General > General info Somewhat hot tub related

Portabale AC units?

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Tman122:

--- Quote ---Tman, can I ask since this is your field?...My Sanyo units are in the two upstairs bedroms. The install was relatively simple (my husband had HVAC friends that do pharmaceutical applications). We installed on the knee wall of my Cape Cod, so all the pipes run through the eves in the front of the house. As far as I know the only maintence I need to do is clear out the water discharge pipes and wash my unit filters. Is that right?

I found these things when there application was virtually limited to industry installs. Steve's friends put the original units in our house very reasonably (probably about $3,000 for the 2 zone unit). that was about 15 years ago.  My newer unit was $3000.00 for one zone, but that was 4 years ago and it is a big unit. All of the "guts" outside fit under my back deck. The external fans are quiet and I think they look much better than a central unit!

I think I sound like the sales person, but when I find something that works that well, consistantly, I like to share.

If you go this way, Drew, you will have no reqrets.... ;)and it will save your back from hauling those window units.
--- End quote ---

Yes the only real maintainence is keeping drain piping clean and keeping filters clean and your compressor fins outside, like any AC unit. The one thing I would recommend but it's probably out of the question now is, these units work better placed high on the walls inside. As cool air moves across the room up high it sinks and cools a room more effieciently. Placed low they leave alot of warm air up high. Crack the highest window in your house to push warm air out. Or run a ceiling fan to move all the air to create more effieciency. There popular because of there effeiciancy compared to whole house units which cool duct work crawl spaces and a bunch of places that don't need to be cooled. They are more central to where you want to cool, 1 room or another as you move that way. Or in a smaller house like mine, one upstairs during the day and one downstair at bed time while the other is shut off. But not cheaper than whole house units. But if you have no duct work as I do, the only other way besides window units. Or Lake Superior. 38 this morning.

drewstar:
Thanks Guys.

I like the ductless system.   I'd be looking at one unit, mounted on an inside wall and could run the tubes up the wall into the attic, and then it's a 20' run to the exterior wall and side of the house were I put the second half.

3K? Ouch. I was hoping under $1.5.....

The wife isn't crazy about this system. I don't know why. (she does't like the looks of the unit) I bet I could get her to come around on that, but 3K to cool one room?  I might just go with window mount for a few more years.

(the one that fell out the window looked like it survived, but I remoutned this weekend and if runs more than a few minutes gets very loud.).

What's the best brand for portable AC units?

Tman122:
Fedders

Bonibelle:
Drew call some AC guys in your area and get accurate prices. My sunroom is 24X24 with a vaulted ceiling, so the unit to cool that room had to be pretty large. It also required some major electrical work and a long run from the other side of my house.  You probably won't need one that large.
There are several manufacturers now and the nice thing is that while they are mounted on the wall perminantly, they don't impact your view out the window or prevent you from opening the window for fresh air when AC is not needed.  I love my Samsung unit because the fins move allowing distribution of cooled air really fast. The older Sanyo units have fixed fins that are moved manually.
Tman is right about the placement. We moved the unit in my kids bedroom and it is now mounted higher on the wall, it cools faster than the unit in my bedroom which is mounted at the top of that knee wall. Since I also have ceiling fans, I find the set up economical and a much better solution than window units....Get a good fix on prices before you give up on this Drew.

Repeat_Offender:
The portable ac units have two design flaws that make them less desireable and efficient than their window counterparts. The efficiency loss comes from the fact that the condenser air intake is actually the cooled room air. The unit uses air that you paid to cool to condense refrigerant as part of the cycle. The desireability issue relates to the fact that you have to manually dispose of the resulting condensate created by the cooling process just as you would a dehumidifier.
The ductless split ac units (Sanyo, Mitsubishi etc) are far more efficient and quiet, but geometrically more expensive.

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