Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Nov 09, 2009 12:54 pm Are there any good portable air conditioners worth buying? I looked into this a few years ago but felt let down that most were either too expensive, inefficient in what they did or required some sort of outside outlet.
and yep... it's a hot one today! Re: Portable air con's? 2Nov 09, 2009 1:06 pm For me not really. I would rather spend the extra dollars and get a proper split system installed. THe portable units require a duct fed externally, which means you have to slightly open a window or door, which kind of defeats the purpose (there is a model on the market by Delonghi where you can hang the condenser poutside the window - not sure how good these units work though). The also don't cope well under pressure (pressure being anything bigger than a small bedroom). They are also very loud as the condenser is in the unit, inside with you. They are usually more expensive than a split system, but with a split system you have to pay for installation, which sometimes costs as much as the unit. Blog is now up - http://www.jbdave.blogspot.com/ Re: Portable air con's? 3Nov 09, 2009 1:09 pm We bought one last summer as this rental doesn't have any A/c - cost us $700-ish from Bunnings and it was hopeless. Took it back two days later. I too would go with a split system. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Portable air con's? 5Nov 09, 2009 1:24 pm When I was renting a couple of years ago I bought one of the expensive DeLonghi portables (over $1K) and it did the job I required of it OK. I was doing nightshift and used it to cool my bedroom while sleeping during the day in summer. I wouldn't expect it would be as effective in a larger living area though. Yes, it required an outlet going out the window (important to seal up the remaining exposed area) and sure, it made a bit of noise but you get used to it quickly (actually helped to cover any outside noise when trying to sleep during the day). If you own your house, buying a split-system if definitely a better and more effective option and really not much different in cost compared to a good quality portable unit. If you are renting though like I was, it can be your only option unless you can convince the landlord to spend some money. I actually requested that once of a landlord and had a new split-system installed within two weeks - I couldn't believe my luck! Re: Portable air con's? 6Nov 09, 2009 1:27 pm d@n I'm renting so I can't install anything. d@n, have you thought of having a chat with your landlord? They may be willing to come to some sort of compromise whereby you both win. Splitting costs, reduced rent, etc in return for installation. If you are planning on staying in your rental for a while, it may be worthwhile thinking about installing something permanent. Most landlords wouldn't mind as you are actually increasing the value of their property. Could be worth considering. Edit: just saw what Jeffsy said. You could just ask for one. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Portable air con's? 7Nov 09, 2009 1:32 pm joles d@n I'm renting so I can't install anything. d@n, have you thought of having a chat with your landlord? The house i'm in has an old split system air con out the back (vents in celing) but it's not working. I knew that when I took the lease. I emailed the agent a week ago to find out what's wrong with it/anything can be done etc...but haven't heard back yet. Re: Portable air con's? 8Nov 11, 2009 10:05 pm Where are you located, I'll have an almost new 1 HP portable unit (three weeks old) for sale just as soon as we can get a split system installed I'd only ever resort to considering to buying another portable unit if it was the very last possible option available. Mistral make a portable unit (MPAC 140) that has separate indoor and outdoor units linked by a flexible hose that is better than most portables but they're around the $1000.00 at Bunnings. Re: Portable air con's? 9Nov 11, 2009 10:41 pm We have 2 portables that we used last year and it helped to take the edge off especially around the time of black saturday. They will only really do a good job in a smallish sized room though. We did a fair bit of research and found that Delonghi made a larger horse power unit that got good reviews. It does cost around $1200 but you can take it with you when you move, so it's not a waste of money for a rental. I don't recommend buying a cheap unknown brand as they are pretty hopeless, from what I have heard. We have 2 split systems in our new house but we plan to use the portables in our outdoor sunroom Try looking on eBay too. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Portable air con's? 10Nov 29, 2009 10:29 pm I've got 2 yo twins and the rental we are currently in is a little sweat box. It is just about the worst you could get when it comes to poor design. We have no insualtion in the roof or the walls and there is a fully enclosed West facing rear deck with a corrigated tin / polly carbonate roof. The door leading onto the deck is a huge glass sliding door. Anything above 30 deg out the front of the house sees the temp spike in the mid 40's on the back deck from about 12:30pm onwards and that tranferes into the house. It literally pumps heat into the house. Once the house gets hot, that's it, we are done and we have to leave. To combat this on hot weekends I have taken the following measures in a vain attempt to keep my kids cool. I have duct taped cardboard to the glass sliding door (both the fixed and sliding panels) I have hung 4 x blockout curtains on the inside of the glass door and join them with a bunch of clothes pegs. I close every door in the house (and door snake them) I have a block out curtain hung across the hallway which I velcro stick it to the side walls of the hallway I run 2 x Delonghi's High power untis in the lving Room, and on days over 30deg I run them flat out all day until the sun goes down. The exhaust tubes off the units have a tapered end so the opening is only 2 1/2 inches wide so not a lot of hot air gets in but every bit clounts so I made my own window block off out of cardboard. You need 4 hands to hold the 2 pipes, the cardboard, and then slide the window shut but it all works. The golden rule with this ellaborate set-up is DONT open any doors (internal or external). However, even with all of this in place we are figthing a loosing battle. Recenlty over the course of a 41 deg day starting at 23 deg, we gained on average about .5 deg / hour and topped out at 29 deg. I know I'm making a couple poratable aircons do something they are not designed to do but I have no other options or solutions to combat agaisnt the heat for my kids other than to leave the house and walk aimlessly around a shopping centre all day. Getting back to the main point - I can highly recommed the Delonghi portable aircons. I work mine very hard and thay have not missed a beat. I have tried the dimplex ones and they don't perfrom anywhere near as good as the Delonghi's. Just remeber when using a portable Air cond, make the space you want to cool as small as possbile for the best result. We settle on our new house soon and I'm installing ducted air so soon for me this will be a distant memory. Good luck Leonard. Re: Portable air con's? 11Nov 30, 2009 1:58 pm We have two portable air cons in my house and I hate them. They can cool a small room (really, it seems to only work if you're directly in front of them on hot nights) but make a god awful noise. Really annoying if you're watching TV. And the vent pipes/ducts that need to be exhausted to the outside are pretty annoying as you need to figure out how to seal up the window so it doesn't cancel out the benefit of the air con. I'd go with nagging the land lord for a repair air con or a new one. Or just get a fan and always keep ice in the freezer . Re: Portable air con's? 12Dec 30, 2010 8:33 am Don't waste you're time on the consumer ones you can get at HN and BL. These are the only ones that really work, have used them many times to cool computer rooms when the main aircon has failed or to supplement temporarily: http://www.phdrentals.com.au/industrial ... -hire.html How do you remove one of these ceiling air con vents? And is it possible to disconnect the duct joined to the vent from inside the house, without going into the roof cavity? 0 5900 Hi all, sorting out the ducted air con for a 350sqm double story house. Does this placement sound reasonable to you? Also, I plan to have 6 zones I think. Living room… 0 0 Hi all, sorting out the ducted air con for a 350sqm double story house. I think i plan to have 6 zones I think. Living room (mainly for entertainment so not used often),… 0 0 |