It’s no secret that we’re a fan of many Honeywell products. Their 50250-s purifier is one of our top recommended affordable units in many categories. Generally speaking Honeywell builds easy to use, gimmick-free, and reliable products.You’ll see those traits carry over to portable AC units in our Honeywell MN10CESWW review below.
Likemost Honeywell products, this unit will not win an award for styling or smart phone features. Nor will tech bloggers rave about seeing its next incarnation at CES. However, more often than not this is the unit consumers turn to when searching for a solid performer. It gets great user reviews and there are plenty of them. That’s exactly what caught our attention. Is this a good product? We think so.
First and foremost MN10CESWW is a 10,000 BTU air conditioner. But, it’s also a dehumidifier. A combination unit has its advantages, especially where space is limited. But, like we’ve discussed in other reviews… a hybrid product rarely beats out two purpose built stand-alone products. They’ll do the job, but think about what you really need before you’re completely sold on a combo.
When it comes to cooling the air, Honeywell spec’d this unit to operate best in 400 square feet. However, you should adjust down from there if you want to run it in a room with heat sources (like large windows or other appliances).
If you’re in a region that experiences a bit of excess humidity you’ll be happy to hear that honey well built in some dehumidification capabilities. In fact, the dehumidifier can pull just over 79 pints of excess moisture from the air in 24 hours. That is great for warm humid nights, but if you’re dealing with moisture in a basement get a dedicated dehumidifier.
This unit is quiet enough to use in a bedroom. And, we like a bit of white noise. But, if we’re being completely honest it could sound like a Boeing 737 taking off as long as it’s able to end a hot / humid night in bed. We wouldn’t care. On another positive note… you can use the units fan without calling AC or dehumidification feature to task. A plus if you’re trying to keep the energy bill as low as possible.
Honeywell MN10CESWW Review
One of the key features in a portable air conditioner is… portability. The MN10CESWW tips the scales at roughly 50 pounds which isn’t terrible b any means. Plus 50 pounds is pretty easy to maneuver considering that the unit has four casters. It’s not large or awkward to move either. It measure roughly 15″x18″x30″ so it can squeeze into most spaces without much drama.
Dehumidifying Capability
Let’s get this out of the way first. Yes, the dehumidifier performs better than we expected. But, we didn’t expect too much since we’re so biased toward the “buy the right tool for the job at hand” philosophy. If you need to complete a job buy the right tool, right? Regardless this unit’s dehumidifier is’t a gimmick or ineffective addon built in to edge out the competition.
While we’ll admit that it works better than expected, we will stand our ground on the unit’s water removal system. Honeywell promotes the unit’s ability to evaporate moisture; thus eliminating the need for emptying a holding tank or accommodating a drain hose. If you’re evaporating 79 liters (the advertised amount of water it can collect in 24 hours) there has to be some serious energy consumed in the process. We’ll stick to the method employed by most dehumidifiers. Dumping a water tank here and there isn’t much trouble. Plus, there’s something strangely satisfying about dumping water that you made out of thin air.
With all that said. We’re happy to report that the dehumidifier works, but just well enough to take the edge off of a fairly humid space.
Air Conditioning
Honeywellpacked 10,000 BTU’s worth of cooling capacity into this fairly small package.They claim it is perfect for a space as large as 400 square feet, but that’s in ideal conditions. If you’re in a 400 SF window -filled Phoenix home office in July don’t expect a miracle. But, if you’re trying to make things comfortable or bearable… this air conditioner will work quite well. Especially if you’re somewhere like Seattle where summer highs aren’t that high. But, 85 and humid make life miserable. In that scenario, in a 400 square foot room this unit would be ideal to wheel out of the closet and cool things off a bit.
Like other portable purifiers this unit relies on a window exhaust to cool things down. In most windows the supplied components slip right in so you can relax ASAP. However, some windows will require a bit of DIY to the vent kit to get things up and running. But, if your window will not accept this kit… there’s a good chance you’ll need to mod similar kits from other manufacturers. Either way, we’d take our chances with a unit like this over one of those old school slide into window AC units any day.
Honeywell includes a remote along with the unit. Which is nice for a bed side table or for those times where you just don’t want to walk over to a appliance to manually force it do your bidding. But, if you do get off your rear to make an adjustment you’ll find that controls are well laid out, and there’s even a timer you can program. Thus reducing frequency of future trips to the appliance.
So is this unit a no-brainer purchase? Will it serve you well into the 2030’s? Nope and probably not. But, you (and we) need to remind ourselves that this is not a top of the line appliance. It’s an affordable way to avoid spending a bunch of money to occasionally cool off a room. Taking those things into account… would we buy one? Sure, but we’d probably pick up a warranty as well. The ones offered on Amazon are pretty affordable insurance. And even with that extra expense this unit is a bargain.
What we like…
- It’s easy to install and use.
- Dehumidifier and AC in one small package
- Portable and Efficient
- It’s pretty quiet compared to competitors in this category (and price point). Is it silent… no. But it’s better than many we’ve been around.
What we do not like…
- We like the unit, as do others, but some users complain about the warranty. Most site that Honeywell is excessively picky when deciding to honor the 5 year warranty. If this makes you nervous we recommend a 3rd party warranty available from most retailers.
- The window attachment is not as well designed or “universal” as some other products in the category.
- Short drain hose
Final Thoughts
We hope you found our Honeywell mn10cesww review helpful. As is the case with other combination units (humidifier / air purifiers for example) many shoppers may be better served by stand alone units.
But, if this is exactly what you’re searching for in a AC unit… we think is a solid purchase. It’s pretty quiet, easy to maneuver, and the dehumidifier is a nice addition. And, best of all it’s not crazy expensive. More often than not we recommend spending more to get a “better” unit (especially with purifiers), but in this category we say get something that fits the bill. But, don’t forget the extended warranty.
For more information be sure to check out our post on other great combination machines.