Hi all
My first-ever forum post. Sorry for any mistakes.
Looking for any good budget friendly portable air conditioner recommendations please for under $300. (Small room with a window )
Many thanks in advance :)
Portable Air Conditioner Recommendations under $300 ?
LOzBargainner on 18/11/2022 - 17:39
Comments
Fridge with a tent in front of it and a bag of peas?
Well I mean either that or a pool on the back of a truck
I use a single hose and it works fine. Likely isn't as efficient as dual hose. And it's very noisy, though AirPods Pro 3 ANC silences it.
Anything new for that price is going to be the same shit just under a different brandname. I think to get a decent one you gotta spend $500+. Second hand is definitely where it's at for portable ACs
I use a close comfort portable air con for last 2 summers, it has no hose and it just cools your personal space the heat is directed to the ceiling, actually works well if you are in the same spot, such as sleeping or sitting down as you feel the heat when you move away from teh air con,i went for this option as i have windows not suitable for the hose, it doesn't matter how big the room is and i move it all around the house easily.
its now renamed to Coolzy (www.coolzy.com.au)
Portable Air Conditioner Recommendations under $300 ?
None…. they all suck. Buy a fan.
Budget friendly to buy or run?
You will be getting a new portable air con for that price that may suck.
You will be paying allot to run the new portable air con compared to a reverse cycle air con (2.4KW/HR or 2.4 * 23c/hr as an example)
You can try a second hand air con or a scratch and dent one, but you will need to see it working.I would recommend checking second hand market for that price.
Often people will often get a portable unit temporarily while they are waiting for a built in system to be installed or get one thinking they are going to use it full time and realise they are not that good.
The portable units tend to be noisy (mine sounds like a jet) and unless they come with dual hose they don't work that well because they suck the air from the room which causes negative pressure and effectively pulls air in from outside. If you must use one of these units make sure you seal the room you are using it in well. A single hose won't make the room cool but it will make it comfortable provided the room is small enough and the portable air con is powerful enough.
If you are in a non-strata building I suggest you save the money and get a window unit. They work better than the portable units because they pull air in from outside. They are suppose to be installed by a technician but you can get non drill window mounting kits for them and they plug into a standard outlet.
If you want it to do a good job, get a box aircon unit and fit it in the window. Portable aircon = crap you will regret buying.
100% agree with this. My son bought a kelvinator small window ac from facebook and put it in the window. Does a surprisingly good job and MUCH quieter than portable AC and more efficient. the small ones are quite compact and light so not hard to mount in the window if you can.
From my experience: I had a pricey, high output portable AC. I had to duct it to the window. It still couldn't cool a small room properly. You cannot sit in the same room with it, it's so noisy. I think box AC is better and much quieter. Cheap motel rooms have box AC and they do a way better job cooling, while not much noise. I sold mine for less than half price within 6 months.
In honest opinion. We picked up a Kogan 5.2kw portable aircon with wifi for $379 and it's absolutely brilliant!!! It's better than our split system. Has never faulted and is magical! However, this was 2 years ago and was purchased in winter so might be more expensive now.
Was the Kogan SmarterHome™ 5.2kW Portable Air Conditioner (Reverse Cycle) - KAPRA18WFHA
Doesn't seem like they make them anymore ☹️
Portables, as others have said, are inefficient due to the way they work.
However, they do spit out cold air. MUCH colder than any other non compressor-based solution, like a fan.
Years ago, I had a 3.5kW Dimplex single hose portable. In my bedroom of ~20sq meters, it would bring the room temp down after a while. It wasn't as loud as a jet.
I replaced it with a 2.7Kw box unit in the window. It achieved the same results in about a 1/3rd of the time. As a bonus, it was reverse cycle, so also heated the room efficiently in the winter.
Definitely go for a box unit if possible, but if you can't, get a portable. For all their drawbacks, you won't care on those 30+ degree occasions when you've got really cold air to soothe you.
I don’t know how small your room is but typically you’re going to want a dual hose setup for even remotely effective cooling when it gets hot.
Otherwise you may find better success with say a vornado and a window with a good breeze.