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?
Matthew

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

Matthew J.E. Durkin wrote:

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.

Not tried it, but how difficult it is will depend a bit on the desigh of
the unit.

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.

You really want the air intake to be from the room you are cooling, that
way you get a recirculation effect that helps dehumidify the air in the
room. This is in many respects the main benefit of air con in the first
place - it is not just about making the air cooler.

The limitation with many mono block units is they only have one air
intake. Some of the air drawn from it gets cooled, dried and fed back to
the room, the rest gets blown outside with the unwanted heat. Alas this
is a limit on the effectiveness, since this displaced air must be
replaced which means you are sucking warm wet air from the rest of the
house into the room.

A few mono blocks do have two air instakes, one for the the
receirculating conditioned air, and the other for supplying the vent
pipe to dump the heat. If yours is like this and you can arrange to have
two internal and two external vents it could improve the effectiveness
of the unit into the bargain.

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?

Make some manifolds to fit the case in thin ply, and gaffer tape them
together and to the case. Cocoon in inslation and away you go!


--
Cheers,

John.

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

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Matthew J.E. Durkin wrote:

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.

Not tried it, but how difficult it is will depend a bit on the desigh of
the unit.

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.

You really want the air intake to be from the room you are cooling, that
way you get a recirculation effect that helps dehumidify the air in the
room. This is in many respects the main benefit of air con in the first
place - it is not just about making the air cooler.

The limitation with many mono block units is they only have one air
intake. Some of the air drawn from it gets cooled, dried and fed back to
the room, the rest gets blown outside with the unwanted heat. Alas this is
a limit on the effectiveness, since this displaced air must be replaced
which means you are sucking warm wet air from the rest of the house into
the room.

A few mono blocks do have two air instakes, one for the the receirculating
conditioned air, and the other for supplying the vent pipe to dump the
heat. If yours is like this and you can arrange to have two internal and
two external vents it could improve the effectiveness of the unit into the
bargain.

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?

Make some manifolds to fit the case in thin ply, and gaffer tape them
together and to the case. Cocoon in inslation and away you go!


--
Cheers,

John.

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

Hi All,
I have separate air intakes on mine so should be able to route everything
correctly. I might give it a go over winter when I don't need it, being very
careful about the insulation requierments.
On a related note, how would I make the large vent holes in my outside wall?
Obviously I'm not going to be able to drill it. A cold chisel will take me
quite some time through the outside wall!!
I've seen plenty of suitable fittings, but am not sure how to make the hole!

Thanks,
Matthew

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Matthew J.E. Durkin wrote:

On a related note, how would I make the large vent holes in my
outside wall? Obviously I'm not going to be able to drill it. A cold
chisel will take me quite some time through the outside wall!!
I've seen plenty of suitable fittings, but am not sure how to make
the hole!

What size does it need to be?

You can hire core drills - along with a Kango hammer - for making clean
holes through masonry, but this may be an overkill for one hole.

The alternative is to drill a ring of small (typically 8mm) holes, and then
join them up with a cold chisel. In a cavity wall, I usually drill one -
maybe 1/2" - hole right through on the centre-line of the desired larger
hole. I then mark out a circle of the required diameter, concentric with the
pilot hole, on both sides of the wall, and then drill a ring of holes from
each side through to the cavity.

Whilst you *can* do all of this with an ordinary hammer drill, an SDS drill
makes it a hell of a lot easier.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Matthew J.E. Durkin wrote:

On a related note, how would I make the large vent holes in my outside wall?
Obviously I'm not going to be able to drill it. A cold chisel will take me
quite some time through the outside wall!!
I've seen plenty of suitable fittings, but am not sure how to make the hole!

You coud also go for a tile vent, may be simpler to fix it you lack a
suitable drill.

Failing that then a core drill like:-

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...17748&ts=40080

plus:-

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...40121&id=11459
or:-
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...40121&id=12752

Assuming you have a fairly powerfull drill (800W or better).

You can hire them as well if required.

Chain drill and chisel is easy with a cavity wall, bit harder with a 9"
solid wall.



--
Cheers,

John.

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