Portable Air Con Unit

[HantsRat]

I'm in the market for a portable air con unit for the summer. Mainly just to keep bedroom cool at night but may move to the office as and when required. Average sized 3 bedroom house.

Can anyone recommend a unit?

[Heroin chic]

I have an "Inventor" one that works fine - they are all bloody noisy though, you might need earplugs at night!

[Heroin chic]

This would be the new equivalent - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inventor-Chilly-9-000BTU-...

Bear in mind that it's nearly as much as a cheap split, which will be near silent inside and use less electricity.

[normalbloke]

Save your pennies and buy an inverter split.

[Heroin chic]

A 2 unit multi split will do both rooms at the same time, and start at around £700 - which is about twice the price of a portable but about ten times as good. Assuming you DIY it. If you need it installed for you get it done ASAP because as soon as spring hits the installer's rates will rocket.

[ARFBY]

Maybe good to cool down the bedroom before bedtime, but as said above they are very noisy.

This video is quite interesting, but start at 10mins to hear what they sound like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-mBeYC2KGc

[Heroin chic]

The UK equivalent of a window unit is a through-wall wall mount unit. because most of us don't have sash windows to put them through. Harry Flashman has one (maybe 2?) and can tell you what those are like to live with.

[Sheepshanks]

What I didn't know until we got one, is the fan doesn't stop on the portable units when they reach their set temp - only the compressor cuts out. So the noise level barely drops.

To be fair, a ticking clock keeps me awake yet I can sleep with the a/c on. I do wake up feeling like I've been on an overnight flight though!

[Heroin chic]

Sheepshanks said:

What I didn't know until we got one, is the fan doesn't stop on the portable units when they reach their set temp - only the compressor cuts out. So the noise level barely drops.

To be fair, a ticking clock keeps me awake yet I can sleep with the a/c on. I do wake up feeling like I've been on an overnight flight though!

That's what kept me awake when I used the portable - the thunk of the compressor kicking in and then going off. Genuinely needed earplugs, a constant fan noise would be much better. Then I got loads of splits (because I like to mess with a/c and heating) and it's so much better.

[Sheepshanks]

Heroin chic said:

That's what kept me awake when I used the portable - the thunk of the compressor kicking in and then going off.

We (well I, my wife could sleep though anything) can 'detect' the thunk but it's barely noticeable as the fan is so noisy!

Ours runs the compressor pretty well all the time the unit is on anyway. It doesn't really cool the room it just blasts a jet of cold air towards us. The room feels cold, but if I look at a thermometer it's barely moved.

[Heroin chic]

I hacked mine by changing the temp sensor to a potentiometer - it used to only go down to 16 degrees and then the compressor would turn off, but I like the bedroom cooler than that so once bodged it would get it down to 12 degrees in the middle of the summer. The dehumidify setting also makes it blow cold below the cooling setting minimum.

[Howard-]

They are all noisy as fk. Even the quiet ones.

Unless you are the world's heaviest sleeper, they aren't suitable for bedrooms. Leaving them on all evening and turning them off once you go to bed doesn't tend to work unless your house is ridiculously well-insulated.

[Methadone chic]

I used to be able to hear the compressor kicking in from the room below the bedroom - they do need a bit of NVH mitigation.

[trickywoo]

I've got a portable one. Got it last year as the best rated one in stock at screwfix at the time.

As everyone else has said they are noisy, I doubt you can get a quiet one that does any cooling worth a mention.

Fitting the vent out is a PITA and what I didn't fully grasp at the time is that whatever air it pushes out it has to suck back in. I had it in what I thought wasn't a well sealed room but I needed to leave to door ajar to cope with the volume of air it was flowing. I could feel a real rush of air through the gap and also the pressure when closing the door.

It did cool the room for those 30C+ nights we had at the end of last summer and I slept better overall but IMO all a portable unit is good for is occasional use in the rare extremes we get in the UK. As a general rule of thumb if you expect to need it for more than 20 nights (days) then get a split unit.

[devnull]

Yes, I have an AEG one, cost 600 quid and provides welcome relief, but its very loud. We used it to cool down baby devnull's room as that room took the brunt of the evening sun.

Sorting the vent pipe is a huge faff. If I ever get my forever home, then I'll get split installed.

[Methadone chic]

Portable can be ducted out through a wall as well, but that does mean coring a hole. Makes it a bit quieter and a bit more effective, but if you are coring a hole you may as well go all the way and put in a split.

[Sheepshanks]

trickywoo said:

Fitting the vent out is a PITA and what I didn't fully grasp at the time is that whatever air it pushes out it has to suck back in. I had it in what I thought wasn't a well sealed room but I needed to leave to door ajar to cope with the volume of air it was flowing. I could feel a real rush of air through the gap and also the pressure when closing the door.

Obviously you need the unit to be in the right place, but for ours we just hang the hose out of the window.

Even on warm summer nights it's still cooler outside than inside and, as you say, these units exhaust a lot of air, so replacement air has to come from somewhere - it's better that it's cooler air from outside than boiling air from elsewhere in the house.

[Willeh85]

Another anti portable vote to add to the list from me. If I wasn't planning on moving house right now I'd be installing a split system.


I have had a portable one in the past, and whilst it did cool the room to a comfortable temperature, the negatives outweigh its benefits leaving you thinking why did I ever consider a portable instead of a split system in the first place.

• Loud, very very very loud
• Expensive to run, you can watch your meter whirring around
• Loud
• Take up a larger space than you think
• Have to be near a window for the heat exhaust, you also cant leave it running while you're out because you have to leave the window open.
• Have to empty the condensed water regularly, often in an annoying place, you will spill it
• Loud
• Bigger units are heavy, pain in the arse to get upstairs
• Did I mention its loud?

In summary, spend a little bit more and get a split system - Have zero regrets

[richatnort]

I have one and they are loud and you do need to be near a window but also consider getting a window draft exclusion, put tape round it and velcro it to the window and stops hot air coming in.

I've moved house and Mr Flashman did make me think about getting a split system in this house but going to see how we get on.

[Methadone chic]

richatnort said:

I have one and they are loud and you do need to be near a window but also consider getting a window draft exclusion, put tape round it and velcro it to the window and stops hot air coming in.

I've moved house and Mr Flashman did make me think about getting a split system in this house but going to see how we get on.

Window seal kits are definitely a must with a portable. And if you wait and see how you get on until it's warm, you will pay twice as much for installation, assuming you won't be DIYing it.