Costway 22783 Review

We get it. The incessant, soul-sucking heat of summer can turn the most level-headed human into a short-tempered couch potato. Whether you're looking to uplevel your home office, chill out your children's play room, or turn your primary bedroom into a cool, comfortable, snooze-worthy nest free from outside heat and humidity, the Costway 22783 portable AC is a wallet-friendly option that's compact and convenient for small to mid-sized spaces.

Cooling

The Costway is a straightforward portable air conditioner with a single-hose, 8000-BTU design. It certainly wasn't the best or the strongest-rated when it came to cooling down a large space quickly, but its great price point and lighter-weight design make this middle-of-the-road AC worth a look for those who don't need the highest level of cooling power.

In our tests, the temperature of our standardized testing room changed by roughly five degrees over the course of one hour, dropping from 83.5 degrees to 78.7 degrees. The Costway struggled to keep up as temperatures rose throughout the day due to its smaller size, but it was still able to provide some relief from the summer's sweltering weather. That said, our testing room is much bigger than the scant 230 square feet the Costway is built for. It's important to remember that this is a size typical for a bedroom, den, or office; as such, it is not ideal for cooling a larger space, like an open-plan living room or a full studio apartment. You will be much happier with this model if you use it for the type of space it is made for.

Installation & Portability

The Costway offers an above-average installation and portability experience. It weighs just under 44 lbs, which is relatively light for the group, and its compact size makes it more convenient for winter storage. These characteristics combined helped it earn some of the top marks in this category.

Whether you are switching the AC to a different floor of your house or moving to a different property altogether, this petite machine is a cinch to break down, store, and set up again. This is, in part, due to its lightweight profile of just 43.8 pounds, which makes it far more portable than most models we tried out. The carry handles for this unit are located on top, which could make handling awkward, especially for shorter people, but the inclusion of wheels makes this a non-issue as long as you're not moving through high-pile carpet or going up and down stairs.

This air conditioner easily accommodates an average-sized window opening, with a manufacturer-recommended window width minimum of 19.7 inches and a maximum of 40.2 inches. Measure and crack the window itself to a 4-inch opening, and you'll be able to easily and painlessly set this baby up.

The first installation us between 15 and 25 minutes, which is pretty long. We found the instructions to be overwhelming, a bit unclear, and not as easy to understand as some of the directions for other models. But, we'd bet on the fact that after a few installs, this time will likely be faster (like if you're moving the unit from room to room).

That being said, Costway saves users time by skipping the foam installation that many of these Air conditioners require. The process is replaced by the use of a wing nut during window installation. However, we will offer one tip: you may need to trim the kit down a smidge. It takes extra time to screw on the exhaust hose pieces, but the inclusion of a plug slot on the back of the unit is an extra convenience that we appreciate.

Noise

We were shocked to find the compressor of the Costway 22783 to be louder than the fan; the reverse is true in most cases. In fact, we were pleasantly surprised by the low sound of the fan, which helped keep the unit's overall noise down. Still, you can clearly hear the louder hum of this AC's compressor, even on its low setting.

At 59.1 decibels, the Costway scored about average in the volume department, compared to the rest of the competition. That said, the tone of this air conditioner wasn't so troubling that we had to turn up the music, and we could easily carry on a normal conversation without any trouble hearing one another over the unit's sound. We didn't find the unit to be so loud that it would interrupt most day-to-day activities, but we found that it did interfere with quieter TV shows and spacious movies.

Energy Consumption

The Costway 22783 is not an ENERGY STAR-certified unit (none in our testing rubric were), and it also lacks energy-efficient inverter technology. Still, this unit outperforms some of its more expensive counterparts, scoring above average in our energy consumption measurements. If you're operating with an incredibly strict budget, this unit will cost significantly less than a larger, bulkier model, especially if you plan on running it for 12 hours per day.

When we switched the fan mode to high and left the unit's compressor running, it used 0.84 kWh of power. This earns the unit a Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio (CEER) rating of 6.1, which is below average in our study. However, it runs at a lower BTU, and ultimately uses less energy overall (you just don't get as much cooling power per watt as some other machines). As such, this was one of the more wallet-friendly ACs in our testing lineup compared with larger, more energy-sucking models.

This is one of the most cost-effective units for energy use that we tried, bested only by the Shinco SPF1-08C and the SereneLife SLPAC8. These other two are more expensive and louder when compared to the Costway, too. We estimate a summertime cost of $153.14 based on the Costway unit running 12 hours a day for three months.

Convenience

The display on the Costway leaves something to be desired. We found the green color very hard to read, rendering the temp. readings nearly illegible unless we were standing right above the display. Even in moderate in-home lighting, we found that the Costway was not as easy to read as some of the other portable air conditioners we tested. However, we had no problem seeing the dot indicators for various settings from any angle or distance.

The Costway has no Wi-Fi capability and no app, unlike some of the pricier ACs we tested, so users must control the unit via its remote control. Annoyingly, the remote does not come with batteries. In addition, there are no child lock features, should you have little kids running about in your home, you'll want to keep an eye out.

The Costway 22783 has just a few different modes, with simple “Low” and “High” options for both the Cool and Fan settings. It also sports a single “Low” setting for Dry cooling. The temperature setting for this machine ranges from a breezy 62°F to a balmy 86°F, which is a range we think most users will be happy with, but it can't get your room as freezing cold as some of the other units.

One thing we really appreciated in the Costway's design was the flexible air direction adjustments, which is not often found in budget-friendly models. This lets users adjust the air both horizontally and vertically, so you can get just the right angle for air output. Since it doesn't have the power to fully cool a large room, this is a fantastic feature for those who work from home or like to kick back and watch TV in the evenings, as they can seamlessly adjust the airflow to point directly onto the desk or sofa area on particularly scorching days.

Should You Buy the Costway 22783?

If you are on a budget and want an excellent middle-of-the-road option, the Costway 22783 delivers reliable performance with great cooling capability for small- to mid-sized rooms. It's also relatively compact and portable, making it a great choice for people who want to stow it away in a closet or garage during the chillier winter season.

What Other Portable Air Conditioner Should You Consider?