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Long Hot Summer - Portable Air Conditioning Units
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mjr600
Posts: 760 Forumite
With another hot summer on the cards I decided to cool the bedrooms with air con for a better night sleep. Fans and evaporative coolers haven't worked due to the aspect of the house so as an avid MSE fan I have scoured the web for what I consider to be the best deal.
I know that there are those who say fitted 'split' air con units are the best but it is not always practical punching a hole through the wall and fitting one of these, that sort of unit combined with fitting will cost £500+.
As an MSE you might argue that these portable units are power hungry and I accept that they do use electricty when you may argue it is not required. I believe that a decent nights sleep is worth its weight in gold.
You may also say that portable units are noisy and will keep you awake, chill the room an hour before you go to bed and then let it tick over on low during the night for a peaceful night.
Portable Units vary in power from 7000btu to 14000btu, in simple terms a low powered one chills a small room and a greater power chills a larger room. Almost all have a tube similar to a tumble dryer which has to blow hot air out of a window, sounds odd when you are trying to keep the hot summer air out but often units have a kit which covers the gap whilst letting hot air out.
Right onto the deals out there.
I've searched as many suppliers, shops, price comparision sites and the rest to find what I think are the most bang for your buck. One is a 9000btu unit at £170 delivered, the other is a 12000btu unit at £190 delivered and they should be more than capable for most home uses. They are available from the same supplier 24electric who in my very recent experience have good customer service. As an example B&Q have a silver coloured 12000btu unit on sale in store at £269.
https://www.24electric.com/catlisting.php?category=cl&subcategory=acc&sort=prodprice&offset=0
They look like this...
http://www.mistraluk.co.uk/eurolec.htm
If you buy via Quidco you will get a further 3% cashback making them an even better deal.
If you fancy one, better to buy in good time rather than wait until June, hot weather and price hikes.
Happy shopping.
I know that there are those who say fitted 'split' air con units are the best but it is not always practical punching a hole through the wall and fitting one of these, that sort of unit combined with fitting will cost £500+.
As an MSE you might argue that these portable units are power hungry and I accept that they do use electricty when you may argue it is not required. I believe that a decent nights sleep is worth its weight in gold.
You may also say that portable units are noisy and will keep you awake, chill the room an hour before you go to bed and then let it tick over on low during the night for a peaceful night.
Portable Units vary in power from 7000btu to 14000btu, in simple terms a low powered one chills a small room and a greater power chills a larger room. Almost all have a tube similar to a tumble dryer which has to blow hot air out of a window, sounds odd when you are trying to keep the hot summer air out but often units have a kit which covers the gap whilst letting hot air out.
Right onto the deals out there.
I've searched as many suppliers, shops, price comparision sites and the rest to find what I think are the most bang for your buck. One is a 9000btu unit at £170 delivered, the other is a 12000btu unit at £190 delivered and they should be more than capable for most home uses. They are available from the same supplier 24electric who in my very recent experience have good customer service. As an example B&Q have a silver coloured 12000btu unit on sale in store at £269.
https://www.24electric.com/catlisting.php?category=cl&subcategory=acc&sort=prodprice&offset=0
They look like this...
http://www.mistraluk.co.uk/eurolec.htm
If you buy via Quidco you will get a further 3% cashback making them an even better deal.
If you fancy one, better to buy in good time rather than wait until June, hot weather and price hikes.
Happy shopping.
0
Comments
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where's the grabbit?
more suited to Shop but don't drop IMO0 -
I bought one last year from B&Q, 9000 btu I think. Pretty useless really. A huge amount of energy used for poor results. Even after I Jury rigged an inlet hose so that hot air wasn't being drawn into the room it was poor. It did cool the room but for all the noise produced and energy used it didn't seem worth it and in the end we pretty much gave up on it even though my wife was heavily pregnant and feeling the heat. OOPS! shouldn't be saying this I was going to ebay it when it gets hot and should be talking portable units up not knocking them ;-)
The best strategy we found instead was to close all the windows and south facing curtains in the day time and then open the windows up in the evening after sunset and let the breeze cool the structure of the house down ready for the next day. Of course on very warm nights this isn't effective though in my experience where we are those nights don't seem very frequent.
This year I am going to invest in more insulation in the loft and maybe a large centrifugal fan mounted in the ceiling at the centre of the house sucking cool air at night into and through the house and blowing the hot air trapped in the loft out through the soffits. The 100 watts or so used is going to be a lot less than the 2-3kW of an AC. Maybe though when I'm feeling flushed I may get a split unit for extension.Joe
As through this life you travel,
you meet some funny men
Some rob you with a six-gun,
and some with a fountain pen0 -
Good research, I would like to know what the ball park running costs for on of these units is though, are we talking 20p a day or £2 a day? I know it will depend on the ambient temperature and the duty cycle.
Cheers
Simon0 -
Posted as a Grabbit as a result of the exceptionally low price, the potential to sell out due to the price and the likelyhood of such units increasing in price as summer approaches and temperatures rise.0
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Hiya
I am 35 weeks pregnant with a baby due in June :j
I have been pretty worried about baby (and me!) getting too hot an have considered get a portable Air Con Unit
This is a really good price. Has anyone used this model and would recommend it , before we splash out the cash?
Thanks
Claire0 -
Couple of years ago I bought a split kit (18,000 BTU) from these people -
http://www.iconprocesssystems.com/
They have a seperate area of the company in which they import A/C systems. I paid £300 total for my split kit and its been wonderfull. Well worth checking them out if you want a split kit as its beena godsend for us in the hot summers.0 -
I have a few specs now for those who are interested, 12000btu model, I should have it by Monday I'll let you know what I think then
Energy Rating - B
Power Consumption Cooling - 1400w
Air Flow - 500m3/Hr
Refrigerant - R410A 610g (it seems this is the latest ozone friendly stuff)
Recommended Room Size - 21m2
It also heats and is a dehumidifier.0 -
Hubby bought me one of these a couple of years ago when I was pregnant (baby was due in June) and it was worth it's weight in gold. We bought ours in Sainsburys Homebase on a 10% off day when they were £149 (12000 btu)"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."...Miss piggy0
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Costco have a split unit for £350.This signature is not mine!0
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We bought a portable one last year when I was pregnant in that heatwave. It was useless! It did cool the room to a reasonable temp, but you couldn't be in the room when it was running as it was so noisy. No good for sleeping as once switched off the room just heated up again.
We're getting split conditioners fitted into the new house, I wouldn't have another portable one.0
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