What do we know about portable window air conditioners?
 

After a couple of years of using a window air conditioner on the back of our house, the HOA/ARB Nazis caught on to me and told me I had to remove it. It was located in the owners bedroom and only used at night to cool that one room, instead of using the whole house AC system.

So, that brings me to the portable window air conditioner. I understand from reading, they’re not as good as a window air conditioner, but is it doable? From what I’ve seen, you raise the window about 6 inches and install the panel with either one or two ducts, depending on the system. I’m thinking I can leave the window screen in place to help hide it.

The room is about 16‘ x 30‘.

Anybody use one and have recommendations for brand, size, etc.?

My buddies use them in their 28' race car trailers and they work well. I dont know the brands or specs.

I think they are all pretty similar in function. Look for a quiet one if you are using it in a bedroom. We had one that was a little too loud for me to sleep with. We've switched to a quiet window unit (one of these) and it is much more tolerable.

I have an LG...it's about hip high and on rollers. It is loud...but it works well.
Screens would be ok.
It has a pan attached to the underside to catch any water....it has never overflowed.

I use it sometimes in the garage and sometimes when visitors stay over for the upstairs bedrooms. The central air only does the lower floor.
It's a job toting it from the garage to the upper house floor.

I have one for emergencies. 20 years old and works like a champ. We used it for two weeks last summer when the 2nd floor HVAC went sneakers up.

It will be more than adequate if sized right.

24k btu if you can find one for that size
18k minimum

all china these days
pick a better brand you have heard of
then see if they sold out

or buy seahawks old one they likely do not make them like that any more

btw they run on gas flameable iso gas

I have a GE. It is OK but not as good as the window unit it replaced. It cools the house enough to be juuuust comfortable enough but can't cool the house as much as the window unit of the same BTU.

Have a GE which I use in the garage as an add on to a split. I think its 8Kbtu way too small for the space you are looking to condition

Would a de-humidifier help boost the performance?

Our AC had an issue about a month ago, wife was having hot flashes and Was Not Having Any Of That.

The $350 unit Lowes sells works fine and cooled a large room like that well enough for her to sleep and me to live to see the next morning, for several days/nights in a row.

The key is to check label and be sure you aren't getting an "evaporative cooler", or something water needs to be added to ,etc. This means it is basically a swamp cooler and will only work in a dry environment (ie, not the South East)

Definitely don’t want a swamp cooler.

I’ve read where some discharge the water out the window that others have pans you have to empty. I’d rather have one that discharges out the window. I’m lazy.

They won’t allow something like that.

I’m changing jobs next Tuesday and will be back in Charleston SC full-time. The one thing (and only thing!!!) I’m going to miss about my work apartment, is I would turn it down to 60° every night! I know I won’t get that with a portable AC in my bedroom, but the colder the better.

I have a Haier 14k BTU portable that has been in used a couple months a year for about 8 years while I wait to get the main central unit installed, still running well. I would recommend making sure the one you purchase has two tubes a supply air in tube and air out, they do require a lot of airflow. I usually have wrapped the hot air out tube in a towel to insulate. It does a pretty good job of lowering the humidity also. 16x30 should be no problem unless there are lots of windows and little insulation. It is pretty noisy though.

Thanks, 908. I’m OK with noise. it helps me sleep.

Looking on the Lowe’s website, I don’t think I saw one over 10,000 BTU. Amazon has a lot more to choose from, but it’s a crapshoot on what model/brand to get. Reviews are always all over the board. I’m looking at Whynter right now. I’d like to get something for delivery by Friday, when I get home.

Whynter ARC-131GD 13,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier, Fan with Activated Carbon Filter in Gray Plus Storage Bag for Rooms up to 420 sq ft https://a.co/d/cBJYFow

Whynter ARC-14S 14,000 BTU (9,500 BTU SACC) Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier, Fan with Activated Carbon Filter plus Storage bag for Rooms up to 500 sq ft, Platinum And Black https://a.co/d/3TodCq1

I don't think I understand. I have the older version of this, which plugs into a wall socket.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1661300621.jpg

Hard to go wrong.

I don’t understand that either. Unless he’s talking about the coolant?

All good. I'd take a picture but it is wrapped in plastic for the next storm:cool:

They are sub optimum due to the length of the exhaust tube but I have moved it between rooms on rollers after power outages and plugged it in to nothing more than small generators.

The best.

No worries. Thanks, Paul

I ordered the Whynter ARC-14S unit. It’ll be delivered Friday and I’ll see how it goes.

I just went through this. I have a weird loft office at tge apex of the roof and its uninhabitable most summer afternoons. The office has an open wall that looks doen on a big bedroom 35x20. Idea was get the biggest portable and let it cool the whole deal and keep my computers from overheating. Being seattle we never had ac before. Hard to believe its a new normal.

Got the biggest lg, ‘dual inverter’. And its working great. No more sleeping in the basement. Bonus it keeps the humidity way down and we cant hear it. It runs at exactly the rate needed to maintain equilibrium so no cycling on and off.

They changed the ac rating system this year, from ashrae to doe and no more portables can score 14000. My lg now scores 10k and has very high efficiency (8.3?) Learn about the scores. The bigger splits require a real install but are far far more efficient. If we use this a few more years we might do something real. This unit seems more than fine in our poorly insulated house on 90 degree days.

I was worried about emptying the tank but: The condensate tank is always empty, moisture is blown outside.

Don’t you have to empty the condensate tank routinely? That water has to go somewhere.

