Boiling today and wonder if cheap air conditioners exist...

cybergibbons

Gloomendoom wrote: »

They do give off heat, but they remove the humidity from the room. This means that a human bean's built in cooling system functions more efficiently. It is hotter but it feels cooler.

That is why Florida at 30°C feels more uncomfortable than Death Valley at 47°C.

You've got the right logic, but it's simply not true in the UK.

30°C at 100% humidity results in a heat index (the perceived temperature) of 46°C.

47°C at 0% humidity results in a heat index of about 45°C.

There's not much difference it there.

But in the UK in a closed room, the humidity won't exceed 60% even during showers. At 30°C that will give a heat index of about 33°C

Even a dehumidifier will struggle to drop the humidity below 35%, and it would need to run constantly. But that 30°C will feel more like 29°C.

Great you think, I feel 4°C colder!

But you will be pumping at least 500W of heat into the room continuously. The room needs to be sealed or it won't remove humidity. So you will likely negate the difference.

If you have a more typical 45% humidity, and drop it to 40%, you'll see less than 1°C gain.

An air conditioner both cools and dehumidifies. A much better idea.

shammyjack

I have an old cooler that works by blowing air through a damp endless fabric belt that very slowly rotates through a 5 gallon water reservoir in the base. I will try and find it in the loft and post the make and model. It was very cheap and they may still make them.


Edit. Search google for Evaporative cooler .

shammy

Mankysteve

Problem with evaporative coolers is that they add extra moisture to the room and they are breading ground for all kinds of nasties.

ready123

This is not going to help your situation right now, but might help others.......

Look to purchase air conditioners in the winter, not this time of year when they're in demand. We had two portable air con units in my office which we had to get rid of in January when we moved. Of course, as it was the coldest winter in years no one wanted to buy them. We couldn't even give them away - tried for weeks in local ads/Gumtree/Freecycle etc. In the end we had to pay someone to take them away as part of the office clearance! Those units originally cost £850 each :eek:

Oldernotwiser

We have a couple of reversible aitr conditioning units installed and they are very cheap to run and you can install them yourself if reasonable at DIY. They also heat the room very cheaply in the winter, using 1.5 K of electricity to give out about 4KW of heat.

I wouldn't really bother with the portable ones but get a couple of fans instead.

Gloomendoom

cybergibbons wrote: »

An air conditioner both cools and dehumidifies. A much better idea.

I don't disagree with that. Unfortunately, cheap portable units do neither efficiently... as my dad found out.

richardc1983

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

In true MSE style, there is a cheaper alternative. Use an ordinary fan, then drape a damp towel on a clothes horse, chair or similar, in front of it. As the water evaporates it cools, giving you a current of coolish air into the room.

OK, it's never going to be as effective as a purpose-made air-con unit, but it's cheap 'n' cheerful, and be honest, how often does it get really hot in this country ?

Caveat - just be sensible, and make sure the towel is not soaking wet so that it drips water all over the socket where you've got the fan plugged in. And make sure it's not so close that it gets tangled up in the fan blades :-)

This will work if you have all the doors and windows open and a breeze going through otherwise you are just adding more humidity to the air and the air will feel even stuffier.

FrostbiteHG

just bought a vortex polar m10e on ebay,brand new and 2 years manufacturers guarantee. I live local to where the guy sells them from so I didnt pay delivery, i collected saving £25.00, price of unit £150, Im cool lol

Frosty