There are no effective portable air conditioners??

[jymbee]

If you can believe the Consumer Reports review:

Think of portable air conditioners as the cooling choice of last resort. They're better than a fan but not much.

Many other sites have a more favorable take on these things-- although possibly biased as dealers.

For our intended use something like one of these would be a good option-- IF they're worth the $$$. Anyone have a portable air conditioner that can share their opinion as to how well they work?

 

[kcflhrc]

My son has a $100 window unit in his 2nd floor bedroom from Walmart. This is it's 3rd year and still going strong. I believe it is a GE, has a remote control and all. Consumer Reports is pretty much a joke. I guess a portable is different than a window unit though.

 

[jymbee]

My son has a $100 window unit in his 2nd floor bedroom from Walmart. This is it's 3rd year and still going strong. I believe it is a GE, has a remote control and all. Consumer Reports is pretty much a joke.

That's a portable that is vented through a window-- not a traditional window AC?

 

[kcflhrc]

It's just a traditional window ac. I did see one of those portables on HSN the other night though for around $600. A little more asthetically pleasing than the old standard window unit.

 

[kcflhrc]

Alot of those portable units not only do AC but heat also and a dehumidifier all in one. Pretty cool

 

[bigdeano]

I have a Whynter 10,000 btu heat pump portable. Couldn't be happier with it. Instead of sweltering on a hot day, it's very comfortable. I close doors to bedrooms to make the area as small as possible, but it's still larger than it's rated for. It pours out plenty of cold air. I've had it over a year. I wouldn't want to be without it now.

It's saved me money heating too. It draws 10 amps 120v but puts out as much heat as 2 or 3 resistance heaters that size, depending on outside temperature. When it gets down close to freezing it's heat output is pretty low so I turn it off.

 

[KennyG]

Consumers Reports is one of those organizations that seems like it has good information - except that everytime they review something I know about they get it all wrong. I wonder if they forgot to exhaust the air outside.

All you need to know about air conditioners is the BTU rating, the EER and the cost. They all operate on the same cycle and the differences are only in packaging. A portable will perform almost as well as a window unit and not require the fixed installation.

 

[joefromga]

I think most portable installations are in the worst environment like a barn or handy house and so the results aren't what people expect leading them to be dissatisfied.

Portable ac units do work but a half ton unit won't cool a barn although it may pull some humidity out of a room which makes a huge difference sometimes.

 

[Bird]

I've never used a "portable" air-conditioner, although I've used a number of window units, including one in my shop right now. But in the days before I had an air-conditioner, when I first started working nights and trying to sleep in the daytime, I once had a portable evaporative cooler that held one gallon of water. I set it on a stool right beside my bed so it would blow right in my face.:laughing:

 

[Travelover]

The portable air conditioners come in two flavors - one hose and two hose. The one hose kind suck because they blow cooled inside air out over the condenser and then outside, creating a vacuum in the conditioned space. Hot outside air seeps back in to equalize the pressure. A two hose system draws in outside air, blows it over the condenser and blows the hot air back out side - much more efficient.