Portable air conditioner

[Gregor 4,838]

Anyone have any experience with portable air conditioners? The type where a hose is fed out the window. I am considering one, but most of what I have read, is not too good. What do you think?

[stevasaurus 22,229]

We just bought one last week.  I am cooling an attic...not all of it, but over 400 sq ft.  We bought the 10,000 BTU Pelonis for around $285 with rebate.  I like it so far.  It definitely cools the attic easily to 72 degrees, which I like.  Like any air conditioner it is noisy when the compressor is running, but I can sleep through that, as long as it is cool.  I have a hole framed in the wall where I would put a window unit, so I just mounted the hose to the out side panel.  I take the wall unit out during the winter and close up the hole.  I have the drain hose sticking in a small bucket, but have yet to get any moistier in it.  Not sure what that is about yet.  Only used it for 2 nights.  It does a real nice job really.  I have adjusted the temperature higher in the mornings because it is too cold.  Right now, I give it 5 stars.  

[squonk 38,815]

They work as well as the window units you buy nowadays. They don't last forever like the old tanks . The biggest thing is getting rid of the condensate. They don't hold a lot so you have to either dump them or rig up a pump. We have one in the bedroom. I mounted it on a pedestal so it's higher and drains into a standard condensate pump. The pump pumps it out the window. We' ve had it about 10 years.

Edited June 5, 2021 by squonk

[stevasaurus 22,229]

Right Mike...the pedestal idea is an option I may have to do.  A wine create should do nicely for draining.  10 yeas...that is more then I need.

 

[JoeM 7,585]

Worked somewhat okay. Not as powerful as a window unit. Took it back. 

Like mike said the water is an issue that you have to keep up with on very humid days/

[Maxwell-8 4,270]

We had one before we installed a built in AC system. Worked well for getting the sleeping-room cool.

Important is you can keep the window closed when there is a hose going out. They have special frames for that.

 

What is absolute junk are those small personal airco's.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Maxwell-8

[rjg854 10,705]

We have a stand up unit in the upstairs of the barn, in the wife's craft room. Had it for a few years now, and have never had a problem with condensate. It evaporates it internally.  Works well and the room is rather large, 18x18 with a 10' ceiling.

[clueless 2,898]

I have two, one for my house and the other for the daughters, that we use after the power goes out after a hurricane, last one Sept 2020, 4 1/2 days on the genny. After closing off part of the house we have about 550 sf of what we call the hurricane living area. Over the last 30 year we used a window unit to cool this space, 95+ degrees and 80% humidity days. When we got my daughter a portable one, easy to install when the power is out, don't need daddy to do it  I bought one for us. After some research it I decided to go with a larger BTU unit than my window unit, the portables with the same BTU's don't seem to cool as well. After 4 1/2 days using it the new 12000 BTU didn't cool any better than the old 10000 BTU window unit, the wife says it didn't cool as well, and it didn't remove the humidity in the room nearly as well. At the end of the day it did what we wanted it to do, and you just unscrew 4 screws to remove the exhaust port and zip tie it to the back, make sure the condensation reservoir is empty and roll it into a closet, daddy's getting old. The thing with portables is the whole unit is inside as opposed to a window unit with all the working parts outside, fan, compressor, and all of the exhaust, think heat. With a portable almost all of that heat is now in the house, it takes more BTU's to remove it but more BTU's means making more heat .

[pfrederi 17,114]

One thing to consider with a window unit ambient air is blown over the condenser outside.  On a portable the unit blows indoor air over the condenser and then through the tube to the outside.  So it is constantly sucking outside air (warm/moist) through vents , cracks, poorly sealed windows, under doors etc. into the house.  Bringing in humidity and heat that it then has to eliminate...

[Gregor 4,838]

I want an AC unit in my garage. I thought this might bee the simplest way. I guess I will go with a unit through the wall. The main trouble is, the best place for the unit is on the gable end, east wall, and that's about 14' up. I have a 6' baker scaffolding, that aint gonna cut it.

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

7 minutes ago, Gregor said:

AC unit in my garage

 

Have you considered a mini-split?

 

The through the wall unit in my shop is about 50 years old and it STILL WORKS FINE!  I did have to replace the line cord about ten years ago.

[Gregor 4,838]

I know there are a lot of factors to consider, but how many BTU is required for 770 sq. ft.?  I have no windows. 1 walk in door w/window.  3 1/2" insulated walls, Insulated garage door. 12" fiberglass in ceiling.

