First off, this is NOT an air conditioner. If you expect your room to be freezing cold, this is not the product for you. It's a COOLER, and it does its job very well. It works by evaporating water. Try soaking a T-shirt, wringing it out, and putting it on wet to get the effect. It doesn't work very well in humid areas, but it works GREAT where the air is dry.I'm in southern California, where the humidity varies pretty widely. I place the cooler six or eight feet from my chair, and on the hottest days I'm quite comfortable.Benefits:* it's about 1/5 the cost of an air conditioner* operating expense is a fraction of the cost of air conditioning* neat features! (timer, sleep function, etc.)* remote controlDrawbacks:* it's not freezing cold like air conditioning.