How We Compare
ACRanker compares air conditioners on SACC (the DOE's delivered-cooling number) and real noise figures — with the cons listed as prominently as the pros. Here is exactly how that works.
Where the specs come from
Manufacturer spec sheets and manuals first, cross-checked against independent testing and regulatory databases where they exist. When a manufacturer refuses to publish the honest number — the ASHRAE sticker BTU that overstates portables by 30-45% — we say so on the unit's page rather than quietly substituting a marketing figure. Prices are hand-maintained snapshots, shown as approximate, and never asserted as a retailer's live price.
How rankings are ordered
The default sort is owner rating where we have a citable one, and objective specs otherwise. Category pages surface the top-rated and most affordable picks computed from the catalog itself — the numbers you see are derived from the same data file that renders every page, so a claim can't drift from the spec that backs it.
Why some ratings are hidden
Every star rating on this site is cited to a named retailer with an observed review count. If we couldn't verify one, the unit shows no stars at all — an uncited rating would be a fabricated claim about real customers. We also don't republish Amazon star ratings or review counts: Amazon's terms restrict them to their official API, so our ratings come from other major retailers or nowhere.
What we never do
No pay-to-rank. No sponsored placements dressed as picks. No 'editor's choice' badges sold to the highest bidder. No fabricated review counts, no invented owner sentiment for products whose owners we haven't read, and no burying a con because a brand is popular. The cons list is as load-bearing as the pros list on every unit.
How the site makes money
Today: it doesn't. The plan is retail affiliate links — a small commission when you buy something through a link here, at no extra cost to you — and when those ship, they'll be disclosed on every page and commissions will never affect how anything is ranked. If that ever changes, this page changes first.