Aircon for home use

[Freakuk]

So Mrs Freak has it in her head that we need aircon in our home (bedroom specifically). We live in a converted barn, bedrooms are in the loft space so it is naturally hotter up there.

I'm not keen on having a big beige box bolted on the side of a lovely barn conversion taking away from the aesthetic, and I've got not idea how this would be fitted and pipework hidden etc. Also, the wall units within rooms I have seen look god awful.

Does anyone have aircon at home which is discreet in size inside and out, can you get different coloured units to make them less obvious? And what would be a rough idea of cost to buy/install/maintain?

[BoRED S2upid]

We were quoted £3000 to install it into a pre school with all the gubbins hidden in the roof space so just one box on the outsides. Not sure how this would look in a barn conversion though. You will need the box on the bedroom wall.

Far cheaper to get a compact portable one that you can bring out for the few weeks a year that it’s hot and pop back into storage for the other 10 months!

Pre school now has 2 fancy dyson fans silently wizzing the air around the room which saved thousands.

[normalbloke]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Wildfire]

I got a 14000 BTU Electric Q Portable last year when out flat touched mid 40's. We moved last year to a converted bunglow and similar to yourself we sleep "in the roof".

The portable one. It is louder than my TVR at full chat and just about makes a dent in the temperature when at 40 degrees inside. It made the heatwave bearable though. There is no way you can sleep with it on, even in "quiet mode". I could still hear it going with some ear plugs in. We ended up cooling the room as much as we could, then sleeping.

This property time round we have had a Daikine split system put in. Yes we have the condenser unit on the side of the house, but last night upstairs hit 35 degrees of thick air. 30 minutes in and we were at a nice 20 degrees with the unit running in "indoor Quiet" and we went off to sleep with no issues with it scheduled via the app.

Daikine do a few different units, but we had to have a floor mounted unit due to the height of our ceilings (not the prettiest thing, but not terrible). Inside there are a few options, including units you can hide in the wall / ceiling. Outside, not so much, it is just down to location.

The added bonus is that it works as an active air purifier (great for allergies), a heat pump and dehumidifier.

[UTH]

We have a 9 month old and her nursery is getting very hot at the moment......are portable ones not really an option? A quick read of some posts suggests they either don't work very well or they're extremely noisy? We're not at the stage of looking to spend thousands on a permanent setup as we might be moving her to a different bedroom in the next year or so, but for this summer something to make her room cooler would be helpful

[worsy]

This is my setup in my study. Narrow unit on wall to fit and then external unit powered by 13A.

I did look at a double unit with Master Bedroom also attached but that requires a beefier power supply meaning a 16A cable. Unfortunately the board is the other end of the house so would have to likely run around the bottom of the wall.

Edited by worsy on Tuesday 13th June 10:32

[Belle427]

We had a Daikin single room system installed a few years ago and it is fantastic as we live upstairs and it does get warm.
Only downside is obviously living with the units inside and out but sometimes you just have to put up with it.
You get used to them being there after a few weeks.

[Freakuk]

worsy said:

This is my setup in my study. Narrow unit on wall to fit and then external unit powered by 13A.

I did look at a double unit with Master Bedroom also attached but that requires a beefier power supply meaning a 16A cable. Unfortunately the board is the other end of the house so would have to likely run around the bottom of the wall.

Edited by worsy on Tuesday 13th June 10:32

I assume the black trunking is hiding the pipework to the unit inside?

So that runs from a 13A feed? My power comes in at the opposite end of the house to where the master bedroom is so if it required additional power from the board it would require a lot of groundwork also.

[Sheepshanks]

UTH said:

We have a 9 month old and her nursery is getting very hot at the moment......are portable ones not really an option? A quick read of some posts suggests they either don't work very well or they're extremely noisy? We're not at the stage of looking to spend thousands on a permanent setup as we might be moving her to a different bedroom in the next year or so, but for this summer something to make her room cooler would be helpful

We've had a portable for 10yrs and just replaced it a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, they’re noisy, but lots of people, including me, can sleep with them on, and I'm the kind of person who can't sleep if I can hear a ticking clock. The birds are deafening from dawn where we are so it drowns out the noise they make! If it's been on for hours I tend to ake up with a thick head - as I've slept on an overnight flight.

One thing is that they don't go off when they reach their set temp - the compressor shuts off but the main fan keeps going so the noise continues. The compressor noise is lower tone than the fan noise and you can’t really tell any difference whether the compressor is running or not.

I find they oddly don’t really drop the temp in the room much if you measure it with a thermometer, yet the room can feel freezing. They shoot out cold air, so it’s a bit like having a fan that blows freezing cold air. Ours is about 12ft away from us and I can’t bear it pointed at me, but wife loves it. Unless you bash a hold through a wall , you’re limited where they can go as the hose needs to go out of a window. People make a big deal out of sealing the window to stop warm air coming in but I don’t think that’s a big deal – they blow a lot of air out of the exhaust hose so more air for the room has to come from somewhere and likely in the evening / night the air in the rest of the house is hotter than the air outside. So we use it with the bedroom door shut and the only blocking in the window is to stop the exhausted air from coming back in.

[UTH]

Sheepshanks said:

UTH said:

We have a 9 month old and her nursery is getting very hot at the moment......are portable ones not really an option? A quick read of some posts suggests they either don't work very well or they're extremely noisy? We're not at the stage of looking to spend thousands on a permanent setup as we might be moving her to a different bedroom in the next year or so, but for this summer something to make her room cooler would be helpful

We've had a portable for 10yrs and just replaced it a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, they’re noisy, but lots of people, including me, can sleep with them on, and I'm the kind of person who can't sleep if I can hear a ticking clock. The birds are deafening from dawn where we are so it drowns out the noise they make! If it's been on for hours I tend to ake up with a thick head - as I've slept on an overnight flight.

One thing is that they don't go off when they reach their set temp - the compressor shuts off but the main fan keeps going so the noise continues. The compressor noise is lower tone than the fan noise and you can’t really tell any difference whether the compressor is running or not.

I find they oddly don’t really drop the temp in the room much if you measure it with a thermometer, yet the room can feel freezing. They shoot out cold air, so it’s a bit like having a fan that blows freezing cold air. Ours is about 12ft away from us and I can’t bear it pointed at me, but wife loves it. Unless you bash a hold through a wall , you’re limited where they can go as the hose needs to go out of a window. People make a big deal out of sealing the window to stop warm air coming in but I don’t think that’s a big deal – they blow a lot of air out of the exhaust hose so more air for the room has to come from somewhere and likely in the evening / night the air in the rest of the house is hotter than the air outside. So we use it with the bedroom door shut and the only blocking in the window is to stop the exhausted air from coming back in.

It has just occurred to me that we have several white noise machines running all night long for the baby to sleep, so actually noise is probably a good thing!
Which one do you have? I'm thinking this could be a good option for us for now, although how big is the hose that needs to go out the window? Window not so much an issue, but wondering how much it's going to move the blackout blind and potentially ruin the darkness in her room.....

[worsy]

Freakuk said:

I assume the black trunking is hiding the pipework to the unit inside?

So that runs from a 13A feed? My power comes in at the opposite end of the house to where the master bedroom is so if it required additional power from the board it would require a lot of groundwork also.

Yup piping in trunking - you need power to both units. My sockets are half height in study. That is the grey isolator.

[worsy]

I just dug out my invoice and it was £1650 fitted. A double unit was going to be £3400 but required Electric connectivity in situ.

Fixed external unit allows for temp setting, timer and quiet mode operation though. So if noise is an issue then get the proper jobby..

[Wildfire]

UTH said:

We have a 9 month old and her nursery is getting very hot at the moment......are portable ones not really an option? A quick read of some posts suggests they either don't work very well or they're extremely noisy? We're not at the stage of looking to spend thousands on a permanent setup as we might be moving her to a different bedroom in the next year or so, but for this summer something to make her room cooler would be helpful

They are pretty noisey, not sure where you are in Surrey, but I am too. You can check out our portable one if it helps?

I've not tired it in hot, just "I'm dying from sweat loss and being stuck to my seat" temperatures.

[Wildfire]

Freakuk said:

I assume the black trunking is hiding the pipework to the unit inside?

So that runs from a 13A feed? My power comes in at the opposite end of the house to where the master bedroom is so if it required additional power from the board it would require a lot of groundwork also.

We were told it's around 3.5kw that you can come off a 13A feed at our place. Our single unit is a 2.5kw as the same as you, I didn't want extra power work.

[LunarOne]

Sheepshanks said:

UTH said:

We have a 9 month old and her nursery is getting very hot at the moment......are portable ones not really an option? A quick read of some posts suggests they either don't work very well or they're extremely noisy? We're not at the stage of looking to spend thousands on a permanent setup as we might be moving her to a different bedroom in the next year or so, but for this summer something to make her room cooler would be helpful

We've had a portable for 10yrs and just replaced it a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, they’re noisy, but lots of people, including me, can sleep with them on, and I'm the kind of person who can't sleep if I can hear a ticking clock. The birds are deafening from dawn where we are so it drowns out the noise they make! If it's been on for hours I tend to ake up with a thick head - as I've slept on an overnight flight.

One thing is that they don't go off when they reach their set temp - the compressor shuts off but the main fan keeps going so the noise continues. The compressor noise is lower tone than the fan noise and you can’t really tell any difference whether the compressor is running or not.

I find they oddly don’t really drop the temp in the room much if you measure it with a thermometer, yet the room can feel freezing. They shoot out cold air, so it’s a bit like having a fan that blows freezing cold air. Ours is about 12ft away from us and I can’t bear it pointed at me, but wife loves it. Unless you bash a hold through a wall , you’re limited where they can go as the hose needs to go out of a window. People make a big deal out of sealing the window to stop warm air coming in but I don’t think that’s a big deal – they blow a lot of air out of the exhaust hose so more air for the room has to come from somewhere and likely in the evening / night the air in the rest of the house is hotter than the air outside. So we use it with the bedroom door shut and the only blocking in the window is to stop the exhausted air from coming back in.

I bought a Delonghi Pinguino portable unit last year for use in my bedroom which measures 8x15M. My experience is quite similar
to Sheepshanks in that I find that while it has a quiet mode, it's not what you would call very quiet. However, the noise isn't annoying and I actually find it quite soporific. On my unit I can hear the compressor go on and off, and it adjusts the fan speed as the temperature changes. It also has an Eco mode where it will completely shut down when the target temperature is reached. But then it stops and starts every few minutes. You can also use the timer to turn off after a number of hours, or to turn it on. So if you're away during the day, you can set it to switch on at 10pm so that the bedroom is nice and cool by the time I go up to bed at 11.30pm.

One thing I found was that the efficiency of the whole thing was much improved by not hanging the hot air duct out of a window, but by sealing it. So I made a baffle that fits a horizontal window opening tightly, and then used duct tape to fit a long hose extension to the short duct that comes with the portable unit. That way, I can have the unit closer to the centre of the room, and I also don't have hot air from outside finding its way into my bedroom. By doing that, I find that it can drop the temperature of the whole room from 30C to a comfortable 21C in about an hour and a half, and once it's there it drops the fan speed and can maintain it. I usually set the timer to 2 hours so that it goes off after I've fallen asleep.

[imck]

Would a wall mounted one suit?
Needs a couple of hole through the wall but no outdoor unit.
Couple of examples in the other aircon thread
https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-smart15...


Have a search for outside aircon cover.
Covers for the external unit if you go for a split unit.

[Sheepshanks]

UTH said:

Which one do you have? I'm thinking this could be a good option for us for now, although how big is the hose that needs to go out the window? Window not so much an issue, but wondering how much it's going to move the blackout blind and potentially ruin the darkness in her room.....

This one: https://www.costco.co.uk/Appliances/Cooling-Air-Tr... . It was £10 cheaper in-store.

Without re-checking, JL have the 10,000BTU version for the same price but I bought from Costco as any issues at all and I can take it back, whereas we've had a bit of a chequered history with JL.

Haven't need to use it in anger yet - only turned it on to try. It's not as cold as our old one (was some random make Costco sold 10yrs ago and cost £175) was when we first got it but maybe that's due to different gas used now. It's not as noisy though.

It cpmes with a sliding window kit, which I think is really intended for the US, and some sort of fabric window kit which I haven't look at but seems to involve lots of velcro.

One thing that didn't occur to me is the old one had the hose built in - it just pulled out of the top of the machine, really neat. The new one has a separate hose and, when expanded, is much more bulky. It's about 6" diameter and has a fish-tail attachment to go out the window, and an attachement to connect at the machine end. Both attachments are somewhat iffy and we didn't have either before - the hose was fixed into the old machine and the end just hung out of the window.

[SAS Tom]

I just got a Probreeze 9000btu portable machine to cool a portacabin down at work and it’s doing a good job. The room is about 6x3 and the portacabin sits in direct sunlight all day so it gets very hot. 36 degrees inside yesterday when it was turned off. It’s been on all morning and is keeping it as low as 23 but it doesn’t feel hot or uncomfortable.

I think it would keep a bedroom cool pretty easily.

[ATG]

There are relatively few days a year when the outside air temp in the UK is uncomfortably hot, particularly at night, so it might be worth considering if you'd get more bang for your buck by spending the money on better roof insulation which will not only shield you from the roof's solar gain on hot days, but also help the other 98% of the time when you're trying to conserve heat.

And fans make a tremendous difference. A moderate bit of air movement can feel like the air temp has dropped markedly.

I spent a lot of time as a kid in the Mid West of the States where it was typically about 30C, regularly up to 40C and also very humid. The power supply to the village didn't allow most of the homes to run a/c and the houses were built way before a/c was a thing anyway. Shade, ventilation and fans were the strategy and worked OK. A/C would have been nice in that climate, but sitting under a ceiling fan on a shaded porch was pretty good.

[Sheepshanks]

LunarOne said:

One thing I found was that the efficiency of the whole thing was much improved by not hanging the hot air duct out of a window, but by sealing it. So I made a baffle that fits a horizontal window opening tightly, and then used duct tape to fit a long hose extension to the short duct that comes with the portable unit. That way, I can have the unit closer to the centre of the room, and I also don't have hot air from outside finding its way into my bedroom.

Interesting, thanks. My thinking was that they exhaust a hefty amount of air through the hose - in your case, where is replacement air coming from?