# Portable Air Conditioners



## mick (May 11, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with a portable type air conditioner. I'm beginning to lean toward one like featured in the link below. My shop is 400 sq ft with no windows. Cutting a hole in the wall just isn't practical because of tool arrangement and storage placement. However venting one of these out is a simple matter of running a hose the size of a dryer vent.
Anyone have one, or used one? How loud are they and do they actually cool as well as a window or wall unit? 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_211844-8000..._prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1


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## Akula (May 11, 2011)

used several different ones in server rooms when ac would go out...they will cool the room very nice

I have been considering one for the living room (that's where we stay the majority of the time) and would not have us running the big ac units


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## EBorraga (May 11, 2011)

I've been looking at that same model as it has a heater built in with it. The price is pretty reasonable as well.


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## Russianwolf (May 11, 2011)

these unit will also act as a dehumidifier.

We have one as when our AC went out last year we had to do something. We need two more for the space we have, but it works pretty well.

In a shop, I would build a box around the back half with some furnace filters to keep the air going through it relatively clean. The filters on these (as well as window units) leaves a lot to be desired, you don't want wood dust clogging the air  exchange coils.

Also you need two hoses going to the outdoors. one brings in fresh air and the other is the exhaust. Not sure why but the direction don't recommend the fresh air to be room air.


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## sbell111 (May 11, 2011)

Russianwolf said:


> these unit will also act as a dehumidifier.
> 
> We have one as when our AC went out last year we had to do something. We need two more for the space we have, but it works pretty well.
> 
> ...


Because you would basically be pumping air from inside to outside.  That air would have to be replaced somehow.


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## Russianwolf (May 11, 2011)

sbell111 said:


> Russianwolf said:
> 
> 
> > these unit will also act as a dehumidifier.
> ...



See, that makes sense. No wonder I couldn't think of it. :tongue:


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## Padre (May 11, 2011)

As long as you can vent properly, cut two holes, one for intake, one for exhaust, you'll be all set.  They work well.  The one I used had a tendency to shut off because it had a bucket that filled up with water (they act as a dehumidifier too) and it has to be emptied every few hours.


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## Russianwolf (May 11, 2011)

Padre said:


> As long as you can vent properly, cut two holes, one for intake, one for exhaust, you'll be all set.  They work well.  The one I used had a tendency to shut off because it had a bucket that filled up with water (they act as a dehumidifier too) and it has to be emptied every few hours.



Mine has a drain hose for this too. another 3/4 inch hole to cut.


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## firewhatfire (May 11, 2011)

look at getting a mini split unit before you buy that.  We have used both at work in cmputer rooms.  I have a mini split in my bonus room above my garage and it heats and cools.  

Just throwing another option out there.  We never had any trouble from the portable, just had to empty a bucket of water daily.


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## 65GTMustang (May 11, 2011)

I have one in my shop along with a window unit - But the shop is rather large to only have the single window unit.
The one we have which looks very similar with similar specs is AWESOME!
I'm the type that would much rather be cold than hot - If it were not for these glorious machines I think I would melt!
I highly recommend it!
Go For It - you won't regret it


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## IPD_Mr (May 11, 2011)

So would anyone care to guess what something like that would increase your electric bill?  Basically only being ran four hours in the evening and twelve or so each day of the weekend.


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## 65GTMustang (May 11, 2011)

How many Amps is it pulling?
I'm not sure about AC units - My old Koi Pond Water pumps that were rated between 8 and 10 amps would cost me about $20 + per month.
I have switched to much more efficient pumps that only have 1.8 amps and the power bill has come down!
The info on the unit should give you an average operating cost?


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## DozerMite (May 11, 2011)

You only need one hole for intake/exhauast. Get a concentric termination vent. Makes installation a breeze (no pun inten... ok, a little).:biggrin:


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## Padre (May 11, 2011)

DozerMite said:


> You only need one hole for intake/exhauast. Get a concentric termination vent. Makes installation a breeze (no pun inten... ok, a little).:biggrin:



:biggrin:Good point!  Good pun!:wink:

To be honest with you, I thought the stand alone unit I had (3 years ago) was a real pain in the neck.  I'd much rather have a window unit.  My $.02 worth.


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## IPD_Mr (May 11, 2011)

Chip not everyone has a window to put one in.


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## Padre (May 11, 2011)

Yup, unfortunately, you are absolutely right! That's why I had one, due to kids moving home, my office ended up in our bedroom closet!  And in the summer it got REALLY hot in there!


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## paps (May 11, 2011)

I bought the unit you're referring to from Lowes and have used it for the last couple weeks.  It only requires 1 vent to the outside and comes with a kit that you can use to vent it through an existing window.  Installation took about 10 minutes.  My shop is about 480 square feet so is at the top range for this model.  So far it has kept my shop tolerable (80ish degrees during the heat of the day) even when running my 2hp dust collector.


