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Message |
    
marken
Citizen
Username: Marken
Post Number: 251
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 11:39 pm: | 
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We're trying to find a better way to cool off our downstairs this summer ... so we're thinking about a portable A/C unit that vents thru a window opening.
Anyone have experience w/one of these units? Are they effective? are they noisy? are they a waste of $$?
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Eats Shoots & Leaves
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 3272
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 12:20 am: |
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I have not used one of the new ones on the market, but I wonder where they exhaust the heat they remove from the conditioned air? Or do they work on some other principle than regular air conditioners? |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11224
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 3:46 am: |
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Check the EER. I believe these units are less efficient than regular room airconditioners. ESL, there is a tube, much like a dryer vent, that exhausts the hot air out a window.
I would also be conerned with how they handle the water taken out of the air.
Overall, they may be a good solution for a basement room where the windows are too small for a regular unit, but I suspect you can buy two regular window units for the price of one of these portable units.
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greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7255
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 6:53 am: |
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I had one in a railroad apartment. Unless the price has come down considerably; Bob is correct. You stick a hose out the window about the size of a dryer vent; it comes with a plastic piece that fits like one of those adjustable window screens.
They are heavy and what you save in terms of blocking your window, you lose in terms of having this thing the size of a dorm fridge in front of it. I also had to refill the water tank on mine regularly, which I thought was a PIA. They do limited spaces.
At the end, they aren't worth it unless there is no other reasonable solution for a room. |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 185
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:16 am: |
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We had one in the teacher's room in Jersey City. There was a vent hose as described in earllier posts. Inside the vent hose was a small hose for displacing water outside the building.
It lowered temperature approx. 5 degrees and took out some humidity. It probably would have worked more effectively if the door to the lounge wasn't being opened every ten minutes. It wasn't as good as a regular window unit. In a house, it will probably be more effective.
I'd say, give it a try. |
Lixouri
Citizen
Username: Lixouri
Post Number: 15
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 10:52 pm: |
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The answer is NO, they don't work nearly as well as window units. We have one, large and heavy, high BTU rating, and it struggles to cool a tiny bedroom. Not worth the money. |
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