Live in a rental that has no air-con. Has anyone any experience with a portable air conditioner? I believe you can get demisting fans which may have a cooling effect.
Portable Air Conditioners
LHensby on 22/10/2023 - 12:09
Comments
30d outside
Damnnnn it’s like 30 outside by 8am sometimes in qld
These things are always working against themselves because for some reason we still only have single vented units here.
They cool the air in the room then pump it straight out the window drawing more hot air in to the room.
They generally suck.
You need to think through the physics with how an air con works and why the typical portable air con design is ineffective. In the process of cooling air, heat is generated and has to go somewhere. Those plastic flexi hoses used to funnel heat out through a window let out a lot of heat through the plastic (i.e. back into the room).
They're noisy too. Everyone I know who has bought a portable air con ended up selling it not long afterwards… though some for a profit in recent years.
As long as you're not expecting split system level of performance, I would look at a window mounted solution along the lines of this:
They are all garbage compaired to even a small box aircon, Ive had the most powerful 6kw portable aircon and my 1.6kw box aircon massively out cools it and it uses much less electricity and much less noise.
misting fan
Do people use these inside the house? I thought this would be a great recipe for mould…
Do you have any breeze at all? If so maybe look at vornado or dynabreeze industrial fans to move air around instead
I assume OP is referring to an indoors evap cooler/fan and not one of those that spray heavy amounts of water?
I had one because that was my only option (couldn't install any window or wall units), and it would take about an hour to go from about 30 to about 23. Wouldn't really go any lower. Which is why I uses the portable AC and a 750mm industrial fan together.
Now I have a LG split system and it does the same thing in about 15 minutes, and uses a lot less power.
I have an old single hose and it cools my room down. Is loud af. Two hose models are mean two be much more efficient at cooling than single hose ones. I bet if you've got a small room or otherwise can't justify getting a split system installed, maybe you rent, that a modern two hose portable AC will be fine. Just make sure you can actually get those houses outside, that your windows are compatible with whatever window attachment for the hoses it comes with.
If your only other option is to sweat in the heat, then a portable AC is certainly worth it, especially if you can afford the energy bill it will create.
Buy Vornado.
They're pretty much all rubbish, loud and cost a fortune to run.
Buy a Bunnings pool and an esky for beers.
Unfortunately, with reviews, personal experience and even my workplace had it for some small rooms, they are all garbage. Doesn't even cool down the room properly.
Use it as a fan that blows moderately cold air. That's it.
The hot is blown outside by the hose. This is then replaced by outside air (that is not as hot) being sucked into your house from various gaps in your building envelope.
we had a crappy rental and used one, it helped us survive i guess, but they are rubbish.
that reminds me I will list ours on fb marketplace for summer.
I haven’t heard great things, but also havent tried. You could enquire with landlord about installing one, especially if you chip in/pay for installation or accept a small rent increase. When I haven’t had aircon in QLD I just took cold showers a few times a day. And have ice water on hand.
Thanks everyone, will buy a good fan me thinks.
I have a euromatic from bunnings, it does an amazing job for small rooms. I even used it in the living area which is about 4 times larger than its capacity and it managed to even cool it a bit.
I must add that it is a well insulated new house and I used it before I had the ducted ac installed.
have a dyson humidifier and for days where its under 30 deg it works fairly well if you turn it on before it gets too hot. I kinda found this by accident. If its a room facing the north and its already hot, I doubt it will cool the room much, if its blowing directly on you its a couple of deg cooler then a normal fan and I can feel the breeze from 3m away. If youre in the tropics I dont think it will do anything at all because there might be already too much humidity already. Using the dehumidify setting on an AC usually uses less power with "semi AC cooling"
I also noticed a lot of people set their AC way too cold and their heater way too hot. E.g its a 28 deg day, they set the AC to 18 but in winter they set their heater to 27… The average australian will be comfortable 20-25 deg
If youre any good at jerry rigging, you can easily make a window AC somewhat portable and even fit it in a sliding door, buy a cheap dolly to sit it on, some builders coreflute, some tape maybe and bobs your uncle
Don't bother.
Go for the old school 'No AC' methods
- House closed up - blinds closed before it gets hot, and heat can come in
- Keep yourself cool - less clothes, cooling bandana/headscarf etc, occasional quick cold shower or wipe down with a cloth. You'd be surprised what a damp scarf wrapped around your head can do to keep you cooler. You can also use them with some ice.
- Fans - Just your regular pedestal/desk/box fan, ceiling fan works great to.
- Hydrate frequently with cold water…same for your pets.
For overnight sleeping, this is weird, but it works. Get yourself a sarong, wet it with water, wring out the excess so it's damp, and sleep with that as a 'blanket'. It'll probably dry and then you'll want to do it again on the real 'welp, it's gonna be warm all night, the temps not gonna drop' nights.
I've got a rumpus room, roughly 6x6x2 meters. This Aldi air-con struggles big time to cool it when it's around 30°C outside. It has to run full power, is very noisy, and I assume it's costing a lot to run.