[squonk 38,815]

I have a 220volt 20,000 BTU window shaker in my garage. I only use it when I "have" to be out there when it's hot. Thing is out of the 70's I think 

 

The biggest problem with the newer units is just everything is smaller. Smaller coils,fans motors, compressors. Plus  the refrigerants of today don't have the BTU removing capacity of the old girls. You are taking heat (BTU"S) out of a space and throwing it all outside. So if your using a shovel and a bucket, it's going to take more work to move a pile of dirt than say a loader and a dump truck.

[JCM 8,607]

This will be our 4th summer with a/c after 8 years without a/c and coming from a previous home with Central a/c. Installed a through the wall Friedrich 24,000 btu with sleeve in a roughly 1300 sf A frame style home with 2 shed dormers on the 2nd floor. This has made a night and day difference in humidity and comfort but not close to a Central a/c system. we also have 2 ceiling fans and pedestal type fans to help move the air around.

[squonk 38,815]

One positive thing about a portable. The manufactures of ac units give you this nice little removable filter for the evaporator. but leave you now filter or way to clean the condenser without tearing the thing apart. with a portable you can wrap the condenser intake vents with filter media so Fluffy's hair won't get sucked into the fins! 

[clueless 2,898]

1 hour ago, Gregor said:

I know there are a lot of factors to consider, but how many BTU is required for 770 sq. ft.?  I have no windows. 1 walk in door w/window.  3 1/2" insulated walls, Insulated garage door. 12" fiberglass in ceiling.

With no windows and one door with the insulation you have a 12000 to 14000 btu would probably work, but even the largest portable would not work. The next problem is, you say the best place to put one is at the gable end 14' up. Now your not just cooling 770 sf but 770 sf with a height of 14', that's a lot of cubic feet of hot air to cool and keep cool. Since hot air rises the unit would be working hard just to keep the air up there cool much less the air down where you want it. My neighbor's shop (man cave), is a little over 350 sf with a 9' ceiling and well insulated. We installed a 7000 btu unit through the wall about 2.5' above the floor, it stays cool even during Dog Days down here. 

[Gregor 4,838]

1 hour ago, clueless said:

Now your not just cooling 770 sf but 770 sf with a height of 14',

No, my ceiling is still only 8" high. My garage is 8" off the ground. My lot is sloped.

 

 

The "Barn"

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Gregor

[Handy Don 10,522]

Ah, the sloping lot problem! 

Wouldn't mind having a great looking "barn" like that.

[haydendavid380 759]

We used a 10,000btu unit last year trying to limp through the summer trying to save enough for a full hvac replacement.

 

We ran the 10k unit in our living room because the windows on either side of our bay window is too small for a window unit. 

 

Other than that we ran a 12k window unit in our kitchen and a 5k unit in our bedroom. 

 

Our electric bill was around $400 for 4 months. 

 

Also while the portable unit put out cold air, the actual unit radiated some pretty intense heat. The unit was next to my recliner and the radiant heat overpowered the cooling effect up close.

 

I was able to keep the indoor temps around 80 when the outdoor temp was about 90, but not much better. Unless you absolutely have to use a portable unit, the window units are better in nearly every way.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I have crank out windows so I had to cut a hole in the bedroom to have a window unit.  Don't want to do that elsewhere so until I install a mini split I have two portables and really like them.  Not as efficient because they exhaust the hot air/condensate and that exhausted air has to be replaced with more hot air from outside through air leaks, but mine work well otherwise.

[Mirage276 9]

I use a portable in the bedroom, I work third so I am sleeping in the afternoon/evening and our bedroom is at the end of the duct run, so it does not get cool like the rest of the house.  What I do is keep the vent hose as short as possible and wrap it in some "garage" towels as insulation.  The radiated heat is very minimal this way but it definitely can put some heat off if you extend the hose a bunch and give it more surface area.

[squonk 38,815]

All these replies and no one has mentioned what a PITA a water-cooled portable is!  Don't miss those! 

[WHX?? 46,637]

What's in my shop ..... this was a tear out that was too small in a waste water treatment plant office. It was a cheapy and not real efficient. 1 ton or 12,000 btu and more than adequate for my 768 sq ft. I also did some Tim Taylor mods to it to make help it run better. 

Before I retire a better one is goin to "fall off" a truck. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by WHX24

[squonk 38,815]

Gonna  have to take a pic of my dinosaur now!

[Gregor 4,838]

2 hours ago, WHX24 said:

Before I retire a better one is goin to "fall off" a truck

Find 2 trucks.