Out full house A/C isn’t working and can’t get someone out here until after the 4th.
I see portable A/C’s (Seabreeze) on rollers at a local outlet store 12,000 BTU’s for $329
What’s involved to install? Is it just venting using a hose to a window? Please tell me it is easy to install.
Thank You
I had a De Longhi 14000BTU unit for a large bedroom while sleeping in the daytime during the summer since i worked graveyard shift and it worked good. Some units put out a lot of condensation and need to be emptied on a daily basis. The exhaust needs to be vented out a window and it does come with a kit to do that. I made my own out of plywood because it was sturdier than the plastic it comes with. If you just want to cool down one room until you get your A/C fixed it might work for you, it won’t be nearly as efficient as your big unit.
thank you for your input - appreciated
A portable air conditioner is easy to install. The exhaust hose gets warm so consider insulating the hose.
THX for input
I have a Honeywell. It combines a fan, ac, and dehumidifier. It is only effective for a single closed room. It is vented out the window, but that means there isn’t a tight seal between the included insert and the window. You can leave the screen in place and still use the insert. Unlike the DeLonghi I had in my classroom, its exhaust tube doesn’t heat up. The lack of a tight window seal may make the unit’s ac cycle on more frequently [it has a remote and thermostat that allows it to cycle between fan and ac], but was never a real issue until we had the extended CA fires and my house filled with smoke, causing ongoing respiratory issues for me still, four years later. I remove the tube and insert from the window for winter, since it would become a heat sink. Initially, due to a poor instruction manual, I hooked up the included tube on the lower rear of the unit. The resulting 1/2 gallon of condensation each day overflowed my container and soaked the carpet. I scoured the web but couldn’t find the problem. After experimentation, I saw that the tube should only be used with the dehumidifier function running as the ac itself vents condensation out the window. The drawback of this unit IS the dehumidifier. To use that function, you have to place your own container under the unit to catch condensation. This is no easy feat, esp. on carpet, because even a cookie sheet is too deep and you’d have to lift the unit and empty the pan frequently throughout the day. That said, this unit serves me quite well, esp. since my house is ductless and doesn’t heat up too much unless a heat wave is extended. Installation is very easy. You really only have to drill 3-4 holes in the window frame to hold the tube bracket in place at the minimum. Caulking around the insert would be nice but isn’t absolutely necessary. P.S.You could also vent the unit up your fireplace’s chimney if you are handy but you’d have to buy a longer duct pipe.
Jane, we had a portable unit when we lived in New York. My husband cut a hole in the wall with a plate to cover the hole in the winter. The unit we bought vented the moisture to the outside through the hose. We never had to empty any water.
Had several over the years. They only last 3-4 years (at least mine, so I dropped them for regular use). The dual hose units (1 hot air exhaust, 1 cooling air intake) are much more efficient and effective than sigle hose (which also suck air out of the room, so warm air from other rooms is drawn in to compensate for the vacuum). Window units (not allowed by my HOA) are better as the evaporator is on the inside, the condenser outside, of the window, separate air flow systems.
Back in the 50’s when I was a kid in South Florida, not many people I knew had any kind of air conditioning. We just learned to live with it. Today it’s a given that everyone has to have one, it’s presented as a hazard to your health if you don’t have it.
But in the effort to cool, filter and insulate our indoor spaces over the last half-century, we ran headlong into new problems. Remember the problems we had during the COVID pandemic? One of the problems with our indoor ventilation systems was that they were not open to the outdoor fresh air and they promoted the airborne transmission of the virus.
The human race needs to get it’s act together, and quickly. More pandemics and more atmospheric heat is in our future. We better learn to live with it.
Maybe it’s time to look for another planet earth. 