Advice Needed: Portable Air Conditioner

[Royler]

Hope I'm in the right place...

Summer is here, which is bad news for me due to excessive allergies. I literally cannot sleep with a window open or even use a window AC, as even with the vent closed, it'll still manage to draw in a little outside air....the pollens give me nocturnal asthma and I have so much trouble breathing I can't even fall asleep. I lived in a home with central AC last summer, but this is no longer the case.

Basically, I need a portable AC unit to cool a 13x20 bedroom that will vent hot air either under a doorjamb or - I'm wondering if this is even possible - down a heating vent. I see a ton of models on eBay and locally and have no idea what to look for. I don't mind emptying a water reservoir, but I simply cannot have the windows open, period. If I can solve this problem for around $500, all the better. Any advice is MUCH appreciated. Thank you.

[Art]

If you can spend more, Samsung, I believe, makes a terminal heatpump unit which is split just like central ac. A freon tube is the only thing that connects the indoor unit and outdoor condenser unit. It has remote control too to work the fan so you can mount it high in a room out of the way.

[David Efflandt]

The name I heard for those is mini-split. No duct work is required, The evaporator mounts in the room and condenser mounts outside with just the freon tubes and power connecting them (and probably drain somewhere). They are more expensive, but do not vent room air.

I have an 8000 btu/hr Maytag portable that I use to cool my upstairs (until I have a chance to do something about broken glued in window shaker). It has full 5 yr warranty and does not really accumulate moisture, since that is used to cool the condenser and goes out the vent as vapor.

But window A/C units usually do not vent room air in or out unless they specifically have a vent and it is opened. So if the original OP could not cope with a window A/C, I do not see how a portable would help, because that does vent out hot condenser air, and air has to come in somewhere else to make that up.

Maybe an electrostatic air cleaner would help (like the Ionic Breeze advertised on late night TV). Fortunately I am only allergic to grass pollen, so I only get hit if out in the weeds from late May through early July.

[Cliff Hartle]

I think the exhaust carries a fair amount of moisture so you want to get it out of the building. If you send it down a heat vent the water vapor is just going to condense on the walls and create a major mold problem. I don't think venting under a door is going to work either.

You are probably going to have to make sure that the window vent is sealed well.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

This is not a good idea. The heat and moisture can cause other problems that could make your asthma even worse. Do you have an air purifier with HEPA filter? I'd run one in the bedroom while the AC is on. Probably run it all the time. Ed

I don't mind emptying a

[Dan O.]

Then IMO it wasn't installed properly. The only place any amount of air can come from is through its vent or around it edges. Ift the edges (and the rest of the window which is ajar) aren't sealed properly, there will be air leakage.

About the only other realistic option is as some else suggested a mini-split system where the condenser is totally outdoors (like a central A/C - but smaller) and only a small refrigerant and drain line goes through the wall to the interior evaporator (cooling) coil and fan.

Portable air conditioners need to be vented somewhere, and under a door is not a realistic option.

PS. If you do decide to try a window unit again, get your old one

*professionally* cleaned first to get rid any mold, mildew and dust which is likely to be in it. It should be professionally cleaned every 3 years or every year if you live in a high traffic area anyway to keep it working as well as possible.

JMO

Dan O.

- Appliance411.com

=Ð~~~~~~

[HA HA Budys Here]

New window A/C units rarely even have the "outside air" option. They're incredibly well insulated against allowing air leakage, and with a proper window fit and install it shouldn't affect your allergies in the least.

That is, if your reason for opting for the obvious solution is truthful which I suspect is not.

[JohnB]

I once needed a dehumidifier in a room with a chimney which had both windows stuffed with "normal" through the window air conditioners. I bought a "portable room air conditioner" which I vented out the chimney, emptying the condensed water from time to time. This unit comes with a four inch flexible vent hose such as is used on my dryer. It is intended for installation in a window. Using caukling / weather stripping around the window adapter should keep most of the junk which bothers you out of the room. This is a link to a 12,000 BTU unit for $540. The web site alleges that this unit can handle only 400 square feet, so there may not be a unit which can handle your room.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

My company made the fan scroll parts for one of the major airconditioner manufacturers. We had to do a tooling change to add a fresh air vent. It was a slot about 3/8" x 1". I asked the AC engineer why they even bothered. He stated that Brand X had it so they had to have it to get the check mark on the model comparison sheet some stores used. The amount of fresh air that might come in was negligable. Ed [e-mail]

[jim]

you got to get rid of the heat from the A/C unit someplace.. the plastic

6 in. hoses attached to the unit should easily be place in an partially opened window(with a wooden piece the size of the 6 in. hose and then the window closed..the hot air will travel out the hose, so you not gonna get any outside air into the house........ the portable units are kinda expensive, but keep looking. we used them in a very large office building when the cent air went out and the hot a/c air was vented out the air intakes that were not being used at that time due to the cent. a/c being busted...

[Stormin Mormon]

Thanks. I'd forgot about mini splits, and I've helped install several of them. Just went to a seminar, too.

Connecting the inside and outside is two freon tubes, a drain for condensate, and a low voltage controller wire.

[RB]

Venting under a door, through a duct, or anywhere else to outside of the room is a bad idea because for every cubic foot of air that you exhaust a cubic foot of air must "seep" back in. It's a much better idea to control the replacement/infiltration of air so that you can filter it.

RB

Royler wrote: