portable A/C?

[nc43bsa]

Anyone have experience with portable A/C units?

I need one for the house while my regular A/C is being repaired, but the portable unit will be moved to my shop after that.

Things to look for in such a unit?  I figure I'll need about 10,000 BTU.

<edit> Oh, and it was 96F with 50% rh today.

[oldbike54]

 My first question is do you have a dedicated 220V receptacle available , or will this be a 110 unit ?

 Dusty

[nc43bsa]

110 at the present time, but I could arrange for it to have 220.

[Perazzimx14]

I have a window shaker in the garage and a roll around floor model for the TV room as there are no central air vents in the addition.

Both are 10,000 BTU 110V. Both produce cold air and suck electricity.

Brand is no a huge concern as they are all basically the same and disposable if they fail.

[oldbike54]

 If you can arrange for 220 it will save money over the long run , your area appears to have some serious humidity to go along with summer temps in the mid 90's , very similar to NE Oklahoma . This means the window unit will be working fairly hard , a 220V unit will be more expensive initially , but a good one will last several years , as opposed to a 110V noisemaker that will last a couple of years . I might look at slightly larger than 10,000 BYU units . The 15,000 BTU Frigidare branded A/C that we have has lasted for ten years now , and is fairly cheap to operate .

 Dusty

[cliffrod]

There's no free lunch. The humidity we have here in NC/SC wins.  Money is better spent on good fans to move air into and out of the overall building.

The small portable floor units are nice as a personal fan parked next to your chair but don't do much for a large room or area.  Plain plug-in Window units + big open spaces = $$$$.  We tried workarounds before we got new windows at our house here.  Putting put a single window unit in the bedroom and closing the door helped make nights noisy but better as a short term solution.  We used fans in the rest of the house until the Windows were replaced.   

We've got a roll-around unit at the motorcycle shop in Chesnee (near Spartanburg).  The shop is probably 1500 sf.  It's a nice indoor version, not one of the big cardboard exchanger swamp coolers like at Northern Tool.  Really doesn't touch the temps in the shop because it cannot lower the humidity to operate well in that situation.   

Those big swamp coolers are seductive when on display inside at Northern because the building's HVAC has already significantly lowered the ambient humidity.  Any cooler that requires you to add water has the same problem. The evaporative cooling they produce adds humidity to a closed environment until equilibrium is reached.  Literally Not cool.....

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

Small portable 110v AC units do require access to a window to vent the hot air via ducting similar to a dryer vent. In my experience they work well for smaller rooms but larger SF areas will basically just be dehumidified.

[n3303j]

Whynter makes some decent portable units. Been using ours at the summer camp for a few years now.

Most important consideration is that these are two hose units. One sucks in outside air to cool the condenser. The other discharges this hot air. More expensive but they work as well as a window mount unit that separates condenser from evaporator.

Single hose units suck the condenser cooling air out of the room you are trying to cool. This means that room draws in hot air from any available source to replenish that air being exhausted through the single vent. The room never gets cold because of this constant influx of warm air for replenishment. Units are cheaper but a waste of money since they can not do the job.

[Wayne Orwig]

I was working for a time at a job that required humidity control in a chamber that was about 20'x20'x20'. They decided to move the chamber from the lab, to a warehouse. The humidity and heat made it impossible to operate. So they bought a portable AC unit and put it in the chamber. These 'brain surgeons' did not vent it. So of course the too hot 105F temperature soared to about 120F pretty fast, and of course no moisture was removed.  I finally explained the need for the vent and they vented it. In the end, it worked well for that room. It allowed us to control the temperature and humidity, most importantly.
You do need to understand that the evaporator side is of course recirculation inside air. While the condenser side is pulling in inside air, and blowing it plus the condensed water, out the vent. So it needs a good vent. Plus, that hot air being blown outdoors out the vent, means that somewhere air is being sucked into the house to make up for the lost air. As in, they are pretty inefficient. You may be cooling down the spot you need cooled, but you are likely heating up another spot.

[JJ]

"The Mini-Me of portable A/C units"   

[twowheeladdict]

I just went through the research while selecting a unit for my toy hauler build. 

If you can, get a window unit over a portable unit.  They are more efficient and cost less for equivalent output.

I didn't want to cut the framing on my trailer so I had to go with a portable unit. 

For efficiently removing humidity from a room you want an AC unit with as close to a 50% duty cycle as possible. 

[Tom H]

I just clicked the ad for the one JJ posted. Sounded interesting, but..... Pre-order, you would have it most likely by August. Water curtain/filter needs to be replaced every 6-8 months, no mention of how to get more.

Worth the wait?

Tom

[oldbike54]

I was working for a time at a job that required humidity control in a chamber that was about 20'x20'x20'. They decided to move the chamber from the lab, to a warehouse. The humidity and heat made it impossible to operate. So they bought a portable AC unit and put it in the chamber. These 'brain surgeons' did not vent it. So of course the too hot 105F temperature soared to about 120F pretty fast, and of course no moisture was removed.  I finally explained the need for the vent and they vented it. In the end, it worked well for that room. It allowed us to control the temperature and humidity, most importantly.
You do need to understand that the evaporator side is of course recirculation inside air. While the condenser side is pulling in inside air, and blowing it plus the condensed water, out the vent. So it needs a good vent. Plus, that hot air being blown outdoors out the vent, means that somewhere air is being sucked into the house to make up for the lost air. As in, they are pretty inefficient. You may be cooling down the spot you need cooled, but you are likely heating up another spot.

 Actually Wayne , that isn't how a system works . The air inside of your house is being recirculated , the hot air being exhausted on the outside is air brought in from the outside thru the louvers that cools the condensing coil .

