Portable air conditioners

[memory]

Does anybody have any experience with these new portable air conditioners? Are they worth the money? How exactly do they work? How is it possible to not have a place for the water to drain? Does it not produce any water? How do you do the exhaust tube? Do you have to have a window open? That isn't no good.

I have a window unit installed but it is not doing the job to well. It has been in the mid 90's for the past week and no relief in sight. Right now at 10:30 at night, it is about 80 degrees in my room. One thing that doesn't help is that the attic is right next to my room so all the heat from the attic comes into my room.

 

[KSoD]

From my past experience with them they work decent. Not as good as a window unit though.

Basically they do have a vent that goes to a window. That Window must be open just a bit to get rid of the hot air that the unit draws out of the room. It then exhausts it out that vent and out the window.

Most of the moisture is contained within the unit and it can be rolled outside and drained. Again in my past experience.

This was at least 4 years ago when i used or seen a portable unit used. I am not sure how or if things have changed since.

 

[memory]

The ones I seen on ebay do not have to be drained at all. They also claim they can cool up to 500 sq ft.

Here is one example:
SHARP CV-P10PC PORTABLE AIR CONDITIONER 10,000BTU~WHITE - eBay (item 270557848886 end time Jul-02-10 07:42:24 PDT)

 

[Oreo]

I used one when i went to spain, its a bit annoying having it near a window but the cooling works well. It was an 8000btu rated one and cooled a 1200sqft 2 bedroom apartment sufficiently.

 

[PP Mguire]

I had one about a year ago. Just find a way of insulating the warm air coming from your window where the unit is and the door to your attic. I used regular foam from walmart that you use under the bed to do this at our old place. If your window unit isnt big enough then get a larger one instead of getting the portable unit.

 

[memory]

I have thought about getting some of that insulation foam in a spray can and going around the window unit and attic door. It may not look good but should do the job.

Oreo, what is the big deal about having it near a window?

Which is more energy efficient, the window unit or a portable unit? If I were to get a bigger window unit, what brands should I stay away from?

 

[PP Mguire]

Idk about energy efficient because typically when i want to be cool i dont really care as long as the AC does the job.

Youll need it near a window because the exhaust tube is only so long. Otherwise youll need to modify it.

Ive always heard bad things about that spray insulation, then again if some cheap foam from walmart worked actual "insulation" should work better. Try insulating where heat is coming in at then see if you need a bigger unit. Cause you might not need a unit, just need to seal them holes up.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Spray foam insulation is actually one of the BEST insulations you can obtain, it has an incredibly HIGH R value, sometimes upto R50, your standard insulation is usualy R13-R16 depending upon your area.

The issue, and reason it gets a bad review from everyone is because people over use it for small cracks/holes, as it comes out in a small bead and expands upto 4-6 times its size, or more, it is also, very, very, sticky. People tend to use to much, and it overfills the crack, if it doesn't have somewhere to go, it WILL crack what ever it is being sealed up by, sometimes it can crack a window, or if you use it to go around the small cracks when installing an out side door, it causes the jamb to bow, making it hard or impossible to open/close the door or window and so on...

I have seen a LOT of newer, higher end houses use spray foam as the primary insulation because of how well it seals cracks that normal insulation, can't handle.

Personally, I would get a thing of super thick weather stripping that has an adhesive back, and layer it up some, make sure you don't squeeze/crush it, or it won't do the job. The reason foam works is because of the millions of air pockects, and foam weather stripping has millions of air pockets, but if you squeeze the air out, it can't really insulate any longer.

 

[KSoD]

The ones I seen on ebay do not have to be drained at all. They also claim they can cool up to 500 sq ft.

Here is one example:
SHARP CV-P10PC PORTABLE AIR CONDITIONER 10,000BTU~WHITE - eBay (item 270557848886 end time Jul-02-10 07:42:24 PDT)

Actually there is a drain on it. It looks just like the drain you see on a cooler that you use for camping. Look at the images a bit down the page. The one that shows the back of the unit. See that little black plug? That is the drain.

My in-laws used one in their kitchen to help keep their house cooler. It does a decent job. But then again any window unit with a high BTU rating will do the same thing.

 

[PP Mguire]

Spray foam insulation is actually one of the BEST insulations you can obtain, it has an incredibly HIGH R value, sometimes upto R50, your standard insulation is usualy R13-R16 depending upon your area.

The issue, and reason it gets a bad review from everyone is because people over use it for small cracks/holes, as it comes out in a small bead and expands upto 4-6 times its size, or more, it is also, very, very, sticky. People tend to use to much, and it overfills the crack, if it doesn't have somewhere to go, it WILL crack what ever it is being sealed up by, sometimes it can crack a window, or if you use it to go around the small cracks when installing an out side door, it causes the jamb to bow, making it hard or impossible to open/close the door or window and so on...

I have seen a LOT of newer, higher end houses use spray foam as the primary insulation because of how well it seals cracks that normal insulation, can't handle.

Personally, I would get a thing of super thick weather stripping that has an adhesive back, and layer it up some, make sure you don't squeeze/crush it, or it won't do the job. The reason foam works is because of the millions of air pockects, and foam weather stripping has millions of air pockets, but if you squeeze the air out, it can't really insulate any longer.

The bad things ive heard is it doesnt work as good as regular insulation for heating/cooling or sound proofing.