Portable air conditioners?

[ilovepcot]

I just saw a portable air conditioner online (looks to be about the size of a kitchen trash can) and wonder if it might be a good idea for a small work shop. The description says it removes up to 40 pints of water but requires no drip pan. WHERE is all that water going? That's the main thing that concerns me.....possible wetness all around the unit. Also am in doubt as to whether it cools as well as a portable window unit. Anyone familiar?

 

[clueless adventurer]

If this is anything like the forehead VCR I bought, forget it. The cords need to be so long, they get way too heavy.

 

[tiggerlover]

Portable AC's are very popular here in Italy and we have one. There are basically two types. One that you need to add water to and one that you need to remove water from. We have the type that you add water to, basically there is a reserve tank in ours and you fill it up with water and then you snake the coil outside and you run the unit until the water runs down and then you fill it up. One tank usually gets us about 8 hours and we don't have any problems with condensation at all. I am not familiar with what they sell in the US, this is just the experience I have with the european ones.

 

[Stan The News Man]

THIS JUST IN FROM THE UNDERGROUND NEWS WORLD:

Portable Air Conditioners can cool you down! Our reports indicate that 95% of persons using portable air conditioners find them quite cooling, while the other 5% said, and I quote, "What are they gonna think of next...".

Thanks for tuning in.

 

[ilovepcot]

TIGGERLOVER..... wow! Sounds complicated. The portable unit I'm looking at indicates you just plug it in and nothing else. They are quite expensive here, however, and I wonder this.......do they at least cool efficiently?

 

[gallaj0]

Portable A/C's work one of two ways:
1. like a normal ac; these have a hose coming out that back, that needs to be vented out a window. The heat being removed from the room, as well as the heat from the motor, and humidity get blown out the window, leaving your room cool.
2. an evapotative cooler; you add water into the system, the AC takes the air from you room, adds some water to it, which evaporates, pulling heat from the air, into the water which turns into humidity. Depending on the humidity in your area, it amy or may not work as well as the first kind of AC. If you air is loaded with humidity to begin with, it is hard to add any more, and you can have condensation problems, especially if you are trying to cool an area adjoining an already cool area, like inside an attached garage, with a connecting wall to a cool room.