Help! Air conditioning unit leaking.

peter021072

I recall someone recommending my air conditioner on MSE. Whilst it has served me reasonably well for around 15-20 years it has sprung a leak and the cover screws are so tight I can't get in.

It's a Gree 3.2 kW 'portable' conditioner (1 kW electricity) which has an integral evaporator and condenser, with the latter dumping heat into a large hot portable pipe pointing outside the window, although this year I've been ducting into the insulated attic. It also has a seperate small hose for the condensation water which can be fed into a bucket but that failed earlier this year, necessitating me regularility emptying a small reservoir. However that seems to have failed last night as soon as the dripping started.

So if I can't repair it I need to find another, and my house is a magnet for heat being in the SE and only having West facing windows. The main limitation is that is if hot air is blown out of the home, air must come in from somewhere else, and in this weather that's either another open window, or if that is closed the air gets sucked in the gaps between the adjoined houses (there are 2) and they don't cool their homes at all. So it's all inefficient and expensive, but it has prevented me going mad so far.

Unfortunately, two of the stainless allen screws have seized preventing me from removing the panel and looking inside, and I dread having to drill them out.

Ideally I need a proper air conditioning unit with a condenser on the inside and evaporator on the outside wall, connected by a liquid refrigerant, but I guess there is immense demand for installations at the moment and I would need an installer! The other alternative is a similar portable unit but it weighs a ton and I also need to get rid of the old one. There seem to be lots of fakes which seem to do nothing but blow air around.

Are there any recommendations?

QrizB

I recall someone recommending my air conditioner on MSE. Whilst it has served me reasonably well for around 15-20 years it has sprung a leak and the cover screws are so tight I can't get in.

If a portable appliance has served you "reasonably well for around 15-20 years" you've probably had your money's worth out of it!

Are there any recommendations?

You might've noticed that it's been a mite warm recently. As a result all the air conditioners that you could have bought for £200 or so back in March or April are either out of stock or priced at £300+.

It might not be quite what you're looking for, but I've recently purchased a portable split air conditioner to replace my old single-hose one and I'm very happy with it. I've got a thread about it on the "Heat Pumps" board.

If you don't want a split and would rather stick with a single-hose, I don't have any specific recommendations but I'd hope you could get one with a better COP than your Gree managed. My old single-hose aircon was only rated at a COP of 2.4, which would have earned it an A rating. Try to find one that's better than this!

peter021072

Thanks Qriz, Ill take a look. These are the fixed priced quotes I've got from Heatible. Obviously the price of the unit is far less than installation, and I feel nervous about asking when there must be a rush on. These are for a split unit with condenser on the outside wall and cooler in just one medium Bedroom. If i manage to cool that I could blow air into the small spare room with a fan and some cold air will flow downstairs. That's essentially what I'm doing now. However, since split units are far more efficient i suspect a 3kw unit could make it bearable in the smallish house and ideal temperature inside the bedroom when the door is closed.

QrizB

That's fair enough.

Another forumite - @TroubledTarts - has just had a 9000 BTU (2.5kW) split unit installed for under £1500. A 12000 BTU (3.5kW) unit shouldn't be much more expensive. She has also got a thread on the Heat Pumps sub-forum. That seems a much more affordable price than those Heatable quotes.