Any opinion on Sunpentown 12000 btu portable air conditioner?

Greetings all!

Well, the Southern California, USA, temp is in the mid-90's where I live, and my wife and dog are passed out on the floor of the coolest room in the house like victims of some kind of gas leak, so it must be time for me to think about air conditioning again.

For reasons I won't go into here, suffice it to say that air conditioning our whole house is not advisable. Our plan instead is to cool at least a couple rooms and retreat into these sanctuaries when things get particularly oppressive. Ultimately we figure our best strategy is to go with a mini-split system, however we are presently already overloaded with other major home repairs projects that we are failing to get to in a timely fashion (been trying to get a couple decks on the house for over a year but keep getting stalled!) and installing a mini-split system seems too much to absorb right now (both in terms of cost...which appears to be substantial...and annoyance).

We have windows that slide sideways and have blinds on them, so window air conditioners won't work for us. So, I am thinking of getting a Sunpentown 12000 btu portable air conditioner for the bedroom (which appears to be about 320-400 sq. ft). Any thoughts about this unit? Do portable air conditioners of this variety work at all or are they complete garbage? I am sure it is not the best solution, but it is only around $500 and postpones the expense and hassle of dealing with mini-split installation until some future point when I am better able to deal with it.

Thanks!

Chuck

Reply to
Dolchas
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"Dolchas" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

From a former Palm Springs AC contractor, I cant understand the comment about anoyance, not in Southern CA...AC is not an option, but a manditory item... Personally, the decks could wait, but the failure to have AC in an area that you live in, and your pets live in..well....I cant imagine putting AC off and instead, working on a deck...

Nope, but a PTAC unit would, and the cost would be less than the portable POS you are talking about...in most cases.

You are wasting your money, and time...

First, in order of your questions.

In Southern CA, its pointless for your situation...and you still have to move the heat outside...umm...most of those use a 4 inch flex duct, and then you have to open..a window..new issues suddenly.. As far as not being the best solution, it should not even be an option...portable AC units were originally designed for enviroments like an auto shop, where they could use spot cooling, or the air flowing over one small area...like the underhood area of a car... That $500 would buy you a PTAC, and might even get itinstalled by a few contractors...if the timing was right as far as pricing. IF you have one of the old flat tops, and it sounds like you might, your best option MIGHT be like everyone else there does..a package unit on the roof, with ducts leading to the areas with the duct coming from the roof area....or a MasterCool with a precooler might be an option...at least you would have some cooling, and IF you are in the PS area, there is a sheetmetal fab man there that is familiar with making the upduct covers for the flattops... After having installed prob close to a hundred mini splits in the area, the hassle of installation is about 4 hours....with two guys. They are simple to install, and do what they claim to do...at least the Mitsubishi and SAnyo ones. Might want to serously reconsider that, and figure out how much you think you will save by throwing $500 at a unit that isnt in your best interest even if it looks mightly promising. You can prob find a contractor, that would take that $500 as a down payment, and financethe rest, and then, you are where you need to be....I cant imagine living out there and not having AC, particularly with pets...

Reply to
CBHvac

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