As the demand for personal yet portable air conditioners continues to rise, a lot of manufacturers are stepping up to serve this market niche, and one of the few that seems to be doing a pretty good job at it is Evapolar. Established in 2015, it remains a fairly new entrant to the industry, and it seems to be gaining a lot of loyal customers thanks to its well-designed, and compact series of evaporative coolers designed for personal use.
The EvaLight Plus happens to be the largest in the fold, and it is easily capable of humidifying, cooling, and lowering the air temperature. Does it have what it takes to rank as the best evaporative air conditioner for people that need a small yet effective AC? Read on to find out, and make sure you also compare it with other popular air conditioners.
Why We Like It – Evapolar Portable Air Conditioner
The Evapolar portable air conditioner is a perfect example of a personal evaporative air cooler that you should be able to use when you’re out in nature camping, or when you just need a breeze of cold air when sleeping. If you need an in-wall unit for your room, we recommend the Emerson Air Conditioner.
- Can be powered by a laptop/power bank through a USB
- Uses 100% biodegradable filters
- Very Quiet – produces only 10 decibels
- Small water tank capacity
Performance
As you would expect, the Evalight portable air conditioner has a pretty small water tank, only being able to hold a maximum of 750ml of water. This tank is cleverly built into the seamless design of the unit, and the water that it holds will last between 4 to 6 hours before you’ll need to refill it. This is about 2 hours longer than the Hessaire MC37M is capable of lasting, and although it’s got a 10-gallon water tank, it beats out the Evapolar Light air conditioner because you can opt to hook up a standard hose and provide a continuous supply of water for as long as you’ll need cooling.
For other portable units, you’ll want to read our Friedrich P12B dual-hose portable room air conditioner review and our EdgeStar portable air conditioner review.
Energy Efficiency
Unlike the Carrier Central Air Conditioner, you won’t need a heavy supply of electricity to power the Evapolar portable air conditioner, as it only requires 10 Watts of electricity to run. This is a far cry from the 85 Watts that is required to sustain the Hessaire MC18M. We do wish that it came with a timer for more control over how long we’ll be able to have it on, but even without one, the fact that it’s USB powered and can therefore be plugged into a laptop or power bank is one feature that you probably won’t find anywhere else. If you’re in the market for a mini-sized unit that’ll save you space, we recommend the Forty4 Small Oscillating Tower Fan.
Filtration
The cooling pads that you’ll find within the Evapolar evaporative cooler are actually biodegradable, so this means once they’re worn out and due for replacement, you can throw them out and not worry about whether they’ll do any harm to the environment. To keep the evaporative air conditioner in good working condition, you are advised to let it run dry with the fan on about once a week so that the cooling media remains in good shape. You should also change the filters every 3 months or less for best performance.
Durability
Similar to the Luma Comfort EC111B, the Evapolar Evalight Plus air conditioner is backed by a 1-year warranty, which is pretty standard for air coolers sold by most manufacturers today. The short duration of the warranty should not however be a deterrent to buyers, as the personal air conditioner will work well as long as it is maintained properly. This is good, considering the limited warranty on the Friedrich Chill CP06G10B window conditioner tends to be restrictive.
Value
The Evapolar personal air cooler relies on Evabreeze evaporative technology, which is based on a unique nano-material in the pads that helps prevent bacteria spread, and therefore keeps you and your family safe whenever in use. It’s got a cooling power of up to 1200 BTU per hour, and takes between 5 and 10 minutes to reach full cooling capacity.
Evapolar Portable Air Conditioner Wrap Up
You won’t be able to connect the Evalight smart home air conditioner to your smart home app, but if this is something that you really need to do, then make sure you check out the EvaSmart AC, which you will also be able to control through a mobile app, and have it work even when you’re not around the house.
