Portable Air Conditioning

[Griffin NoName]

I've decided to get a small portable air conditioning unit for my bedroom for the summer as I spend my life in there and good rest is vital so with another hot summer on the way it seems like a good idea.

Once again I am struggling to get information. Not general information, that's easy. But answers to specific questions.

The problem is narrowing it down to ones that comply with MY requirements and within the UK. As usual, the US has a lot better information online, but many of the models are not available here.

Questions in order of importance:

1. I cannot vent out the window (or have a split unit). Therefore I have been looking for ones that say can vent through door. In my case this would mean out into the hallway. Is this a realistic idea?

2. IF yes, to 1) above, only 1 or 2 models say they can vent out of a door. Do they mean an outside door or is an inside door (as in out to the enclosed hallway) ok?

3. IF yes to 1) and 2) above, given that only 2 models state the door option explicitly, does these mean all others cannot, or is it just that they don't bother to say they do in their list of specifications?

4. Noise. Many say low noise. But it's hard to tell if that's genuine or a sales gimic. Since I want it on when studying this is quite important for me. Any ideas on how to get a real assessment. I can find lots of price comparisons but no genuine feature comparisons.

5. Thermostat: some will cut out at required temperature, some won't. However this isn't listed in features. I can't find any way of assessing models on this feature.

6. Settings/Timer: some have timers, some not. That's not really the problem. Some have "sleep setting" in the list of features, but I can't find any information on what this is, how it works, what you achieve by having a sleep setting. I also, therefore, cannot assess how this might relate to number of timer settings, or "low" "high" or the other variants on settings/switches. How do I make sense of it - ie. how can I compare like to like when it appears to me as if there is no continuity in the way features like this are detailed?

Any help would be helpful, but the more specific the better. And specifically any help in how to google for the things that are important to me, and/or how to go about comparing models with the mish mash of information available on UK models.

[beagle]

I suspect you will have four problems.

First these units are noisy. They're noisy in the day time, let alone when you're trying to sleep. You can probably get noise figures in DB, but I doubt they'll mean much. Maybe you could run it for a few hours before you sleep, then turn it off and hope the external night temperature drops before the room heats up again.

Second the outlet heat hose may be quite large, so to dump the heat out of the room you may need to have a hole in the door, or if the door is ajar, a way of stopping the heat you pump out coming straight back in higher up the gap. Dumping the heat into the hall should be fine, but it's more likely to get back in than if you can dump it the other side of a brick wall.

In humid weather you might have to empty its condensation tray quite often.

They can use serious amounts of power. The electricity bill might add up if on for long periods.

I suspect the Texans/Floridans here will have better knowledge; I've only used portable units in computer rooms for short periods until the main air conditioning has been installed/fixed.

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

I used to do industrial/commercial HVAC sales... my experience is all with built-in units, so YMMV, but here's my two cents:

1. I cannot vent out the window (or have a split unit). Therefore I have been looking for ones that say can vent through door. In my case this would mean out into the hallway. Is this a realistic idea?

I've never seen such a beastie over here for residential use.  My instinct is that if you were to vent your air conditioner into a common hallway, you wouldn't get very efficient cooling (thanks to heat getting back in, as beagle mentioned) but WOULD likely end up with some hot, angry neighbors.

I think in that circumstance, it wouldn't be worth the bother, expense and neighbor drama to get slightly better cooling performance than a simple fan... or a supply of cooling bandanas (other racers who use them tell me that while they're not as effective as a Cool Shirt, they're somewhat comparable... considering that the bandanas are less than 5 pounds each).

4. Noise. Many say low noise. But it's hard to tell if that's genuine or a sales gimic. Since I want it on when studying this is quite important for me. Any ideas on how to get a real assessment. I can find lots of price comparisons but no genuine feature comparisons.

20 years ago, we had a "standard noise" window air conditioner in our house and I found I got used to it... though I definitely noticed a difference when I switched it off.  Personally, I could have studied in the same room.

If you're more noise sensitive than average, the "low noise" units may still bother you.  I know around me, some stores have display models... the best thing to do would be to experience it for yourself.

5. Thermostat: some will cut out at required temperature, some won't. However this isn't listed in features. I can't find any way of assessing models on this feature.

With a portable air conditioner, you're going to have the thermostat right next to the vent spewing cold air, so whatever setting you pick won't be an accurate reflection of room temperature.  Unless you can find a unit where the thermostat is on a remote control (like some ductless split systems, IIRC), I don't think it's worth worrying about too much - thermostat or not, you'll still end up fiddling with it.

6. Settings/Timer: some have timers, some not. That's not really the problem. Some have "sleep setting" in the list of features, but I can't find any information on what this is, how it works, what you achieve by having a sleep setting.

It should be like "sleep" on a TV or clock radio: activate "sleep" mode, and the unit will turn off after a pre-set length of time.

I also, therefore, cannot assess how this might relate to number of timer settings, or "low" "high" or the other variants on settings/switches. How do I make sense of it - ie. how can I compare like to like when it appears to me as if there is no continuity in the way features like this are detailed?

If you really want to find out what they're like, you'll probably have to go out to a store and play with them there.

[Griffin NoName]

Thanks.

