Portable Room Air Connditioners

wsmm

Member
Looking at getting a portable room air conditioner in the 14000btu range. I also want one that you don't need to drain the water on. I've read about some that have a means of evaporating the water. Do any of you have one? What should I look out for? Any recommended brands or brands to stay away from? How well do they work. Just had new vinyl windows put in and their construction is not freindly to window air conditioners.
Thanks,
Bill
 
You're asking about the kind that sits in the room with a vent hose going out the window?

Horrible!

Think about it, the vent going out the window is exhausting hot air from the condenser. Where is that air coming from? Yep, the air in the room that you are trying to remove the heat from... Just blowing the cool air right back out!

They do work, but terribly inefficient.

Might look into a "split system" unit. A little more work to install, and more initial cost, but a permanent system that is efficient. They come in many configurations, basic AC, AC and heat, heat pump, lots of options.


Split System
 

As Steve said, the through the window AC unit by design is a poor 4rd choice vs a window shaker, a through the wall unit or a central unit that uses the forced heating ductwork.
 
Most AC's don't drip water, which in my opinion will cause the unit to rust out very fast. It's designed to evaporate the water using a slinger in the fan.

Rusting out is only half the problem. The water mixed with the crap in the air will choke off the condenser with a baked on mud/dust/insect/cotton wood. I've seen a condenser 90% choked off in one season.

I drill holes in the ones I use and put aluminum window screen around the vents outside. I have to clean the screen off about monthly.

I also recommend taking window shakers apart every year, cleaning and bleaching. Mold grows inside. Pic to follow in my next post. Pic is on smart phone.
geo
 
The black crap is mold. Had to bleach it many times.
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(quoted from post at 16:51:07 05/17/17) They do a wonderful job of converting electricity to noise.

^^^ This exactly!! ^^^

I bought one of these for the room Dad and I were in when he was in California for cancer therapy. Yes, it put out enough cool air in the dinky little room we were in, but I couldn't stand the noise! Dad wasn't there, as most of that time he was in a hospital, but I took the blame thing back and was SSSOOOOOOO happy to get my money back!!

In all honesty, an evaporative cooler would do a better job. Best part is, you can also make one. There are plans all over the internet. The best ones involve a small pump to circulate the water up and onto a filter-type material that will not disintegrate from the water.

What do we use here? A window A/C. Of course, it rarely ever gets above 80° here, but we're also used to colder temps. By the time it hits 65°, that A/C is coming on!
 
Wsmm we have 2 of them, ours are Not noisy and work well. I got them both on sale at Lowes. And would not hesitate to buy another 1. I guess maybe you better see 1 in operation before you buy 1.
 
I purchase one of these mini split systems and installed it myself and found it works very good quiet as can be it also works as a heat pump and that works great too but the heat function only work with outside temps above 20 degrees. They come in different sizes.
 
Used or lived with thru the window units for 60 years........they cool they work, they are noisy, they are cheap compared to central air conditioning. If you can afford it, go for central air...if not, go with what you can afford to pay for.
 
My main gripe against small modern A/C's is the use of digital technology. Everything now tries so hard to be "Energy Efficient" that you often end up with a machine that won't cool as it needs to because it's too busy saving you money. :shock: :twisted:
 
We have a Solus 10,000 BTU Portable air conditioner and it keep our 760 square foot second floor comfortable.
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When our heat pump crapped out and we didn't have the money to put in a new system, we used nothing but two of them, one a 10,000 BTU, and the another a 12,000 BTU to cool the downstairs in our house for about 5 years. They do make noise, but once you get used to it, it amounts basically to white, background noise.

We never had a problem keeping 1,100 sq ft cool on the hottest summer days. Power wise I can't say there was any noticeable difference between the two portable units, and the old system. We got a new system put in at the end of last year. Even with the new system, I'm not seeing any real difference power wise with it either.
 
I thought about getting one once but passed it up. I see a lot of them returned to Sam's Club and the big box stores: there must be a reason for that.
 
"My main gripe against small modern A/C's is the use of digital technology"

I worked my way through college repairing commercial furnaces and air
conditioners at a steel mill.

I use window AC's for rentals for two reasons. One each year I take them apart
and clean the mold out of the evaporator and make sure the condenser coils are
clean of crap. Second reason is I'm cheap. For less than $200 I can buy a 6000
BTU AC with digital controls. I could buy the cheaper 5000 BTU's with manual
controls for less and chose not to. Tenants will damage the plastic knobs and
they are not IDIOT proof. If a tenant turns the compressor off and then back
on, the compressor will lock up and kick out on thermal overload. The digital
control models have a built in 2-3 minute time delay, so compressor time outs.
I've been using the digital controls for many years and yet to have a problem
with the controls. I like to buy more than one AC same model at the same
time. Currently I lost the blower fan motor to one AC. I'll keep it for spare
parts.

When I get a call form a tenant and their AC doesn't work. I'll take one off
my spare AC stack and install it. Repair theirs when I get around to it.
Install it next year or put it on the spare AC stack.

Geo.
 
Hey Geo. The digital crap I'm talking about is when you set the A/C for your comfort level, but it later changes the setting on its own. THAT is uncalled for! We had to buy an A/C in Arkansas after Dad's heat pump went out. Only one they had was digital. It would just start cooling down when the thing would switch over to energy saver mode and then the house temp would be on the rise again. Can't trust something like that, and trust is big with me.
 
I have an 8000BTU unit that I used in my slide-in camper for 3 summers. $279 vs. $1400 for the rooftop unit. Doesn't make sense when you only pay $2000 for the camper to begin with.

It worked great. The air coming out the vent was HOT, and it brought the temperature in the camper down to comfortable pretty quickly. It was sure better than stewing in your own sweat after being out in the stifling heat all day.

I even used it at home. It wasn't any louder than a window unit. Had no trouble sleeping with it running.

Now it sits in a closet because I found a used rooftop AC unit off an old popup camper for $75 on Craigslist.
 
Portable is the worst excuse for cooling on the market,why can't you use a window unit? Evaporating moisture back into air it was just extracted from is counter productive so that feature make's things even worse.
 
I built my house in 1979 based upon zone heating and cooling. Has yet to fail me. I have 7 and love 'em. Good market down here and when one gets cranky with you, the big box stores are full of them and they are priced right. Plus every one comes with a remote and electronic controls, meaning no thermostat servicing required after a few years and no wandering temp, everything is exact. Since the entire unit is in the unit, no delays in waiting for the cooling cycle to to actually make the evaporator coil cool, no cooling lost in the attic which is 140F and the ducts are insulated with 1" if that, no $6k every 10 years for a new condensing unit, no dirty ducts that are full of who knows what and need to be cleaned by professionals...on and on.

Course if your house is not built for zone cooling you have no choice but to put up with the above, like it or not.

There are 2 types, refrigerated having a compressor and dehumidifying function for non-arid climates (same principle as central units} and "water coolers" that use the "heat of evaporation" principle whereby water is circulated by a pump (from a float controlled water sump) to the top of a membrane and it falls through it as the fan blows across it evaporating the water and absorbing the heat of the room in the process.

Popular here are Frigidaire usually sold by Lowes and LG sold by Home Depot. I have both and no preference. Spray condenser and evaporator coil cleaners are sold by HD and probably Lowes too so that you can keep your coils clean without having to remove the unit for cleaning...same spray used on central units.

Go for it!!!!!!!
 

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