Portable air con

[Cornubia]

We had a portable one when the twins were small as out bedroom is West facing with a combination of large 1970's window and a blackout blind made the room stifling hot (30+°C).

Whilst it did work in bringing the room temperature down one of the biggest issues we found was getting rid of the hot air. We had to use a longish duct to push it out through the window. This duct in itself would get fairly hot re-heating the room so a constant battle resulting in the AC running uninterrupted for long spells. Along with the weight, floor space & noise I would go for a split unit if it was a long term solution.

 

[Iamzod]

Absolute god send if you don't have split AC, we've got what I think is a 12 or 13000 BTU unit, yes it's loud, but last year when it hit 40C in the day, we got a decent nights sleep as the bedroom was only 18c.

The noise from it to me is almost like white noise, it drowns everything else out & I sleep better with it now, normally things like the dogs moving about the room, licking their paws, ir the wife doing chainsaw impressions etc wake me up, can't hear them with the AC running.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

I have a Delonghi 9500 BTU one and it isn’t quiet when the compressor cuts in.

Things I learned from having one:

1. You need a proper exhaust vent - those fabric “tent” things to fit around windows are gash.

2. Leave another window slightly open to get some fresh air into the room or the room air will get very dry.

3. Get a vibration damping pad (basically a large, 30mm thick foam pad) to sit the A/C unit on as this makes it significantly quieter on bare wood floors.

4. Don’t set the desired room temperature too low. If it’s 26°C outside and you set the A/C to 18°C, it’s going to be running flat out all night. Setting the temp 1-2°C below outside night ambient temp makes the bedroom feel very cool while keeping A/C noise to a minimum.

The window tent things are awful, but I do find them better than nothing at all!
Is there a better way of fitting a temporary window exhaust vent? I don't have sash windows and am not cutting a hole in the wall .

 

[Pyr0m@nI@]{]

Polycarbonate sheet with UV stabilisers, velcro and a hole saw.

 

[sovietspybob]

This worked surprisingly well for me last year when i wanted to use it downstairs during the day when it was stupid hot...

 

[Duke]

Whilst it did work in bringing the room temperature down one of the biggest issues we found was getting rid of the hot air. We had to use a longish duct to push it out through the window. This duct in itself would get fairly hot re-heating the room so a constant battle resulting in the AC running uninterrupted for long spells. Along with the weight, floor space & noise I would go for a split unit if it was a long term solution.

You can get insulated sleeves for the pipes although I don't know how well they work. Also I found when using a portable before having a 6" to 4" adapter and running the narrower pipe made things easier to manage and less cumbersome.

 

[LuckyBenski]

Bought a cheapish £200 unit at the start of the summer and its not done what I'd hoped. Was hoping to be able to turn it on for an hour when I got in from work when the house had been shut up/before bed to cool a room but as soon as you switch it off the temp rises again within 10-15mins. I probably expected to much but its certainly too loud to have continuously running and use the room imo so wasted money.

We had exactly this experience a couple of summers back. After about 7 sleepless nights with unbearable noise for me and unacceptable temperatures for my partner, we accepted it wasn't a workable solution.

It worked out about £2.50-4 a night depending on how much I was trying to micromanage/save pennies Vs full blast.

 

[Efour]

Yeah i just bought one too.
Woods Cortina 12000BTU specifically for the bedroom.
1st day we just exhausted out of the bedroom door and the rest of the house was roasting lol.
Now we have rearranged the bedroom so the thing can be connected to the window to exhaust. a necessary.

The idea about reducing the diameter of the pipe is a good one but im worried about the pressure being too much for the compressor, its something ive read at least... I was thinking about getting it down to a Vacuum cleaner size pipe after the first 2 meters.... that would be so easy to sling out of any window in my house and from a distance too

Mind you as long as the bedroom is perfectly cool, i was actually shivering last night lol, then that is fine....

Yes it is noisy but thats the trade off.

 

[Simon42]

We use a couple of portable units until we're done renovating and hopefully then we'll go split unit.

The portable AC does manage to cool the main bedroom and the hall but is too loud overnight so we use it to keep the temps down in those areas during the afternoon and evening. That seems to keep the structure of those areas cooler so at night we can just use the ceiling fan which works far better than expected and is very quiet.

On really hot days without the AC on before hand those areas seems like a giant storage heater and stay very hot around until 5am so the ceiling fan isn't enough, but the two stage approach works well.

 

[Nikumba]

I bought a ALLAIR Portable Air Conditioner 3-IN-1 8000 BTU last year and its amazing for my office yes its not the quietest in the world but it makes my office nice to work in the summer rather than a hot box.

We have split unit in the bedroom was fitted before we bought the house and that is a god send, want to add more units to it at some point, but know this will need a new unit on the side of the house.