Portable Air Conditioners
 

I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

Kevin

In article . com,
writes:
I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

They don't work very well. Some of them can be made to work better
with the addition of more tubing, carboard and duct tape...

--
Andrew Gabriel

On 10 Jun 2005 02:14:12 -0700, wrote:

I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

B&Q probably have the best range. Good prices too.

(imo, avoid buying an 'Evaporative cooler', which are often mis-sold
as air conditioners)

sponix

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article . com,
writes:

I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.


They don't work very well. Some of them can be made to work better
with the addition of more tubing, carboard and duct tape...

You can get mobile split unit systems as well that work much better (and
quieter).

For example:

http://www.global-cooling.com/produc...roducts_id=754

Just comes in under the 30" requirement as well! Not dealt with these
folks personally, but others on this group have and report a positive
outcome.

--
Cheers,

John.

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s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:

(imo, avoid buying an 'Evaporative cooler', which are often mis-sold
as air conditioners)

sponix

Yes, evaporative coolers do work, but nothing like as well as ac. They
are very cheap to make, very cheap to run, can knock 4-6C off a room,
but next to nothing in damp weather, need a bit of ventilation to avoid
causing damp, and can be made yourself from a fan + a wet towel. No
point paying for one.

NT

In article .com,
wrote:
Yes, evaporative coolers do work, but nothing like as well as ac. They
are very cheap to make, very cheap to run, can knock 4-6C off a room,
but next to nothing in damp weather, need a bit of ventilation to avoid
causing damp, and can be made yourself from a fan + a wet towel. No
point paying for one.

We have some large ones at work - they wheel them from set to set.
Somewhat larger than a free standing gas cooker.

They work ok, but of course the vent pipe needs to go to the outside.
Which is always too far away. So they cool the bit of set in use and roast
everyone else. ;-)

They do seem reliable though. Other parts of the building with 'proper' AC
as individual two part devices seem to have them not working as often as
working.

--
*There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article .com,
writes:
Yes, evaporative coolers do work, but nothing like as well as ac. They
are very cheap to make, very cheap to run, can knock 4-6C off a room,

And increase the humidity in direct proportion. The wet-bulb
temperature doesn't change at all, which is what counts for
human comfort.

but next to nothing in damp weather, need a bit of ventilation to avoid
causing damp, and can be made yourself from a fan + a wet towel. No
point paying for one.

They work better in hot and very dry climates, which we never
get in the UK.

--
Andrew Gabriel

For example:

http://www.global-cooling.com/produc...roducts_id=754

Just comes in under the 30" requirement as well! Not dealt with these
folks personally, but others on this group have and report a positive
outcome.



I bought a split system from them recently, great next-day service, good
after-sales advice etc.

Alan.

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article .com,
writes:
Yes, evaporative coolers do work, but nothing like as well as ac. They
are very cheap to make, very cheap to run, can knock 4-6C off a room,

And increase the humidity in direct proportion. The wet-bulb
temperature doesn't change at all, which is what counts for
human comfort.

but next to nothing in damp weather, need a bit of ventilation to avoid
causing damp, and can be made yourself from a fan + a wet towel. No
point paying for one.

They work better in hot and very dry climates, which we never
get in the UK.

--
Andrew Gabriel


I've used them here and they do help, but the results are undramatic,
just a few C. That leaves some questions unanswered.

NT

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article . com,
writes:
I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

They don't work very well.

That depends on type. I have a split unit portable air conditioner that will
drop a room to 18C with ambient at 35C.

Colin Bignell

On 10 Jun 2005 04:23:43 -0700, wrote:

Yes, evaporative coolers do work,

I have found that they increase humidity and make the house more
uncomfortable than without.

sponix

In article ,
"nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com writes:

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article . com,
writes:
I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

They don't work very well.

That depends on type. I have a split unit portable air conditioner that will
drop a room to 18C with ambient at 35C.

Yes. I was refering to the type with a single hose you dangle out
of the window. That chucks out loads of hot air, but that air was
stolen from inside the house and has to be replaced with air from
outside. This very rapid air changing inside the house severely
limits the ability of the unit to actually cool it down.

I have a unit which is like this. However, it has separate air
intake grills for the air dumped outside, and the air recirculated
in the room. By sealing the former using cardboard and duct tape
to a second thick hose and dangling this outside, the unit suddenly
starts working extremely well, as it's not doing a rapid air change
in the house anymore.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On 10 Jun 2005 02:14:12 -0700, wrote:

I need to buy a portable a/c and wondered where the best place might be
to go at the moment. Costco had what looked to be quite a good one
unfortunately it was too big for my needs, can't be over 30in high.
I know I could google but I am looking for a recommendation.

The airforce units from B&Q are ok.

We have been using the 10,000 BTU version in a large office at work.
It drops the temp from 27 down to around 19 in half an hour.

Just a pain that you have to stick the hose out of the window.

Graham

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 11:48:25 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:


For example:

http://www.global-cooling.com/produc...roducts_id=754

Just comes in under the 30" requirement as well! Not dealt with these
folks personally, but others on this group have and report a positive
outcome.

I couldn't see from the web site....Do you know if the external unit
can be mounted at a higher level that the internal unit?

Many of these systems require the external unit to be at the same
height or lower than the internal unit.

Graham

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They work ok, but of course the vent pipe needs to go to the outside.
Which is always too far away. So they cool the bit of set in use and roast
everyone else. ;-)

They will still de-humidify in the process though... even if they are
raising the nett temperature of the building.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
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