A WARNING ON PORTABLE ROOM AIR CONDITIONERS

-
67Dart273

67Dart273

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Messages
60,035
Reaction score
33,299
Location
Idaho
Friend of mine recently installed a little portable AC in his "man shack" out back. I don't know the exact model and size, but similar to this generally:

SdnvGhk.jpg


Guys RUN from these, here are the particulars. These types only have ONE hose, for exhausting condenser air. That air has to come from somplace.....and that is FROM the very room you are trying to cool.

This means that, meanwhile, the unit is sucking hot outside air BACK into the conditioned space through every crack in the building "it can get it's hands on."

Condenser air should be ALL outside, SEALED from the conditioned space.

Some of these units have TWO flex ducts.........condenser intake and condenser outlet. Those work fine, all else being "hunky"

THESE THINGS ARE JUNK and with all the gob't crowing about efficiency, they should be outlawed.

The efficiency on these things has GOT to be dismal. "In effect" you are trying to cool the building with a window open.
 
There's a window there. All you need is a window air conditioner. You can install one in a few minuites.
 
toolmanmike said:
There's a window there. All you need is a window air conditioner. You can install one in a few minuites.
Click to expand...

Heh. No there wasn't. He cut a hole in the building for the exhaust hose. We were discussing this the other night. He's thinking of getting a vertical window whanger, enlarging the hole and then installing THAT. I was trying to talk him into "trying" first to let me see if we can rework it to create a fitting for the condenser inlet air, and then stick that out through the side.

These things are junk. I just spent about a minute online finding out I'm not underthinking this, LMAO.

There ARE some good ones......some water cooled, if you can use that, and some with TWO hoses which should be fine.
 
I am not gonna argue about it, but we have one made by Frigidaire and it works fine.
 
I have used one of these for 4 years in my Florida Room on my converted patio! It has performed very Well. I had to run a Dedicated 20amp circuit for it though. Mine is a Haig. I love it and when used correctly it works well. I usually open the windows in the daytime for air flow to help the outdoor room cool a bit then close them when I turn it on. Sitting here right now at a nice 67 degrees! My only complaint is having to swap it in the winter for a Heater! Course they make a combo unit now!
 
Last edited:
If I could give 5 agrees I would.
A place I worked a few years back bought about 6 roll-arounds for spot-cooling workers in hot locations, where the workers had to spend all day in ONE small spot.
They began to break immediately.
Bad relays, evaporator fans, thermostats that leaked all their gas and had to jumped out, lousy door latches, failing start and run capacitors, failing circuit boards, and more that I have deliberately tried to forget.
I wish I could remember the name, and just spent 30 minutes trying to find this brand on the internet, but no luck.
About the 5th episode of this, and I was getting cranky, and I remember noticing that they were made in Minnesota, out of a LOT of foreign parts, and then I had a good laugh.
I have been in Minnesota during 90 degree weather, so I know it can happen.
But it's not like Florida where you can't be bothered with buying a crappy air conditioner. Buying an air conditioner made in Minnesota is like buying a steam heating boiler made in Florida.
The urgency just isn't there.
 
Cool comfort and it has been "HOT"! RRR will confirm this! Cost does not really concern me when I am Hot! 12x18 Florida Room with full Windows top to bottom and screens. Best room in the house for me!

image.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Bought a samsung for my sunporch. We leave the sliding door to the main house cracked open when its in use. Been in use for 3 years. Only thing i have done with it has been to wash out the cleanable screen filters every month. No other problems.
 
I've never had a problem with mine, other than they wear out in 5 years or so.
You pay for what you get though, and we are saving up to install central air with a new furnace etc.
 
Dartnut said:
I've never had a problem with mine, other than they wear out in 5 years or so.
You pay for what you get though, and we are saving up to install central air with a new furnace etc.
Click to expand...
You absolutely, most certainly don't always get what you pay for in modern products.
But you for damn-sure don't get any extra accidentally.
 
1969383S said:
I have used one of these for 4 years in my Florida Room on my converted patio! It has performed very Well. I had to run a Dedicated 20amp circuit for it though. Mine is a Haig. I love it and when used correctly it works well. I usually open the windows in the daytime for air flow to help the outdoor room cool a bit then close them when I turn it on. Sitting here right now at a nice 67 degrees! My only complaint is having to swap it in the winter for a Heater! Course they make a combo unit now!
Click to expand...
Hey I think that neat that you got a Florida room in Georgia Truly southern terminology.

Brian
 
Not a sports fan, or trying to sound ignorant, but i see a pennant that says Gators. I'm assuming thats a florida sports team of some sort.
 
