Non-motoring > Portable A/C units Miscellaneous
Thread Author: bathtub tom Replies: 5
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New Mon 10 Jun 24 16:41 
 Portable A/C units - bathtub tom
My ten-year-old de-humidifier's packed up. The controls no longer respond and I can't get inside the thing to see what's wrong.

I'm thinking about replacing it with a portable A/C unit. I see most advertise as doubling as de-humidifiers. I presume that when used as an A/C unit, a hose has to be put outside a window to vent hot air?

Anybody got one, to offer advice and pros and cons?
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New Mon 10 Jun 24 17:17 
 Portable A/C units - Dave
They dont work very well, and are noisy.
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New Mon 10 Jun 24 17:38 
 Portable A/C units - Terry
The air needs to be vented outside, normally through a window. It is somewhat inefficient, as unless sealed, a partially open window simply allows air at ambient temperature back in.

Proper AC needs no external vent as the heat transfer is done through pipework containing refrigerant to an external heat exchanger. Unsurprisingly this is the most expensive solution - could be £1000 for a single unit installed depending on power supply and unit location.

A dehumidifier creates the perception that it is cooler as less humid air allows the body to lose excess heat by sweating more.
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New Mon 10 Jun 24 18:56 
 Portable A/C units - Falkirk Bairn
Used to have 2 at a small office.
One vented outside via a window/
The second vented into a "large sealed unit/ bucket" that took say 3 gallons = 30lbs /14Kg of water

Both on the old electric meter got some exercise

2 units on at the same time they consumed around 4 to 5 KiloWatts per hour - they had thermostats so actual consumption was less than that.
Last edited by: Falkirk Bairn on Mon 10 Jun 24 at 18:57
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New Mon 10 Jun 24 19:26 
 Portable A/C units - CGNorwich
Air conditioning? Must be a sight warmer where you are than it is here!
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New Tue 11 Jun 24 03:01 
 Portable A/C units - Fursty Ferret
I had one to cool a top floor bedroom. It worked best when running late evening because it would expel hot air and then draw cool air back into the room at the same time. Noisy but generally effective. Not sure how effective it would be as a dehumidifier as it rarely collected water in the tank, but I imagine the bulk of the moisture went out of the vent pipe.

Had a proper split system fitted last year* which uses less than a quarter of the power but is far better at cooling.

*this may be why it’s been cold in the UK
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