We lived in an apt for almost 7 years. The AC in the apt died. The guys had it fixed in 3-4 hours, but in the mean time, they wheeled one of those in. It cooled the apt down quickly and then kept it plenty cool. It was a 850-900sqft apt, and was cooling the "main room" which was kitchen/dining/living area so probably ~700sqft

Ours has a drain hose, we just set it up in our shower stall since the bathroom is the only window in the bedroom other than a sliding glass door.

But yes, if this is a somewhat "always there" install, you'll want to make sure you have drainage arranged.

old a/c units used f-22 a CFC as a working gas
then they used 410 a different gas

the new units use ISO-butain like propane a flammable gas as the working refrigeration gas

many claim the portable units as pictured do NOT out put as well as the wall units do

a 16x 30 ft room needs far more then 14 k btu

and the newer units do drain by the expelled air no tube needed
ever in s fla

That was my concern when i got it. Unit claims it can dehumidify max of 6.9 pints per hour, yet the condensate tank is 2 pints…

Running over 2 weeks now and condensate tank remains empty.

Unlike a dehumidifier the ac vents to outside. Device attempts to carry condensate out the vent tube. Instructions cryptically claim tank will need to be emptied under ‘some conditions’, probably some asymptotic behavior involving the outside vapor pressure.

Weve had what feels like ‘high humidity’ but its not what would be called humidy anywhere else.

Yeah, No to that.
A portable unit inside is basically a fan with an open window.
Remind them of the definition of personal vs common areas and right to quiet enjoyment.

I prefer that style. It's less likely to damage the window frame. I had to build a platform/ledge for a tenant because the plastic windows with a ridge would break otherwise.

Swamp cooler will be worthless in South Carolina.

I lived in El Paso for a couple of years. They have really migrated to A/C from swamp coolers which were the rage forever.

You can really tell which buildings have each system. Both are cool/cold but the swamp cooled buildings have a certain humidity inside and you end up feeling sticky.

Please post a followup report with your experiences, Rocket - thanks!

Will do.

It’s interesting in reading one of the reviews at Amazon, someone mentioned having the AC unit sit for 24 to 48 hours before using it. What’s going on with that?

^^^ some say the same thing about moving fridges and freezers.
I think it might have been true 50 years ago. I doubt it applies now.

I went through the setup instructions and no word of letting it sit. Fridges used to have huge signs saying to let them sit… perhaps old timey compressors couldnt prime themselves?

the compressor was a piston pump that ran in oil
if shipped on it's side the oil can flow out of the compressor
and in to the lines leaving a dry pump at start up

letting it sit allow the oil to flow back into the pump

modern compressors use a scroll style pump still needs oil
but drains back faster not having a piston in the way

also my propane refrigerator had no pump
it worked by boiling the gas by heat from a flame
and the gas went thru a tube of liquid gas that was need to be in place
wakes/wave rocking the boat moved the liquid out of place
and the unit had to be placed inverted to restore the liquid placement
about once a month or after a storm

so maybe a folk memory from units before el was common ?

I have a Whynter freestanding AC unit in my office. It cools the large room down pretty well. The exhaust duct gets warm so wrap it with some insulation so that heat doesn't get into the room.

It was scheduled for delivery tomorrow, but has now been bumped to Monday. I’ll let everybody know Tuesday how it set up and worked. Fingers crossed.

Last night I had my work apartment set on 60° and at home tonight, I have it set on 70°. Since I foot the bill at home, it’s not going any lower. I’ll raise it back up to 75° in the morning.

I only usually use the central A/c to remove moisture. 75deg max usually.
A small unit could get overloaded.

I usually only get a few years out of small A/C and dehumidifier units. Odd.

Fans make everything more pleasant despite any temperature outside.

It showed up today after all. Got it installed and turned it on a little while ago. We’ll see how it works tonight.

It’s quieter than the window unit I had.

If I keep it, I need to seal up a few gaps in the window and wrap the hot duct

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1661567506.jpg

Good deal!

Please keep us posted on continued observations and feedback - thanks, Rocket! :)

PS - are both of those ducts for the exhaust?

Last night was the first night and it was good. We will see how night number two goes. When I was looking at it this morning, I looked at the vent on top and when I pulled on it, it opened up more. I was thinking it would open and close automatically. So, we’ll see how tonight goes and if there’s any difference.

The two ducts are intake and exhaust.

Being a typical guy, I assembled it without looking at the instructions 😂…. I wonder if it’s got a recirculate?

Intake from the outside rather than the air in the house?

With a small space, which is LEED certified (sealed up tight), it will actually run out of air inside.

That is why I asked and wondered why it was drawing air from outside instead of the inside air. I just went to the Amazon product site and sure enough, as Rocket confirmed, one is for intake and the other is for exhaust.

I'm not knowledgeable enough on HVAC to understand the physics, but I'm sure it's part of how this machine is designed to efficiently do it's cooling.

One thing I read in the reviews is commentary about providing separation between the two tube outlets so the outgoing hot air does not get sucked back in through the inlet of the other tube. Some of the configurations have the tubes in vertical alignment with the exhaust above the intake so the hot air will at least tend to go upwards. Another person mentioned using a piece of wood as a divider.

I really don't know if this is a legitimate issue at all. You read all kinds of stuff in these product reviews and I've learned over the years to take everything with a grain of salt.

I do know this.......there have been MANY times when I was so grateful to have air conditioning I have felt it should be considered one of the "Seven Wonders of the World"........so can fully appreciate not only this thread for more information but more importantly that our fellow Pelican is able to get some relief in the face of that local semi-fascism....:D

What a great, honest line:D

My old one has exhaust only. At least I think it does...the instructions are around here somewhere.