portable air conditioners? anyone have one?

[piglet50]

we are considering getting a couple of these for our place at the beach. the current a/c unit is really old and needs a new compressor. we only get down there 3 or 4 times in a summer and don't want to spend $$$$ just for a/c. the place is only about 1,000 sq. ft.

anyone with any experience with them. thanks for any help.

 

[C.Ann]

I would do a Google search for reviews on portable a/c units.. Might give you the info you need..

I've seen them - but don't know how well they work.. I use a window unit here at the lake..

 

[Squirlz]

Get window units before one of these. The duct you run out a window produces so much heat that the unit fights just to overcome that.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I have one for my bedroom. It works great! Yes, it does vent hot air but I have the unit right close to the window so it does not heat up the room too much more then it already is.

 

[Imzadi]

I got one last summer. I got it with a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

It looks like it could be this model:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/9000-Btu-Commercial-Cool-Haier/9604534

Both summers it's been around 95 degrees. This week alone I've been running it non-stop since last Wed as we've had that Northeastern heat wave. It's very quiet.

I, too, was worried about the heat exhaust duct getting too hot. I check on it every once in a while. Even though it's been blowing air out non-stop, it seriously hasn't gotten too hot that it combats the cool air coming out. It's not like a dryer duct. Still, I make sure to keep anything melt-able or flammable away from it for safety reasons.

It is very portable. I can just wheel it around to different rooms. The exhaust duct fits into a sliding (horizontal) panel that fits in the bottom of a window, then slide the window down to close it in place.

It came with some remote control, but I haven't needed it. I have this place set to 76 degrees. It seems to be keeping it at that consistent temp.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Hey, you could always go the route I had to the other night: I'd gone up to sleep in the bonus room, over the garage. It was HOT in there! I put a tray of ice in front of a box fan, set them both up at bed level, and blasted the fan on high!

Worked for maybe 20 minutes until the ice melted...

 

[goofyernmost]

Hey, you could always go the route I had to the other night: I'd gone up to sleep in the bonus room, over the garage. It was HOT in there! I put a tray of ice in front of a box fan, set them both up at bed level, and blasted the fan on high!

Worked for maybe 20 minutes until the ice melted...

Is that you Cousin Orville?

 

[Imzadi]

Hey, you could always go the route I had to the other night: I'd gone up to sleep in the bonus room, over the garage. It was HOT in there! I put a tray of ice in front of a box fan, set them both up at bed level, and blasted the fan on high!

Worked for maybe 20 minutes until the ice melted...

You weren't asleep in 20 minutes?

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Is that you Cousin Orville?

I prefer to go by MacGyver, thanks...

You weren't asleep in 20 minutes?

Hard to believe, isn't it?! I think I was too busy coming up with a way to patent my invention.

 

[tw1nsmom]

We have two of these in our upstairs master bedroom suite. One is in the actual bedroom and the other is at the opposite end of the house in our office area. We had to go with these as the upstairs dormers have casement windows that are too small for window air conditioners. The portable units work great! We've had a major heat wave this week and upstairs is our coolest place.

To put that in perspective, before we found the units it could easily surpass 100 on a normal summer day up there. I don't even want to think about what it would be like this week without these air conditioners. We also have several computers up there (DH's business) that generate heat and the portable units are able to keep everything cool.

The only thing we just found out is that when it's super humid and hot (like this week), you may need to drain the unit. Normally it will pump the moisture out through the tube, but I guess this week was too much for one of the units. It shut down, but after draining was up and running again. I also think we have fairly big ones. I don't know the BTU capabilities of ours or what you would need.

 

[piglet50]

thanks for the replies. i wondered how the venting would work and how hot it would get. our windows roll out so i don't know about fitting a window unit in that kind of window. thanks for the suggestion to look for reviews--duh--i know that but thought of the dis first. does that mean i spend too much time on here?

 

[Imzadi]

The vent panels can be turned sideways to fit roll out windows.

Also, I just have mine up against the window screen, on the inside of the window. I didn't bother taking the screen out or moving it up. I don't want nasty bugs or rodent surprises climbing in and making a home while the unit is off. I was surprised that it didn't come with a little screen mesh cover to cover the vent duct.