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## lwalden (May 11, 2011)

There is a drawback to these, compared to a window unit or a split system as someone mentioned above- In both a window unit and a split system, you are basically using a closed system, similar to when you set the A/C in your car to recycle using inside air rather than drawing in fresh air from outside. Since A/C systems, depending on their cooling capacity, have the ability to lower the temperature of the air passing through by Xnumber of degrees, the temperature of the air being pulled into it for cooling purposes is key to efficiency and associated costs. As an example- if your A/C unit will cause an 18 degree cooling differential, how long and hard it runs is greatly impacted by your source of "return" air and it's temperature. For a window or split unit, you're continously cooling the same air, so in a 400 sq foot garage shop as you keep pushing the same roughly 3200 cubic feet of air through, as the temp lowers in the room overall the output of the a/c unit will keep lowering by that 18 degree cooling differential, until it turns off if you have it set with a thermostat. On the unit that has to be vented to the outside, you're pushing the heated air out which can cause negative pressure if you're in a fairly snugly constructed building. There neeeds to be a source for replacement air, so if you do provide fresh air from outside, you lose a lot of the benefit of continously chilling the same air in a closed system. So say for example, your return air is coming from a secondary vent pulling in outside air, and like me you're here in Texas (and yes, I did have one of these systems, and a pretty nice one, before converting to a large cooling/heating window unit). July comes along and at 3:00 in the afternoon it's 98 - 100 degrees outside. Maybe 103. Definetly 103 if it's August. If that's my source for replacement air, I'm fighting a loosing battle if I'm trying to cool the whole Garage. At least I'm loosing if I'm trying to get it down into the 70's (which is the temp I find turning at most pleasant). If I set the thermostat to 75, and the replacement air is coming in at 98, and my cooling differential is 18 degrees, I can count on a pretty hefty electric bill 'cuz that puppy is not ever going to quit running. Granted, if you fire it up first thing in the morning when it's cooled off to about 80 here (July/August), you can get ahead of the curve for a decent part of the day, but you still maybe looking at running that puppy all day long. The two years I tried running mine I gave up on trying to cool the entire shop. I was able to patch in an extension hose so I could roll it around and have it blow directly on me, which ended up meeting my needs though it got a bit agravating after a while, and still came along with high electric usage. I'm much more happy with the window unit I have, and am going to actually move it from the window I have it in currently to the wall itself- I'll cut through the brick and wall, frame in a sleeve and get it watertight, and put in a nice arbor with something that can stand a little heat a bit out from it in order to camoflauge the install. The cost for the window unit I purchased with both heat and air was just about the same as what I spent for the unit that needed venting, just under $500. Had to run a 20 amp 220 circuit for it, but was able to do that myself. Ended up with heating and cooling both, and my electric usage is about 1/3 of what it was previously (not 1/3 overall, 1/3 of what I saw the electric bill increase by that I estimated was related to adding the A/C unit), while maintaining a comfortable temperature level throughout the garage/shop. Obviuosly, the climate you're in can make a big difference to the situation, but if you're having to pull in outside air and that's coming in most of the day at 90 degrees plus, expect to be running your unit quite a bit. And on a side note, the rollaround unit has found a home on our trailer we keep all our camping equipment loaded with, and does a marvelous job cooling off our big cabin tent when we can manage to get away for some camping!!


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## Russianwolf (May 11, 2011)

Ummm lyle, admitedly I didn't read it all, but the outdoor intake and exhaust for the portables is the air circulated for the compressor coils only. Just like all other units the conditioned air is pulled in through a filter on the back, passed through the exchange coils, and out the fan.

So these are working in a closed loop also.


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## NewLondon88 (May 11, 2011)

I had this unit, but paid more for it. (it was the only unit I could find
during a brutal heat wave)
I'm not sure why they say it is quiet.. it is very loud .. like 'can't concentrate
to read a book in the same room' loud. But it has heat and a dehumidifier
built in, so for the price it does a lot.

I had a hard time cooling my area with it, but then it was a heat wave
and my living room is 24' x 17' and that's a lot of room. The air temp
measured 58º coming out of the unit, but I couldn't get the room below
80 or so for a few hours. By then it was about 78 outside.
I ended up getting two window units cheap in the winter, then waited for the
next heat wave and got back 80% of my money. Now I don't use the AC
anyway.

Would I get another one? If that's all they had and I didn't need to use
a telephone, stereo, TV or hold a conversation in the same room, yes.
But I might prefer to move my office outside..


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## eldee (May 11, 2011)

I have used two different models (not together) in insulated garage shops with good results. Both had single vents to exhaust the hot air. I positioned the units close to the work area and managed to keep things pretty cool even with the high ceilings. It does help to start before the interior gets too hot. I primarily make small stuff and have a fairly large dust collection system, so the filter stays pretty clean.


