Portable Air Conditioning unit

[rfn]

With WFH becoming more permanent we are considering saving up for getting A/C installed at home but can't justify/afford the current cost of that.

Looking at a portable unit around £200 that can help get a couple of rooms down to a half-decent temperature during the hot months .

We'd considered this. Anyone have experience of similar?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-RHPAC3001-C...

[BlueMR2]

rfn said:

With WFH becoming more permanent we are considering saving up for getting A/C installed at home but can't justify/afford the current cost of that.

Looking at a portable unit around £200 that can help get a couple of rooms down to a half-decent temperature during the hot months .

We'd considered this. Anyone have experience of similar?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-RHPAC3001-C...

No experience of that particular unit, My old (absolute monster 12kbtu) started making a very bad vibration once and considering it was within arms reach I didn't want a piston to the head whilst I slept, so I purchased a fairly compact (£300ish? ) 9k btu unit from Argos.

It ran so hot you could barely touch the exhaust, it was only cooling if you were directly infront of the air output, however the room it was in was heated up overall.

Ironically there were 3 others returned for the same reason that day when I took it back.

I ended up with a 12k btu unit again, not as cool as my old one but not too bad, has a remote which is nice and a sleep timer, the compressor is quieter than the old however the fan is really loud, the compressor cuts in and out alot more with this one, you get used to it, however it is loud.

I sleep better in a cool room with a continuous noise ( you do get used to it somewhat) than a 30+ degree bedroom sauna though so overall good.

If you can I'd look to spend a bit more to get 12k btu+ unless the room is really small with no sun coming in etc.

[Semmelweiss]

That one will cool one small room down. 7000BTU isn't much.

One of these in each bedroom will do.

https://www.aircondirect.co.uk/p/1243754/12000-btu...

[Smoggy XJR]

RUN

Are you anywhere near LU7?

[Smoggy XJR]

Sorry, RFN.

[Bobtherallyfan]

Bought an AEG portable unit last year.

1. Portable if you are used to lifting heavy weights
2. Bloody noisy
3. Extraction hose is a pain in the arse

In the end we left it on for an hour or so before bedtime and then turned it off and hoped we got to sleep before the room warmed back up. Wouldn’t buy one again to be honest.

[s p a c e m a n]

After trying out a few portable units and realising that anything that was worth while having cost a fortune I bought a second hand industrial one off of eBay, thing is a beast and I'll use it in the garage once we have a proper system fitted.

Think this one works out at 22000btu if Google's correct

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Broughton-MCM230-Portab...

[dvs_dave]

Don’t bother with any system that has a hot air exhaust hose only. Absolutely useless. All that hot air they blow out the exhaust has to be replaced by warm air infiltrating into the conditioned space from outside. They’re disastrously inefficient as a result. They by definition are fatally flawed as the harder they work, the more air they exhaust, so the more warm air they have pull into the conditioned space from outside. They can never fully catch up.

Unless the condenser (hot side) cooling air is separate from the conditioned space (eg a split-system, or window AC), or it has both an intake and exhaust, don’t waste your money.

[Meprobamate chic]

dvs_dave said:

Don’t bother with any system that has a hot air exhaust hose only. Absolutely useless. All that hot air they blow out the exhaust has to be replaced by warm air infiltrating into the conditioned space from outside. They’re disastrously inefficient as a result. They by definition are fatally flawed as the harder they work, the more air they exhaust, so the more warm air they have pull into the conditioned space from outside. They can never fully catch up.

Unless the condenser (hot side) cooling air is separate from the conditioned space (eg a split-system, or window AC), or it has both an intake and exhaust, don’t waste your money.

Balls. I was an HVAC design engineer for many, many years and had a cheap Electriq portable (still have it somewhere, actually). 12k BTU I think and it would happily bring a 25 degree large bedroom down to 12 degrees if you either

A: Set it to dehumidify instead of cool. It blows much colder and won't cut off at 16 degrees
Or
B: move the air temp sensor to fool it into thinking the room is still too hot. Makes it work harder.

Noisy yes, inefficient compared to a split yes, heavy yes, a bit of a pain arranging a window seal yes.
But it cooled perfectly well.
Then I installed a split, then I installed a multi split, then I installed multiple individual splits.
Now I mostly dick about switching them round or putting them on friend's houses and buying myself a new one to try out.

[Pheo]

I've always thought that if you are going to buy a portable one, fitting an extract port somewhere in a wall or ceiling (into loft?) would be somewhat sensible, so you can vent them without all the hot air coming back in again... not sure why this isn't done but worth considering.

[dvs_dave]

Meprobamate chic said:

dvs_dave said:

Don’t bother with any system that has a hot air exhaust hose only. Absolutely useless. All that hot air they blow out the exhaust has to be replaced by warm air infiltrating into the conditioned space from outside. They’re disastrously inefficient as a result. They by definition are fatally flawed as the harder they work, the more air they exhaust, so the more warm air they have pull into the conditioned space from outside. They can never fully catch up.

Unless the condenser (hot side) cooling air is separate from the conditioned space (eg a split-system, or window AC), or it has both an intake and exhaust, don’t waste your money.

Balls. I was an HVAC design engineer for many, many years and had a cheap Electriq portable (still have it somewhere, actually). 12k BTU I think and it would happily bring a 25 degree large bedroom down to 12 degrees if you either

A: Set it to dehumidify instead of cool. It blows much colder and won't cut off at 16 degrees
Or
B: move the air temp sensor to fool it into thinking the room is still too hot. Makes it work harder.

Noisy yes, inefficient compared to a split yes, heavy yes, a bit of a pain arranging a window seal yes.
But it cooled perfectly well.
Then I installed a split, then I installed a multi split, then I installed multiple individual splits.
Now I mostly dick about switching them round or putting them on friend's houses and buying myself a new one to try out.

