Portable aircon

moneysaver1978

I too have been thinking about portable aircon and I am the same, they seem cumbersome plus ugly pipes. I also dislike wall mounted units, they are just ugly.

So I was thinking about a vent-type or ceiling mounted one at the landing so at least there is no noise in the bedroom and the whole of upstairs is hopefully at least a bit cooler. No idea on costs though but more efficient than a portable unit.

But of course, once heatwave starts, I start researching again, the heatwave stops!

Mary108

I hear you all. My ElectriQ dehumidifier is adorable and I love it (thanks to everyone who helped me choose) but it appears that a portable aircon is a different animal :(

Mary108

Without a portable aircon (or fitted aircon which I'm not going to do!) how do people stay cool?

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013813#Comment_82013813

It is a common misconception that fans can actually cool a room, and the marketing bumpf from Dyson etc. also gives that impression/plays on that misundertanding, without stating it outright.

Fans can cool you, by helping to evaporate your perspiration, so it can feel like the room is cooler, even though the temperature of the room is not reduced by just blowing air around.

So yes they are just very expensive fans.

ComicGeek

I used a portable aircon unit for many years, always worked well to keep the house cooler. Have since replaced with aircon units providing both heating and cooling, but there are certain things you can do to get the most from a unit:

Make sure curtains/blinds are kept closed in rooms facing the sun, and close them before the sun reaches them. Overheating is mainly caused by direct sun so you need to stop that penetrating deep into the room - you need to stop the sun from heating up internal surfaces and objects.

As well as closing curtains/blinds, close windows in rooms facing the sun. You want to keep the hot air out. Only open windows when it's cooler outside than inside.

Most houses slowly get worse during a heatwave - don't wait until it's over 30 degrees before acting, do all these things above every day during summer and late spring and your house will be more resilient when the heatwave hits.

Put the portable aircon unit in the hottest room. This stops this heat from spreading to other parts of the house. This would normally be upstairs in a house, as it's normally a combination of a hot attic, south/west facing sun and heat rising from downstairs.

Keep the portable aircon unit hose as short as possible, with the unit as close to the discharge window. Helps to reduce heat in the hose. Use a fan to push the cold air into the hallway, or across to another room - I used a couple of floor standing tower fans (around £30 each) and could cool 2 bedrooms and the hallway with one air con unit.

Portable aircon units are noisy, so don't expect to sleep or work in a room with it on. Run it during the day, reduce solar gains into the house, deal with the hottest rooms, and then you shouldn't need to run it at night.

You can also use fans at night time to increase the amount of cooler outside air coming in - position the fan by the window so that it's pulling in more air from outside. But only do that if it's cooler outside than inside.

subjecttocontract

Having had inverter air conditioning installed in our Spanish property, that's what I'd recommend. Keeps you cool in summer and heats the room in winter. Quiet, cheap to run & superb value for money. Design & development has moved on recently so that one external inverter can supply 3 or 4 rooms if you want it to.

Albermarle

When the weather is hot, we leave all upstairs windows wide open at night. Then whoever is up first opens plenty of downstairs windows. Even in a heatwave you still get some cooling breeze through the house at 07.00/08.00. Then from 09.00 ( approx depending on how hot it is) close windows, and curtains on the sunny side of the house ( the front in our case) . Then from Midday approx., close curtains/blinds/windows/patio doors at the back of the house. From around 17.00 start opening up the front of the house and then the back from 19.00 (ish) . Plus use fans in rooms being used and a cold shower in the middle of the afternoon.

It is still quite warm in the house, but doing all this stops it from getting uncomfortably hot. Also easier to do this when someone is at home most of the day.

Rodders53

Proper split pack inverter heat pump air-conditioning is the only thing for a bedroom if you want to sleep with it running...

Even then a small bedroom may need a more sophisticated solution with (say) a heat exchanger in loft feeding ceiling vents in multiple (bed) rooms. I've seen the indoor units placed over the bed head.. too close imho.

Zero rate VAT on them. But may need planning permissions.

Probably too late to find stocks of anything by now and decent F-gas installers will be fully booked.

Newbie_John

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82014286#Comment_82014286

Dont add anymore heat (big cooking, dishwasher, hairdires etc.) - have a cold shower, eat a sandwich for dinner rather than beef roast that took 3h to cook in oven - opening windows for the night when it's under 20°C and closing as soon as it gets 20°C in the morning. Also you can freeze some ice overnight and let it melt, I used to freeze to coke bottles (bit squeezed for ice to expand) and let them melt in the evening in the bedroom close to fan.

If you have a garden you can sleep in a tent, have a pool for frequent dipping (or showers).

Anyway, I got aircon last year to lower my winter heating costs and also use it on 30°C days.

Mary108

I love the idea of me in a tent @Newbie_John …that picture has really cheered me up through all this horrid heat :) :-D. Thankyou!

I know some people love the heat , though, not everyone's like me!