Portable Air Conditioner

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

Central AC went out and it's not a viable alternative at the moment to replace it. I live in USDA growing zone 9b with high 2 digit/low 3 digit temps and am looking to get a portable AC or one of those portable evap coolers. the main room I'm looking to cool is about a little over 350 square feet

Costco has the DeLonghi Pinguino 11,000 BTU, 3-in-1 Portable Room Air Conditioner/ Dehumidifier/ Fan for $299 which looks like it would work. Are these things that noisy, are they a workable short term (3 years?) solution. Would the evap cooler keep the temp reasonable. I'm not looking to get down below 75 or so degrees

Recommendations appreciated

[jamesgang]

Portable ones have ducts you need to run between the room and the outside. No easy way to do that except a window. So I'd just get a couple small wi ndow units for the rooms I spend most of my time in. Family room and bedro om for me. Then sell them on cl when I'm done with them.

[recyclebinned]

Is it a one pipe or a two pipe? If there is only one pipe or duct where hot air is being blown outside don ?t buy it. If there are two pipes or ducts where one duct is blowing hot air outside a nd another is sucking air in from the outside then buy it. By outside I mea n like your yard (outdoors).

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

I believe it is a one pipe unit. I'll check later

[Ashton Crusher]

another is sucking air in from the outside then buy it. By outside I mean like your yard (outdoors).

According to Consumer Reports there is very little difference in energy use between those two kinds. I vote for a window unit if that's doable.

[Ashton Crusher]

If the humidity is over about 15% the evap won't work very well. I have one of those DeLonghi systems from Costco. It will cool a bedroom OK, that's the only sized room I've tried it in, probably about 150 sf. Seems like it would work in a 350 sf room if you could close off the doorways. Here's the problem I found... I bought it hoping to turn off my upstairs AC system and just cool the one bedroom. So I turned off the 3 ton AC and ran the DeLonghi for a month. Checked my Utility bill and there was NO savings. It cost about the same to cool the whole upstairs with the central unit as it did to cool the one room with the DeLonghi. If it's like the one I got it should be pretty quiet.

[recyclebinned]

another is sucking air in from the outside then buy it. By outside I mean like your yard (outdoors).

Consumer Reports sucks. They only evaluate s... products.

[Ashton Crusher]

and another is sucking air in from the outside then buy it. By outside I mean like your yard (outdoors).

I tend to agree but there aren't a lot of options for comparisons of these things. At least with CR there is a chance they actually compared power use which is more then you can say for the typical anecdotal reviews you find.

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

thanks

[tesic.ljubomir]

If you looking for best portable ac units visit us on our website

[dpb]

A) Moderately

B) 3 yr "solution"???? I'd certainly think not.(+)

C) A single room bearable, probably.

You've got to have/install a window vent for exhaust heat and the condensate drain is just a tank you'll have to empty regularly just like a dehumidifier.

If you're really not going to get the central fixed for that long a time period for some reason, I'd suggest just going ahead and getting a window unit -- can probably get nearly double the Btu at about the same cost and will more than likely be able to keep most of house at least bearable.

[bob haller]

2 or 3 window units will be cheaper than one portable, more convenient and more efficent too...

a couple hours before bedtime turn on the bedroom window unit, while the famly room still has air and remains comfy:)

[Dan Espen]

Hey, I might even be in the market for one of those. Since I would never do anything idiotic, like buy something from a spammer, I've made a note to not buy anything from your web site.

[dennisgauge]

Any unit should certainly provide you with 3 years of service, and 11,000 B TU should be adequate for 350 square feet.

Noisy is in the ears of the beholder, and workable depends on what you'll b e willing to put up with in the name of comfort. Cool or quiet. You choose.

I purchased an 8000 BTU "single tube" unit for a small RV last summer for $

179. I ran it in my bedroom for several nights before loading it in the RV. It kept the room extremely cool and I had no issues sleeping with it runni ng. It works fine in the RV as well.