Homebase air cooler ACS-120 > Reviews > Can't afford air con? read on!

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Satisfactory
Noise	Average
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Functions, value
Disadvantages:	Technical help from Homebase

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I had an nice portable ex-hire air conditioner, which I used all year. It made our bedroom cool & the air quality was lovely.

Then it developed a leak, no-one would fix it (it was a very old unit) and in the end we disposed of it very reluctently.

This summer's heat wave has proved to take its toll on us and our house! We have odd windows which, don't allow much air in- and our bedroom reaches 42c!

Our front room also gets extremely hot, but this time I couldn't find an ex-hire air con unit, nor can I afford right now- to spend at least £200 for a new one.

We had two fans on the go for a while, but as our house is very dust prone, and my eyes are sensitive- sleeping with a fan on just gave me dry sore throat & puffy sore eyes.

I didn't think an air cooler would be any good, due to the fact it won't cool an entire room. However- what it does do is blow out and circulate cool air, rather than a normal fan which merely circulates warm stale air around the room.

Then the next prob, nowhere in Essex had any in stock. I called more than 35 stores, at various loctions. We spent 3 hours driving to several Curry's and Comet's- as they weren't answering their phones (grr).

No joy.

All our argos stores were out of stock.

I wouldn't give up, I know our air quality in my area is bad & we were living in unbearable heat.
I started calling up stores again, but this time I did it via head office's- Argos explained they won't have any for at least two weeks!
B&Q none, but Homebase had ONE! One unit located 35 miles from me, so head office reserved it & we collected it.

Unbeknown to me, it wasn't a 'challenge air cooler' as is advertised on their site. It is their own make, in the instruction booklet the help number- is actually their order line!

This unit has many functions, ionizer, humidifier, air purifier, natral wind, timer, continuos useage, three fan settins,oscilating option, and movable vents, a remote control (more useful than I thought it would be- all functions work via this- xcept the moving vents), two ice packs supplied for extra cooling and an 8 litre water tank. It is about as loud as a large fan, and is on wheels- which have brakes on the back two).

Explaination:
An ionizer makes dust particuls drop down- rather than float and settle.
An humidifier puts moisture back in the air, good for dry irratated eyes.
An Air purifier will clean the air.
Natral wind simulates the feeling of the wind, and that setting overides the others.
Timer is 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 7 hours, pressed again will set continuos.
The three fan speeds- low, medium and high.
Osc swings the air horizontally by 120 degrees. The vertical swing (vents) are in two pieces- meaning you can aim them blowing up and down at the same time.
The ice packs have to be frozen, it says for 24 hours- but I couldn't wait that long! I froze them for about 5 hours- and I add ice cubes to the water, or a small bottle of frozen water whilst waiting for the ice packs to freeze.
The remote is great, and when you hear a 'beep' you know your selection has been made.

Depending on how big/dusty your chosen room of operation is, parts of the unit will need cleaning- and it recommend at least once a month.

Now- when I went on Homebases website- to get a picture for this review, I couldn't find this unit- only the challenge one.
On browseing their site more, I came across a section explaining air coolers.
This section says air coolers work better placed by an open window- but the instruction manual says nothing about this.

I called the help number at the back of the manual, and was advised I was calling the home delivery order line!
I said I just want some product information & was told to call the store I bought it from- as they barely knew what this item did- I said that's not a good idea.
I was put through to customer care- and the lady said she'd call the team that make these & ask about the open window thing- and call me back in five mins, its been 24 hours and no call back.

All in all, I would recommend this unit. If you cannot afford or don't want an air conditioner- this is a really good option and great value for money at £45-50.
I also took out the 3 year cover, as it was only £10.