Portable Air Cooler vs Portable Air Conditioner

CheapSticks on 14/10/2017 - 17:41

hi there

Given the impending summer, interested in getting portable air cooler or conditioner. Am renting so cant put in the split system.

Am wondering whats the view on air cooler like the one below? Cheaper than good quality portable aircon and much cheaper to run. We need to cool down bedroom about 16-17sqm. It is ok if it can cool only the area where it is blowing the cool air and runs 24/7.

https://www.binglee.com.au/honeywell-cl30xc-evaporative-cool…

Has anyone used it or something like that or general opinion is that portable aircon is much better than this.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 14/10/2017 - 17:42
    +1

    Evaporative air coolers really only somewhat work in dry heat.

    • CheapSticks on 14/10/2017 - 17:48

      on those 35 degree plus days in west sydney - that shud be dry heat?

      • retiredfeline on 14/10/2017 - 18:20

        Didn't work all that well for me in Sydney

      • Euphemistic on 18/10/2017 - 16:14

        Sydney is not going to be dry enough for evap cooler. Maybe you should move to Dubbo.

  • Subscribe on 14/10/2017 - 17:49
    +1

    Evaporative coolers are nowhere near as effective as an air conditioner.

    They also make the air humid! Personally I don't like the feel of being in a steamy jungle, but that's a matter of preference.

    I would not consider an evaporative cooler as a cheaper alternative to aircon.

  • scrimshaw on 14/10/2017 - 17:50
    +2

    evap cooling doesn't work all the time, it's dependant on relative humidity. The dryer the air is, the better it works.

    see http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-and-advice/hou…

    Air conditioning is more expensive to run but it's more effective and can be used at any time of day and it doesn't matter where you are located geographically. If you live near coastal regions where it's more humid, it's a better choice. They also don't make your room humid.

    • CheapSticks on 14/10/2017 - 18:40

      thanks mate. Probably given up the idea of portable aircooler. Looking at aircon

      • Kangal on 14/10/2017 - 19:08

        Yeah, I had one last year.
        I closed the window, yellow blinds and the bedroom door… then left it running for 48hours straight.

        Was difficult to sleep with the excess noise. Didn't use as much electricity as I thought.

        But it did reduce the temperature from 37'C in the room to around 34'C. So it was ridiculously bad, practically useless.

        It seemed much better to open the window, run the ceiling fan, have a cold shower then try to sleep. Had cold water/ethanol handy in case it got unbearable during the night.

  • John Kimble on 14/10/2017 - 19:45

    May as well pay 100 or 200 more and get a portable air con if that one in the link is $400 already…

  • WreckTangle on 14/10/2017 - 21:25

    Aircons u have to load ice into or empty water tanks are a pain. Make sure u get something with a plug u can attach a hose to and it can drain excess water somewhere. I have used both a portable aircon and a window box one. The window box one wins hands down!

  • gjk on 15/10/2017 - 08:09

    I was looking at getting one of this to place into a bedroom window - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/112587021546 Comes down to $414.40 pick up with the discount code. Only pulls 0.81 kwh so not too expensive to run. Like all portables and window aircons, they are pretty noisy so need to weigh up suitability for a bedroom. For me installation is pretty easy, but you would need to check how easy it is to fix a top or bottom mount.

    • CheapSticks on 15/10/2017 - 10:25

      thanks. I looked at it in The Good Guys - but we are renting so installation not possible.

  • Name on 17/10/2017 - 23:34
    +1

    I had a portable air conditioner when we were renting. Oversize whatever you are getting! They are terrible. The "family room" sized one was barely able to keep the bedroom cool on a super hot day.

    In the end we made a deal with the landlord, we pay for a split system and he pays for install. Best money we spent, the split system that used about half the rating of the portable was able to cool the entire house. In saying that we live in QLD where the humidity and heat combined makes 5 months of the year unbearable.

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