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## lwalden (May 12, 2011)

Mike, I think I disagree with you on this one, though we may just be using different terminology. I'll admit I'm not an A/C expert, and just might be doing a poor job of describing this. But there is a clear difference between this and similar units, and the smaller split system and window units. My window unit has two fans. It pulls air in from the shop, passes across the evaporator coils, and blows the chilled air back into the shop. At the same time, the second fan is pulling outside air through the vented side of the AC unit that sit outside the window, passing that air across the condensor coils, and pushing that hotter air back outside. Here's a nice graphic- http://home.howstuffworks.com/ac2.htm

The unit referenced above pulls all the air in from the room it sits in, passes some back into the room as chilled air, and pushes the other portion of heated air out the exhaust hose. So it's pulling in from the room a volume equal to XY, chilling and pushing volume X back into the room, performing the heat exchange and pushing volume Y out the exhaust hose, most likely outside. The difference between the two system is that you have to replenish the air pushed outside as exhaust by the system Mike's looking at. And chances are good your going to be replacing it with hot outside air, or even hotter attic air if you're in a garage workshop. Having each of those seperate from each other with the window unit is what I was referring to in calling that a closed loop, with the two different air exchanges closed off from each other. Apologies if I'm not using the right terminology, but there is a difference that leads to one being more efficient that the other.



Russianwolf said:


> Ummm lyle, admitedly I didn't read it all, but the outdoor intake and exhaust for the portables is the air circulated for the compressor coils only. Just like all other units the conditioned air is pulled in through a filter on the back, passed through the exchange coils, and out the fan.
> 
> So these are working in a closed loop also.


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## lwalden (May 12, 2011)

Russianwolf said:


> sbell111 said:
> 
> 
> > Russianwolf said:
> ...



Mike, sorry but hadn't read your post above. Sounds like your unit had two ports on the back, an intake and an exhaust, both set to take hoses that would vent outside? If that's the case, that was very different from mine, and the one Listed above looked like it only came with a single hose, for venting exhaust out only. I'd tend to agree with you, that if yours came with two ports and hoses that it would qualify as a closed loop system as well.


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## Russianwolf (May 12, 2011)

Yep, mine has two 4 inch hoses, plus the 3/4 inch drain for the condensation. I thought all of them were like that now.


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## navycop (May 12, 2011)

I saw one of these hooked up to a fake window at Home Depot. Was going to see if they could turn it on for  me them the LOML came before I could find anyone.


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## cschimmel (May 13, 2011)

I was looking at those as well for my garage. Living in AZ its have an AC or dont work in the shop(Garage). I didnt want to cut a hole in my wall but I'm ok with replacing a door someday if need be so I did this. Put it in today and it works amazing. 12000btu for a 2 car garage. Seemed like I could get alot more for my money with the window style vs the portable. Just thought I'd share.


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## workinforwood (May 13, 2011)

I have one very very similar to that. Mine is 15000 or 18000 BTU, and uses the same feature where you put the hose out the window. It's a great design. I use it in a 1000 sq studio and it cools it down nicely. I got a better price than that too.  Bought mine from MSC Direct..they have deals all the time..seams like they email me almost every day. Mine was $400, but I got 20% off and free shipping! So that's darn near $200 less than the one you are showing and you gotta pay tax too..but not online!  Although my unit is just slightly underpowered for my shop, I live in a climate that doesn't get quite as hot as down south, especially for as long, and because I'm in a colder climate I have intense insulation in my "studio" so the A/C unit functions beautifully.  I still haven't dug it out yet..not at all hot enough here yet. We have 80 today, but then will be dropping back to 60's and then 50's again in a few days.


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## workinforwood (May 13, 2011)

Russianwolf said:


> Yep, mine has two 4 inch hoses, plus the 3/4 inch drain for the condensation. I thought all of them were like that now.



These newer portable units do not have a drain. They have one hose, it goes out the window. The moisture is pumped out through that large hose..works similar to the way a high efficiency heater works.


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## Don Wade (May 13, 2011)

I have one in my shop as well.  I put an ac filter over the exhaust to keep any dust from getting into it and clogging the cooling coils.  T hey will still need to be cleaned regularly


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## Dudley Young (May 13, 2011)

Move some tools and cut a hole in the wall. You'll be glad you did. JMO


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## Russianwolf (May 13, 2011)

workinforwood said:


> Russianwolf said:
> 
> 
> > Yep, mine has two 4 inch hoses, plus the 3/4 inch drain for the condensation. I thought all of them were like that now.
> ...



Just got mine last year from Lowes, so it ain't exactly old yet.


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## workinforwood (May 13, 2011)

Bought my computer brand new last year and now it's an antique! :tongue::biggrin:


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