I have a Plasma-Cool. It worked for Three years. Then one day the power went off in the town where I live, while I was at work. When I got back in the evening the house was hot. The unit was blowing, but not cooling.
-The way I used it was like this; I put it at the top of the stairs in a two story house. The cold air would flow down the stairs all night, and fill up the main floor with nice cool air. The hot air meanwhile would be wafting up the stairwell above the cold air.We have a 120 year old house, so make-up air is no problem; we leave the basement windows open, for cross-ventilation to get rid of the moisture down there,anyway. In the early evening, I would block the stairwell to the 3ft mark, and fill the upstairs with cool air for sleeping.When the unit fills up the second story to the 3ft mark, it starts to spill over the gate and begins to cool the mainfloor again. Of course every room has a ceiling fan, so when your face gets hot and your tootsies are cold, We just turn on the fan, and stir it all up.And of course the little hard-working SOB never shuts off, for about two months, so you can imagine my electric bill......
Yeah, I knew 'bout the make-up air before I bought the unit.
After it quit, I put a window-shaker in it's place. That thing is older than my grown-up and married kids. It's noisy. And ugly. But hey, it works just as good;the house is again cool; mostly.
 
Last edited:
bcschief said:
Hey I think that neat that you got a Florida room in Georgia Truly southern terminology.

Brian
Click to expand...

Thats what we called them at home in Florida. Screen and glass floor to ceiling, aluminum frame. Great indoor/outdoor spaces. House is on slab so it fits perfectly.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Not a sports fan, or trying to sound ignorant, but i see a pennant that says Gators. I'm assuming thats a florida sports team of some sort.
Click to expand...

Darn skippy! GO GATORS!!!
 
Dang AJ these are not for whole house cooling!
 
For the people defending these, I'm not saying "they don't work" if the room is small enough. I'm simply saying they are an incredibly poor and inefficient design, and in this day and age should be WAY better. Even simple old window whangers for the last 30 years are designed better and more efficient than these, because they do not exhaust room air that the unit "just attempted to cool". And ......there ARE air to air portable units with dual hoses........and intake and exhaust.

I bet there is AT LEAST a solid 20-30% drop between a comparable window unit and one of these "exhausting" units

My neighbor paid the price. There HAS to be others, and if you google reviews of these, there is plenty of dissatisfaction.

..........Like one of these.........

picture2044.jpg


dual-hose-portable-air-conditioners.png
 
Agree!

My use is limited to a 12x18 room. It does exhaust but does not bring in fresh air. My room allows for that. It is the best solution for my situation as it would be extremely difficult to fit a window unit. They certainly are not designed to cool a house.
 
Oh pshaw. I'm a mechanic, we can do anything.
Besides our summers are nothing compared to what you guys go through. I think so far this summer we had just one or two days that mighta hit 30*C,86*F for you southern friends.And our nights are still hitting single digits Celsius. So thats 50ish or less for A-mare-uh-khaans.
OOps almost forgot again; lol
 
Last edited:
Yeh, LOL, You are right up there with the "King of Obsolete" and I don't think the snow has even melted at his house

WHAT THE KING DID TODAY

............Can't imagine building a shop "and walls" and then leaving the roof off LOL

Screaming%20Ford%205th%20wheel%20june%2008%202016%20002.jpg


He posted this the last of April

2.jpg


(Actually we have had snow lasting into April here in N Idaho)
LOL. Google says it's 75F at Lynn Lake, MN, Ca

lynnlake.jpg
 
I have been to some of those places. I have seen the plane onastick. I was in Lynn Lake in about the late 60s, Easterville earlier, Thompson is where my daughter lives. I moved her there in about 2012.
 
At work, we have one in a hot server room that does not have an as built a/c duct.

Runs 24/7/365.....for 5 years.

Does just fine.

Not sure of the brand but I'd buy one.

Sure if you don't vent the hot exhaust properly it will not work.

...and cheapos, which were just about all you could find a few years ago, are gonna be trouble.
 
The biggest issue for me is cost. Most units like the one pictured in a name brand are double to triple the cost of the same BTU in a window unit.

That's a hefty premium for not having a window.
 
YY1 said:
The biggest issue for me is cost. Most units like the one pictured in a name brand are double to triple the cost of the same BTU in a window unit.

That's a hefty premium for not having a window.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Back when Sarah I first got married we moved into second floor apartment in a building that was originally bank a hundred years before.

The windows were about six feet tall, three panes side by side. The panes that opened opened out and were only about a foot wide.

Damn sure wasn't going to invest big dollars (at the time portable units were $500 or more) on a portable unit and a window unit wasn't going to fit.

Took some old aluminum siding and built a duct work that I taped around the edges of the back of window unit, sat the window unit on a wood stand I built with about a half inch pitch front to back, and put a drip tray under it.

What made it even more fun is it was 120 volt unit and the only outlet near by was an old fashioned 240 volt outlet. So, I made a jumper extension cord that eliminated one side of the outlet.

Total cost was something like $10 since my parents donated a window unit they had before they put in central air.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top