The neighbours wouldn't be affected. So that's one thing I don't need to consider.

Heat coming back in the door; I have just designed an ajar door heat blocker - but I doubt I'll be patenting it.

Thinking about usage/noise, the room never gets hot til late afternoon, so cooling it after that might mean I only need the conditioning on for a short while - I'd have to wait and see on that one. That would help on the cost if it worked too.

Sounds like a timer is necessary and I can forget the thermostat aspect.

I know the best thing is to go try things out in shops. Problem is I can't. Well I could try one shop, but I couldn't "shop around". I don't have the energy, which is why I am generally restricted to buying things on the internet, or identifying the model I want and then finding a stockist within easy reach.

Roll on the days when Virtual Shopping allows one to test products out on the internet. 

[Sibling Chatty]

Some DeLonghi units have that little flat-end sort of exhaust thing that can be use to vent 'discreetly'. A friend in a village somewhere fairly historic can't have holes for venting, or split units or visibly vent outside, so she got one of the air/water units, put an extra long hose on it and ran the hose through an interior door to another room, then vented out the window (discreetly) in that room.

She noted that the noise was bearable because she was so much more comfortable.

They'd tried several other brands before settling on the DeLonghi. She's got a Pac T1000
http://www.easyaircon.co.uk/acatalog/Air_Cooled_Units.html
Third down on the right.

Could you vent out to another room's window?

[Griffin NoName]

Could you vent out to another room's window?

Yes I reckon I could.

Thanks for the tips on the DeLonghi. I don't know about that exact model, but they are available here online so I'll have a closer look at them.

Any idea why the T100 rather than the Pac L40 ? (not enough info on that link you gave on the L40 to see what it might lack compared to the T100).

[The Meromorph]

T100 may be larger, and more effective at de-humidification. Has more controls, including remote. Also appears to use an unusual refrigerant (greener when it eventually leaks out).
L40 will be quieter (rotary compressor - that's a big deal), and more effective at cooling, but has fewer controls, also has remote, and (I think) shorter hose(s).

I don't think humidity is as high there as in Texas 

My reading of the specs... 

De Longhi is normally good and reliable.

Try De'Longhi customer helpline on 0845 6006845.

[Sibling Chatty]

That's a British link, and my friend lives about an hour and a half from London. She went with the T1000 because the room is a bit larger than the one her parents cool nicely with the Pac L40, and she needed the hose length.

She sent me another e-mail saying that her Mum's L40 is perfect for a 'normal room' but their house has huge rooms. (Two rooms opened up to be one huge room.) Her Mum's e-mail said to ignore the T1000 and go for the L40, it's more fuel efficient. She and her Mum bicker with each other by e-mail through me a lot... Right now, they're planning and booking a trip to the US by arguing with one another through cc'ing each other on their e-mails to me.

Don't laugh, it's worked for 5 years. (Both Mum and daughter have carcinoid. It's a 'special' relationship...)

[Griffin NoName]

I'm having fantasies about all the people I could argue with and who the appropriate person to "cc" in would be

Thanks for all the info on the L40 Mero and Chatty.

[Sibling Chatty]

For us, cc means carcinoid crazies.

Her Dad's a retired engineer of some sort, and says the L40 is far superior. Yes, he joins in sometimes.

[Griffin NoName]

I've realised my venting ideas are hopeless. My block-a-door-gap design is in tatters. My hang it out another room's window has fallen apart. I forgot the killer bees which arrived this morning. I forgot I can't open any of those windows in summer because of the killer bees. I can't kill the killer bees because they are a protected species. And I can't drill holes in the windows as they are "protected" windows.

I may have to post in Snark and Rant or Venting. Why is everything "protected"?

[Sibling Chatty]

Do you have a vent/extaust hood over the kitchen stove/hob/whatever you silly English folks call it?

Anne's Dad ran a long vent hose to her sister's kitchen and they vent her bedroom AC through it. She hung a heavy curtain (ok, it's 3 layers, the middle one being heavy plastic) over the bedroom doorway, and leaves the door open just enough to get the hose out.

It's actually "permanently" attached for the summer with duct tape, but he SAYS he's going to get 'joiners' for the exhaust hose and the vent opening. Someday. (Not as long as there's duct tape, I would wager...)

[Griffin NoName]

Yes I do have a "cooker hood" which vents to the outside. Tacking a large tacky hose all the way to it would be (in english) "pretty ghastly", although perhaps I could get a carpenter to "box" it in, or something. An idea "worth a detour". (a phrase we use related to the Michelin Guide).

[Sibling Chatty]

Anne's sister has no concept of actually DOING anything with her home other than sleeping and piling clothes on the floors. She's lived there 3 years, and has used the cooker twice, and actually has one pan, a rice cooker and 2 plates and forks. As to the tacky hose running everywhere...I have seen photos. It's an improvement on the usual stacks of clothes, shoes and magazines.

She wants to sell that house and build one that she can have air conditioned completely... Every overgrown closet should have central air!

[Griffin NoName]

Anne's sister sounds like a soul mate. Though with me it seems to be a by-product of the no energy issues. I truly believe if I got my energy back I'd revert to having control of my environment.  I do have CONCEPTS