Air conditioning

JamesN

Not sure if this is the right section but will give it a go.

So today is pretty hot and hopefully this will carry on. Only downside is sleeping in the heat!!!

Can anyone recommend a decent portable air conditioning unit? Price is important.

The cheaper the better (but would rather pay for quality than tat!)

Thanks guys!

paddyrg

Room size will determine the power you need. Evaporative coolers cool the air by increasing humidity, can actually be quite good and quiet overnight, and are cheap. Air con units are much dearer and much much louder. And if your room has any size at all, you need a powerful, noisy one! You have to vent the hot air out of the window, the efficiency of the units depends on a good short hose and well sealed vent hole, so you're limited for places to install them, bear that in mind.

JamesN

paddyrg wrote: »

Room size will determine the power you need. Evaporative coolers cool the air by increasing humidity, can actually be quite good and quiet overnight, and are cheap. Air con units are much dearer and much much louder. And if your room has any size at all, you need a powerful, noisy one! You have to vent the hot air out of the window, the efficiency of the units depends on a good short hose and well sealed vent hole, so you're limited for places to install them, bear that in mind.

Room is approx 3m x 3m and approx 2.5m high. Can you give an example of an evaporative cooler that would do a decent job? Any brands to look for?

Thanks.

paddyrg

Evaporative coolers are available from all the usual DIY sheds, but also places like Maplin and Amazon of course. They are really just fans with a sump which you add water to, and the process of the fan blowing through the damp screen forces the air cooler, like a 'bushmans fridge'. I bought a Maplin one some years back, £40, you can get better deals online, but I wanted it then/there with the option to take it back if it failed! The £40 size ones will feel cool if blowing towards you, but won't give you the kind of coolness an ACU can. I don't know of any larger ones, or if they would necessarily be better.

I also bought a portable ACU more recently, it was very aggressively priced at £180, similar models are £350-odd. Micromark branded, very heavy, quite loud, needs the ducting to work properly. If you go for an ACU, look for the BTU rating which you can check online or with the manufacturer how big a room it can cope with. I think mine, at 35000 BTU, is as big as you can get in standalone models, the air from it is certainly nicely chilled, but it can't cope with a space the size of my office. It would do a nice job in your bedroom though I'm sure - even if you turn it on for a bit before bedtime and off at sleepy time!

moonrakerz

To be blunt - the evaporative coolers are a waste of money, buy a fan and use a wet face cloth !

I have had a mobile air conditioner for the last few years. In both houses I have had a hole cut in the wall to vent the hot air through. If you use a hose through a window the hose radiates most of the heat the unit has extracted, back into the room.
They certainly aren't the quietest of devices - if you want a quiet a/c unit, get a split one at 5 times the cost !
It isn't necessary to run it all the time - unless it really is very hot outside.

I had mine on yesterday for the first time this year, I put a thermometer in the outlet grille, after about an hour the air coming out of the unit was 4 deg C - luverly !

Faye_Chandler

To save money on the electricity costs of fixed air con units there is a sensor system you can buy that detects motion, if it does not detect movement after a specified time it turns the air con unit off, my parents paid just under £200 for their system and they have saved loads of money.

trets77

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320689628238#ht_896wt_822

had a similar one for 4 years . used pretty much every night and still going strong .

buglawton

A unit that extracts moisture makes more sense... the air then helps evaporate moisture from your body faster so you feel cooler. Just drink plenty fluids too.

If OP is in the UK can you please post the secret place that is so warm at the moment, I'm relocating to the same town!