Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH review: Serious cooling for sensible money

Thanks to our generally temperate climate, air conditioning isn’t anywhere near as ubiquitous here in the UK as it is in, say, the Mediterranean or California. Yet, anyone who’s had to work in a small office, or sleep in a hot bedroom, during a heatwave will know there are some occasions when having an air conditioner makes all the difference between getting some work done, or getting some sleep, and just feeling hot and bothered. That doesn’t mean you need to spend big bucks installing a serious AC system, but you might want to splash out on a portable air conditioner (PAC) – something that’s compact, easy-to-use, effective, and, most of all, affordable.

Unfortunately, that’s going to count out some of the most popular PACs from the bigger and somewhat pricier brands, but the MeacoCool MC Series Pro 10000 CH, from Meaco, fits the bill. The big sibling to the MC Series Pro 7000, this PAC is ideal for occasional cooling and is capable of handling quite large rooms. It also has a built-in fan and features a heating mode, so you can keep using it all year round, although there is a version without the heating option – the MC Series Pro 10000 – that’s available for £30 less.

Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH: What do you get for the money?

This portable air conditioner is rated for 10,000 BTU, which will give you enough cooling power to chill a room of up to 28m2 in size. All of Meaco’s MC Series models feature fan and dehumidifier modes, while this model, with its CH designation, can also double as an electric fan heater. Beyond this, it has a sleep mode, two fan settings, and a timer – so you can set the air conditioning to turn on (if left in standby) or off after one to 24 hours.

At just over 70cm tall, with a 34.1cm by 33.5cm footprint, this is a relatively compact PAC, and weighing 24.5kg, it’s portable – just about movable from room to room, though I can’t say I enjoyed the experience.

The MC Series Pro 10000 CH comes with a small, white remote control that gives you access to all the functions, but you can also control it using the touch-sensitive buttons on the top panel, or via Meaco’s recently updated smart app.

As with any PAC, you will need to position it by a window and run a tube or duct from the back of the machine to the window to vent hot air and moisture. This works best when the window itself is sealed, rather than propped open with the end of the tube hanging out. Thankfully, Meaco provides a rigid window kit that’s designed to fit in sliding doors or windows, along with a flexible plastic window kit that can be attached to the frame with velcro strips. The rigid kit includes sliding extensions to fit spaces between 65cm and 170cm long, while the flexible kit can cover spaces up to 39cm wide and 400cm long, which should cover just about any window.

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Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH review: How well does it cool?

Quite effectively. I was lucky enough to be testing the MC Series Pro 10000 during the short-lived heatwave at the end of June and, after the temperature in my 6m x 4m living room soared to 26°C, this PAC was able to bring it down to 22°C within an hour, and keep it within half a degree either way for the rest of a hot afternoon. Admittedly, I had the target temperature set lower, to 18°C, but that was probably a big ask given the sun beaming through the windows and the heat outside. Of all the other PACs I’ve tested, only the DeLonghi Pinguino PAC EL112 managed to reach 20°C from a similar starting temperature, and that’s rated at 11,000 BTU.

This cooling performance is doubtless helped by the powerful internal fan. On the top setting, I measured the airflow at 2.8m/sec, and even on the lower setting it reached 1.9m/sec – speeds that are actually higher than I might expect from a dedicated tower fan.

The simple controls make it easy to use as well, although I found it annoying that it’s not possible to set an on timer and an off timer from the control panel, and there’s only two fan speeds. However, to compensate, the app allows you to set on and off times, and even different schedules for different days. It’s a little rough around the edges, though – for example, at the time of writing, the On/Off setting is labelled ‘dp_switch_on’ or ‘dp_switch_off’, while the current temperature is shown as ‘dp_temp_current’.

Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH review: Is it noisy?

I’m afraid so, and probably too noisy for use while sleeping. On the lower of the two fan settings, I measured noise levels at 53.6dB, with it going up to 59.6dB when the fan was set to max. That’s a bit too raucous for most people to doze through and quite a distraction if you’re trying to watch TV, particularly with the occasional buzz or gurgle. In tests, I found the DeLonghi Pinguino PAC EX130CST and PAC EL112 were appreciably quieter, but it’s worth noting that they’re also more than three times the price.

If you do plan on trying to get some shuteye while the MC Series Pro 10000 CH is active, it does have a Sleep mode, which dims the LED display and slowly increases the target temperature by 2°C over two hours – before keeping the temperature constant for the rest of the night – to try to keep the noise under control. However, it’s probably more effective to cool the room before going to bed and then turning the AC off once you’re ready to hit the pillow – it’s hardly tropical temperatures most of the year and you really don’t want those fans spinning up in the middle of the night.

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Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH review: Is it energy efficient?

By their very nature, portable air conditioners use quite a lot of power, and the MC Series Pro 10000 CH is no exception, consuming up to 1120W in cooling mode and 999W in heating mode. Though, of course, this will vary according to your target temperature and the existing temperature in the room: when the Pro 10000 CH was working hard, I typically saw power consumption peak at around 863 to 885W, while at lower temperatures it was often around 540 to 625W, and even dropped to 130 to 180W when only the fans were active.

At 885W, you’d be looking at roughly 21.7p per hour, given the current UK average electricity cost of 24.5p per kWh. So long as you’re not using it all day, every day – which is unlikely, given our climate – you should find it reasonably affordable.

Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH review: Should I buy it?

Yes. I wish it had a quieter fan setting and a more feature-rich and polished app, but the Meaco MC Series Pro 10000 CH is simple to use and gives you a lot of cooling power for its surprisingly small price tag. You’ll certainly have to pay significantly more for anything that’s quieter or more effective.

It also helps that it comes with everything you need bundled in – many PACs require you to pay extra for a window kit, let alone two – proving that serious air conditioning doesn’t have to involve silly money.