Any advice on what Portable Air Conditioning unit to buy (UK) ?

We have a screwfix own brand one, it's somewhat loud but much better than being too hot to sleep. One trick we found is to put it on the coldest possible setting (16C, it'll never actually get there though) to avoid the compressor stop/starting all night as the sound from that is jarring. In normal operation it's just a constant noise which is much easier to sleep through. We put a fan on top of it to help distribute the cold air too - seems to work.
 
It's entirely dependent on how hot your home gets and how tolerable you are to the heat. For me, a portable is great for a short term solution to the week or 2 of hot weather we get in the UK if you need to cool 1 room.
 
I have one, overall I'd say that its pretty crap and I'll be getting a proper split system once I get my new place, but in the short term it does the job and keeps the home office tolerable while I'm working.
 
Actual_Criminal said:
Bit the bullet and bought one.

For the love of God, I hope it works well! Going to set it up this afternoon :D

https://imgur.com/gallery/6VrLp09
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I have this exact one. It was a godsend last night for my little ones bedroom. Took it from 28 degrees to 21 pretty quickly.

We are fortunate enough to have sash windows so the vent kit that came with it works absolutely brilliantly. The only issue is my little one needs pitch black to sleep so I just use it to give a good blast and then turn it off for the night.
 
BallistixOnZ490 said:
I'd like to know the difference, and yes mine is just a fan with a water tank over it.

How is that Ramcor one supposed to work?
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One is an air conditioner, the other is a snake oil 'water filled' cooler. You know the first rule of thermodynamics right?

Actual air conditioners have venting pipes to the outside, and chuck the heat from your house to the outside world. They normally have some kind of gas (refrigerant) within them to help the heat exchange. Similar principle to how your fridge works.

Edit: 'portable' is a stretch - they can be moved, they are on casters, but they need to be by a window/venting hole to attach the hose to.
 
dLockers said:
One is an air conditioner, the other is a snake oil 'water filled' cooler. You know the first rule of thermodynamics right?

Actual air conditioners have venting pipes to the outside, and chuck the heat from your house to the outside world. They normally have some kind of gas (refrigerant) within them to help the heat exchange. Similar principle to how your fridge works.

Edit: 'portable' is a stretch - they can be moved, they are on casters, but they need to be by a window/venting hole to attach the hose to.
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Exactly, air conditioning is the only thing to actually LOWER the temperature. Fans, water coolers etc just move existing temperature around. They feel 'cold' still because when the moving air touches your skin, it evaporates sweat and water particles on your skin to create a cooling affect.

For example, if you go and wet your face then sit infront if a normal fan, it will feel really cool but in reality, it's the water evaporating that is doing the cooling.

Best way to break it down is:

-Fans, air blowers, air towers and similar.
£5-£70 depending on brand and size. In my opinion, don't pay more than £30 for one. Still a good buy. Those Dyson Airblades at £300+ are just glorified branded fans which also fit into this category.

-Air Coolers and humidifiers.
£15-100 depending on size. Typically involve using water in attempt to try and cool the air. No exhaust required. Usually falsely presented like an air-conditioning unit and look similar. They can even increase room temps by making it more humid. I agree with above, total waste of money.

-Portable Air Conditioning.
£250-800 depending on size and power. Actually can cool past sub-ambient temperature. You need an exhaust hole out of a window for them to work.

-Air conditioning 2-way split (HVAC).
£450-1500 depending on size and power. (Doesn't include install costs.) Usually is a wall mounted unit, or even window mounted in some countries. With an external unit and usually requires yearly services.

EDIT: Forgot to mention dehumidifiers. In theory, they can work as they take water out of the air, making it less humid, but are not really meant to be for temperature control. Even then, the temperature difference will be minimum and it will use a lot of electric. - they are typically used in properties to dry them out following a flood or water leak.
 
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dLockers said:
I have this exact one. It was a godsend last night for my little ones bedroom. Took it from 28 degrees to 21 pretty quickly.

We are fortunate enough to have sash windows so the vent kit that came with it works absolutely brilliantly. The only issue is my little one needs pitch black to sleep so I just use it to give a good blast and then turn it off for the night.
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Unfortunately, I have crank style casement windows, so it is quite awkward to install. I did buy some separate zip kit from Amazon but haven't set that up yet...looks like a hassle, but tbf I'm willing to try it in this heat.
 
A couple of years back I bought a random no-name (famgizmo) brand aircon from amazon, the one I ordered was meant to be 5000btu, but they sent me a 7500btu on instead, and to be honest yes it is a little loud, but the trade off is.. I'm not sweating like a sweating thing.. it gets a week or two's use every year, never had to empty it out (Fairly sure it uses the moisture as coolant for the pump so it boils off), I'd not want to do without it now. Only cost me about £220 at the time.. no complaining.

edit: still is £220 if ordered from their website
 
Ceryndrion said:
A couple of years back I bought a random no-name brand aircon from amazon, the one I ordered was meant to be 5000btu, but they sent me a 7500btu on instead, and to be honest yes it is a little loud, but the trade off is.. I'm not sweating like a sweating thing.. it gets a week or two's use every year, never had to empty it out (Fairly sure it uses the moisture as coolant for the pump so it boils off), I'd not want to do without it now. Only cost me about £220 at the time.. no complaining.
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wut
 
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