warming the room.
Other features include a sleep mode, where the fan operates at its lower of two settings and the displays are dimmed. With sleep mode activated, the unit increases the target temperature by one degree per hour for two hours, then keeps the temperature steady for a further 10 hours. There’s also a timer for scheduling when the AC turns on and off, and a child lock button which requires a three-second press to lock or unlock the rest of the system’s controls.
More interesting than all that, though, is the smartphone app. New for 2024, the app works over Wi-Fi or a cellular connection (so you can control the unit while away from home) and lets you turn the AC on or off, change the mode, fan speed and temperature, create a daily or weekly schedule, and set up routines. These can be configured so that the AC turns on when the ambient temperature hits a certain level, or even when the local weather forecast predicts a hot spell. For example, I set the app so the unit will automatically switch on and cool to 19 degrees when the London forecast exceeds 27 degrees.
It’s also possible to connect the unit to Alexa or Google Assistant. Do that, and you can ask your assistant of choice to turn the AC on and set it to whatever temperature you like. I added the unit to my Alexa system but at first it didn’t work. I then realised simply changing the name of the unit to ‘Air conditioning’ helps make Alexa understand what I wanted. I can now say “Alexa, turn the air conditioning on” and it’ll work. I can also say: “Alexa, turn down the temperature” and it’ll lower the AC by one degree. Alexa’s responses strangely mention a thermostat instead of AC, but since I don’t have a smart thermostat that’s not much of a problem.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 review: Performance
As a Brit who is only too familiar with how bad our homes are at staying cool in the summer, I couldn’t wait to try out this AC unit. Domestic air conditioning still feels like a real luxury in this country, so when the MeacoCool 10000 quickly cooled my bedroom – and for just 15p an hour – I was seriously impressed.
Taking advantage of a sunny day, I recorded a room temperature of 24.3 degrees at 8:45am, then turned on the AC with a target temperature of 19C and the fan speed set to low. Right away, the cold air blowing into the room helped me feel cooler, and the temperature (recorded by an Awair air quality monitor located at the opposite end of the room) fell to 20 C over the course of an hour. During that time, the daily total energy cost on my smart metre increased from £1.42 to £1.68 and the energy used so far that day increased from 7.26 kWh to 8.26 kWh.
That feels like good value, but it’s also worth remembering this is the cost of all energy used by my household during that time, and in this instance the washing machine was also in use. Prices vary, but in my experience I would put the cost of running this AC at about 15-20p per hour, or under £2 for an entire working day.
I found the unit easy to set up and use. The smartphone app works well and I really like how I can ask Alexa to turn on the AC or adjust the temperature; equally impressive is how quickly the unit responds to my Alexa requests.
The window kit is easy to install and seems to do a decent job of keeping cold air in. That said, it doesn’t feel like a permanent solution, and realistically it needs removing so the window can be closed and locked when no one is home. It isn’t offensively ugly, at least when installed in the gloss white frame of my sash window, and I like how adjustable the duct is.
This all takes up a fair bit of space, however, so while you might think the AC unit will fit in your home based on its dimensions, you need to factor in the duct. With this fitted, the unit can’t be pushed right back against the wall or radiator below your window, and instead juts out into the room by about 20 cm. This also means you can’t draw the curtains neatly if they extend below the window frame, since the ducting pipe is in the way, and it all adds a rather industrial look to the room. It’s certainly not as seamless as an integrated AC system, but portable units like this offer a much more affordable solution for homes in countries where hot spells are relatively short-lived.
As an AC rookie, something I definitely wasn’t expecting was the noise. MeacoCool’s claim of 53 dB in the low fan speed mode is spot-on, but it’s hard to contextualise this. The app I used to measure the sound said it falls between a quiet home and a quiet street, which (again, according to the app) is 10 dB less than a normal conversation and about 20 dB less than being inside a car. At high speed the AC is closer to 60 dB, which still qualifies as a quiet street. Perhaps I’ve become too used to the very quiet room I work in, or I was wrong to assume the AC would sound similar to a regular fan.
It’s the sort of volume you’ll likely grow accustomed to, but it’s not ideal when trying to sleep. At least the sound is consistent, as while the condenser automatically turns on and off depending on ambient and target temperature, the fan remains active whenever the unit is on. Those able to sleep through white noise, like on a plane, will fare better than those who struggle with anything short of silence. At least there’s comfort in knowing I can fire up the AC a few hours before bed to cool down the room on a hot day.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 review: Verdict
I’ve been really impressed with this air conditioning unit. It’s a bit bulky and the exhaust duct certainly isn’t attractive, but those are criticisms that could be aimed at any portable AC. And, despite all that, the positives of this particular model shine bright.
I found the unit easy to set up, thanks to the clear instructions and how the exhaust duct is designed to fit to different types of window. It’s also quick and easy to control, either by pressing the buttons, using the included remote or hooking it up to a voice assistant. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now, and I still haven’t tired of asking Alexa to turn the AC on. It’s positively luxurious.
I was also impressed by how energy efficient the AC is. I found it cost just a few pence to really bring down the temperature of my bedroom/home office on a warm and sunny day. It takes just a few seconds for cold air to come rushing through, and thanks to the live temperature figure in the MeacoCool app it’s easy to see how quickly the warm air is taken away.
My only real criticism, beyond the bulk of the thing and aesthetics of the duct, is the loudness. More than that, I wish I could lower the fan speed and sacrifice some of its cooling ability for quietness at night. As it stands, a constant 60 dB hum makes it quite hard to fall asleep. That said, it has worked wonders at keeping my workspace cool during the day, and it quickly cools the room at night before I go to bed. I also loved opening the app and firing up the air-con while walking home on a warm day, knowing the room would already be nice and cool when I opened the door.
