Devola DVAC10CW Portable Air Conditioner

The Devola DVAC10CW is the largest unit in Devola's Master range of portables: a 10,000 BTU single-hose air conditioner that cools, dehumidifies and runs as a fan, with Wi-Fi app and voice control thrown in. The cooling is the good news. It pulls a hot bedroom or study down by several degrees within an hour, pushes out a strong stream of cold air even on the low fan, and in cooling mode it re-evaporates most of the water it collects, so draining is rare. The two window kits, one made for sash windows, are more thoughtful than the single flimsy kit many budget portables ship with, and the clean, touch-panel design looks smarter than its price suggests.

The problems are just as clear, and they keep the score down. It is loud, closer to a busy office than a quiet fan, and sleep mode is little more than the low fan speed, so it is a poor choice for light sleepers. A minority of units develop faults inside the first year, and the after-sales experience when they do is the weakest part of the package. The app also forgets its Wi-Fi connection after a power cut and only pairs on a 2.4 GHz network. At a sale price of around £300 it would be a fair gamble for occasional heatwave cooling; at the current £449.99 list price, with stock only on pre-order, the MeacoCool Pro 9000 is the safer buy and heats as well.

This is the cooling-only, 10,000 BTU model in Devola's Master range, which shares one 70 cm tall white body across the 9,000 and 10,000 BTU units. It is a single-hose design, so it draws air from the room, cools it, and sends the waste heat out of a window through one 1.8 m hose. It uses R290 refrigerant in a sealed circuit, so there is nothing to install and no F-Gas engineer to book; you wheel it into place, fit one of the two window kits, leave it standing upright after delivery for as long as the manual asks, then switch it on.

The cold air comes out of the front of the unit at roughly waist height, with a manual louvre to aim it side to side, so it cools the person in front of it first and the far corners of the room more slowly. Control is by the touch panel on top, the remote, or the Tuya Smart app, which adds remote switching, schedules and Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands. The smart features are useful once set up, but setup is fussier than it should be: the unit only pairs on a 2.4 GHz network, and it drops off Wi-Fi if the plug is pulled, so you have to pair it again.

It suits a study, a home office or a larger bedroom of up to around 20 m², used for afternoons and evenings in a heatwave. Devola's 26 to 28 m² claim is generous for a single-hose unit, and in a large open-plan room it will take the edge off rather than make it cool, so check the size you need before you buy, which our BTU calculator works out in a minute. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs quiet, whether for sleep or for video calls, and for anyone who would rather pay more for a brand with stronger after-sales support.

Right now the DVAC10CW is £449.99 from Devola and from Air Con Centre, which belongs to the same group, and both are taking pre-orders with delivery estimated for 18 December 2026. It is currently unavailable on Amazon and out of stock at B&Q. That £449.99 is a full off-season price; in past summer sales this unit has sold for around £300, and that is the level where it makes sense. At £449.99 it sits alongside better-supported 9,000 BTU rivals that also heat, so unless you find it discounted, it is worth waiting for a sale or looking elsewhere.

Running it is moderate for a 10,000 BTU portable. It draws about 1.1 kW on full cooling, so at the October 2026 Ofgem price cap of 26.32p per kWh that is roughly 29p an hour, or about £2.35 for an eight-hour stretch at full power. Devola's own 33.4p an hour figure is based on an older, higher unit rate. Real running costs are usually lower, because the compressor cycles off once the room reaches the set temperature, and the timer stops it running in an empty room. Prices correct as of October 2026; electricity rates updated for the October to December 2026 price cap. The energy price cap changes quarterly, so check current rates before budgeting.