 Dusty

[nc43bsa]

The Whynter ARC-14S looks interesting.  Unknown availability, though.  Especially on short notice.

[John A]

In the shop I need to clean the fins from the inside every other week.  A brush, Compressed air and mineral spirits followed by alcohol rinse since it’s a project to get water.  Worse or better according to what gets put in the air in the shop.  I just went to Walmart with a list and ratings and bought one, 220 window unit rated for the square foot. It’s five years old now and my advice is to get one larger for the area and as it ages it won’t have to work so hard. 80F+ oat and I set the temp for 69F and it eventually keeps up, depending on the cleanliness of the fins. At night I set it at71F in dehumidifier mode to keep tools dry.

[n3303j]

The Whynter ARC-14S looks interesting.  Unknown availability, though.  Especially on short notice.

Amazon is saying July 30 for Prime members.

[twowheeladdict]

Actually Wayne , that isn't how a system works . The air inside of your house is being recirculated , the hot air being exhausted on the outside is air brought in from the outside thru the louvers that cools the condensing coil .

 Dusty

That is only true if you buy the more expensive "two hose" units.  The "single hose" units work exactly as 'Wayne' stated. 

[n3303j]

That is only true if you buy the more expensive "two hose" units.  The "single hose" units work exactly as 'Wayne' stated.

....and as I stated earlier the single hose units are crap!

[twowheeladdict]

....and as I stated earlier the single hose units are crap!

I went with a single hose unit for my trailer because it is tiny and doesn't need the weight and cost of the two hose units.  I did have to insulate the exhaust hose though to most of the heat goes out of the trailer.

The reviews say it won't keep up when the temps are in the upper 90s, but I probably won't be camping when it is that hot and as long as it cools and dehumidifies the trailer for sleeping I am cool.

Personally, If I could have gone with a window unit, I would have definitely gone that way. 

[berniebee]

Whynter makes some decent portable units. Been using ours at the summer camp for a few years now.

Most important consideration is that these are two hose units. One sucks in outside air to cool the condenser. The other discharges this hot air. More expensive but they work as well as a window mount unit that separates condenser from evaporator.

Single hose units suck the condenser cooling air out of the room you are trying to cool. This means that room draws in hot air from any available source to replenish that air being exhausted through the single vent. The room never gets cold because of this constant influx of warm air for replenishment. Units are cheaper but a waste of money since they can not do the job.

+1 Because the single hose units pull in outside air, you'll find that the room you with the unit will cool down, but the rest of the place will actually get hotter as replacement air gets drawn in.

[n3303j]

+1 Because the single hose units pull in outside air, you'll find that the room you with the unit will cool down, but the rest of the place will actually get hotter as replacement air gets drawn in.

Room doesn't even really cool down because of the hot air drawn in from adjacent areas. Bought a 10K BTU single hose and put it in the 8X10 bedroom at summer camp. It maintained about a 10 degree differential below ambient. This was terrible for sleeping on 90 degree days.

Gave the single hose unit away to an unsuspecting relative and bought a 10K dual hose unit. Was 95°F this week and the bedroom was a steady 64°F with about a 50% compressor  duty cycle. No comparison between the two units performance.

[oldbike54]

That is only true if you buy the more expensive "two hose" units.  The "single hose" units work exactly as 'Wayne' stated.

 I always forget about those silly portable single hose units . Haven't ever actually seen one in person , and have been involved in lots of installs and change outs . Heck , not sure anyone around here carries them .All we see are window units , mini splits , or complete split systems . Those things are weird .

 Dusty

[Tom]

"The Mini-Me of portable A/C units"   

Mini swamp coolers.

[keuka4884]

Don't forget about the water. Collected water has to drain someplace. Some units have a water pan that needs emptying regularly. Window units are more efficient.

[n3303j]

Don't forget about the water. Collected water has to drain someplace. Some units have a water pan that needs emptying regularly. Window units are more efficient.

My Wynter unit passes the hot exhaust air over the water catch basin and evaporates the water into the exhaust. Two weeks running and the empty catch pan light doesn't go on.

I would prefer a through window unit as they are cheaper per BTU than the two hose units. My installation will not allow window air conditioners but accepts this solution.

[Wayne Orwig]

Actually Wayne , that isn't how a system works . The air inside of your house is being recirculated , the hot air being exhausted on the outside is air brought in from the outside thru the louvers that cools the condensing coil .

 Dusty

Not the one we were using. It sucked in room air, used that to cool the condenser coil, blew it over the water pan to get rid of the water, and blew that to the hose going outside.
OK for a small temporary rig, but it had to be horribly inefficient.

[Wayne Orwig]

Don't forget about the water. Collected water has to drain someplace. Some units have a water pan that needs emptying regularly. Window units are more efficient.

Many of the portables blow the hot exhaust air over the water pan to get rid of the water. Of course the bozos I had in management did not understand why the humidity didn't drop as expected when they didn't vent it. 

[oldbike54]

Not the one we were using. It sucked in room air, used that to cool the condenser coil, blew it over the water pan to get rid of the water, and blew that to the hose going outside.
OK for a small temporary rig, but it had to be horribly inefficient.

 Yeah , we sorted that out Wayne , I always forget about those single hose things .

 Dusty

[elvisboy77]

I would not waste time or money doing 240 Volts if it is temporary. Not worth the effort.

Window units are much better, as others have said, for a lot of reasons.

Good luck.

[oldbike54]

I would not waste time or money doing 240 Volts if it is temporary. Not worth the effort.

Window units are much better, as others have said, for a lot of reasons.

Good luck.

 He stated the unit would be moved to his shop after the house unit is repaired .

 Dusty