If you're trying to save money on a new portable air conditioner, your best bet is to try to buy in the "off-season." This means that you should look for a new air conditioner between October and March.

However, you can often find good sales on if portable air conditioners as early as July or August. As the sales of air conditioners slow down towards the end of the summer, you can often see sales and discounts springing up. This can be a great way to save some serious cash on a new portable air conditioner.

The downside of buying an air conditioner in the off-season or when the heavy discounts are introduced is that your selection will be more limited than if you were buying during the peak of the season. For many people, it might make sense to purchase a new air conditioner when the new models become available in the spring and when there is a large inventory available in local stores.

In recent years, many warehouse stores–like BJ's and Costco–have begun to sell portable air conditioners in the spring. The downside of buying from one of these stores is that you have limited choice in brands. But the upside is that you can save a significant amount of money by purchasing your air conditioner at a warehouse store.

As an example, in the past couple of summers you have been able to find great deals on popular brands (like Amana and Delonghi) at Costco. Costco had these brands in the most popular sizes–12,000 BTUs and 14,000 BTUs–for steep discounts. Moreover, not only can you purchase such popular air-conditioners from warehouse stores, but you can also use their website and have unit delivered directly to your home.

Although you have to purchase a membership with in order to shop at these warehouse stores, generally speaking you will more than make up the cost of the membership with the discount that you will receive on your portable air-conditioning unit. If you're in the market for an import or air-conditioner, it's not a bad idea to check out your local warehouse stores to get an idea of the brands that they have available and to determine how competitive their prices are.

Wherever you decide to purchase your air conditioner from, make sure that you check out the units carefully on the manufacturer's website. There you will get information about which features come standard with your new portable air conditioner, as well as information about each unit’s cooling capability.

Because portable air conditioners have become so popular in recent years, there is a steady supply of them that come on the market through the summer. These units are cost-effective and easy to install and, therefore, we have seen a huge demand in the portable air conditioner unit.

Another benefit is that these units are invisible from the outside of your home. Unlike a window air conditioner, which must sit in your window, these portable air conditioners only require a small vent through which to run the exhaust pipe.