Uh huh. You’ve further proven my point as to why they’re ste.

[Meprobamate chic]

You said they were "absolutely useless" and "can never catch up" - both entirely wrong. They work well but are nowhere near as efficient as a spilt, and have the other drawbacks I and others mentioned.
But they do work. They cool the room to your set temperature. That's why they are a big seller.

[boxy but good]

Meprobamate chic said:

You said they were "absolutely useless" and "can never catch up" - both entirely wrong. They work well but are nowhere near as efficient as a spilt, and have the other drawbacks I and others mentioned.
But they do work. They cool the room to your set temperature. That's why they are a big seller.

Can you recommend one please .
Something that will cool an area of 12' X 11' .

[dvs_dave]

Meprobamate chic said:

You said they were "absolutely useless" and "can never catch up" - both entirely wrong. They work well but are nowhere near as efficient as a spilt, and have the other drawbacks I and others mentioned.
But they do work. They cool the room to your set temperature. That's why they are a big seller.

As you you know, comfort cooling is not just about air temperature. Humidity levels are very important too. By virtue of how these particular systems work, their constant need to pull in not only warm, but also more humid air from outside means that whilst they may be able to keep a lid on air temps, they’re poor at keeping the humidity levels down, and consequently the comfort level. Cool, but humid, blargh! Better than nothing I suppose, but only half the job done. Our definitions of useless obviously differ.

[Meprobamate chic]

dvs_dave said:

As you you know, comfort cooling is not just about air temperature. Humidity levels are very important too. By virtue of how these particular systems work, their constant need to pull in not only warm, but also more humid air from outside means that whilst they may be able to keep a lid on air temps, they’re poor at keeping the humidity levels down, and consequently the comfort level. Cool, but humid, blargh! Better than nothing I suppose, but only half the job done. Our definitions of useless obviously differ.

Portables can pull a load of condensate out - my old one could fill the internal container in a couple of hours on a really humid day, I plumbed it into a bucket and all as well - they all have an outlet that will accept a bit of silicone hose and a hose clamp. Again nowhere near as good as a split, but still works well.

[Meprobamate chic]

boxy but good said:

Can you recommend one please .
Something that will cool an area of 12' X 11' .

Go for something around 8000BTU. Maybe more if the room is north facing or if you might move it to another room (either larger or with more north facing glass), but 8000BTU should do for your space.
Check the reviews and the specs for noise level, and ideally get one with the condensate outlet NOT at the very bottom of the unit - that makes it easier to pipe it straight into a bucket.
Most of them have a condensate tank well above floor level so they will drain into a bucket fine, but a higher tank drain just make it a bit easier and tidier. They'll normally run for ages before the internal tank is full, but if like me you want the bedroom super cold then you will probably put it on the dehumidify setting to make it run colder and on a REALLY humid night it may fill the tank before morning - ex. on a really hot day followed by monsoon style rain you will have very humid air and as a result a lot more condensate.
With that size of room you won't need a swing function (just point the fins so it blows towards the ceiling and the cool air will sink down due to the wonders of convection, and this will probably be more comfortable than having it blowing straight at you).

Something like this will probably do you fine - https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/swan/argo-swa...
Haven't tried one or checked the noise etc. but you won't find huge differences between the cheaper ones. Spend a bit more and you will probably find a quieter one but for a cheapo that one will cool the room fine.

[boxy but good]

Meprobamate chic said:

Helpful stuff.

Brilliant. Many thanks for taking the time to respond.

[IanA2]

Semmelweiss said:

That one will cool one small room down. 7000BTU isn't much.

One of these in each bedroom will do.

https://www.aircondirect.co.uk/p/1243754/12000-btu...

We bought one of those last summer. Very effective. Reasonably quiet. Hose fits nicely into cat flap!

[Sheepshanks]

dvs_dave said:

Don’t bother with any system that has a hot air exhaust hose only. Absolutely useless. All that hot air they blow out the exhaust has to be replaced by warm air infiltrating into the conditioned space from outside. They’re disastrously inefficient as a result. They by definition are fatally flawed as the harder they work, the more air they exhaust, so the more warm air they have pull into the conditioned space from outside. They can never fully catch up.

Unless the condenser (hot side) cooling air is separate from the conditioned space (eg a split-system, or window AC), or it has both an intake and exhaust, don’t waste your money.

We have a portable one and stick the hose out of the window. It's obviously not ideal, but we're using it in the bedroom for sleeping and by the time we put it on at 10PM ish, even on a warm evening the outside temp will be, say 20C, vs 30 in the room - so pulling replacement air in from outside isn't an issue. Keep the bedroom door closed to stop warm air from the house coming into the room.

I'd say ours, we got it from Costco some years ago, isn't much good at dropping the overall room temp as I think the fabric of the house is so warm. but what it does is blast out a horizontal jet of freezing air.

One thing I wasn't aware of is the fan, whoich is most of the noise, on these things runs all the time they're on - even of it gets down to set temp and the compressor goes off, the fan still runs. Although normally a ticking clock keeps me awake, I can sleep fine with it on, but do wake up feeling a bit groggy.

[Sticks.]

Bobtherallyfan said:

Bought an AEG portable unit last year.

1. Portable if you are used to lifting heavy weights
2. Bloody noisy
3. Extraction hose is a pain in the arse

In the end we left it on for an hour or so before bedtime and then turned it off and hoped we got to sleep before the room warmed back up. Wouldn’t buy one again to be honest.

My experience also. Replaced with a fixed unit which is quiet enough to sleep with it on.