In article ,
"Matthew J.E. Durkin" writes:
Hi All,
A while ago someone was talking about converting their portable air
conditoiner by fitting it into the loft, and then fitting vents etc in the
roof. Has anyone tried this.
I have a homebase portable aircon unit which is a tad noisy in the bedroom.
I'd like to put it in the loft, fitting vents for the cooling side to the
ceiling, and vents for the exhaust / intake side to my outside wall.
I just wondered if anyone has done this, and if so, what was required - new
case etc. Could I make a new case out of plywood... Otherwise I'm not sure
how I would mod the plastic one to accept the new fitings I'd need!
ideas?

There are a couple of problems I can think of.
Many of the portable units do not have separate air intakes for
the evaporator and condenser side. Ideally you want to keep them
separate so you are recirculating the room air. Otherwise you
are exchanging room air at the same speed as you are cooling
it, which will severely limit the cooling capability and
efficiency of the system.

Secondly, transporting chilled air (or water or refrigerant)
presents condensation problems, as the outside of the ducting or
pipework will get cold, and can suffer from condensate dripping
off. This means it all has to be very thoroughly insulated (to
a much higher standard than you would normally insulate water
pipes). The slightest gap in the insulation creates a cold spot
which forms condensation and drips, just like the pipe was
leaking. In the case of ducted air, it is possible to add control
such that the air temperature in the ducting does not go below
the dew point. This is done by mixing the cooled air with air
which has bypassed the evaporator (cooling element) so it's not
as cold but has a higher flowrate (so the cooling effect is not
reduced). However, you would need computer control of this to
get the temperature right, based on ambient temperature and
relative humidity monitoring.

--
Andrew Gabriel