Portable air conditioners

As the name indicates portable air conditioners do not require fixed installation as compared to window ands split air conditioners.
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These air conditioners are used when

There is no space out side or are restrictions on the placement of the outdoor chilling unit in the apartment in case of split air conditioners.

There are some windows that are not suitable for window air conditioners or require a lot of modification in order to fit the unit. This may indeed look shabby. Sometimes there is no proper air ventilation space outside the window / wall vent for the air conditioner to work properly. This is where a portable air conditioner comes into picture and suites the conditions.

How Portable Air Conditioners Work

Portable air conditioners are more similar to window air conditioners. Whereas we see the AC grill only in the window AC we see the entire unit in the portable ac.

Just like window ac the warm am humid air is drawn into the unit, then chilled and blown back into the room. The warm air is exhausted through a flexible tube placed in the window or wall outlet.

There are two types of portable ac’s available single hose and doubble hose. Single hose AC’s are small in size and have less cooling capacity where as dual hose models have higher capacities. In dual hose one is used to pump air inside and the other to pump the hot air outside.  Most portable air conditioners act as a dehumidifiers, the water extracted through the dehumidification process is collected in a water tray or bucket or in some models this water is it is heated into vapor and then exhausted out the room through a second tube.

Advantages of Portable Air Conditioners

• Compared to a window air conditioner, a portable AC unit can fit windows that slide from side to side and also suitable for crank windows.
• The unit is easy to install. There are one or two tubes depending on the model of the portable ac which fit into a spacer bar supplied with the unit and are placed in the window or wall vent. The adjustable spacer bar is approximately 6 to 8 inches wide.
• The hosepipes can be longer or shorter depending on the location of the ac. Additional lengths are easily available
• When not in use just remove the hosepipes, wind them and store them in a store. AC can also be moved easily as it is installed on castors
• The AC can be moved from one room to another room easily as and when required.
• There is no installation cost involved

Disadvantages of Portable Air Conditioners

• A portable air conditioner usually costs more than a window air conditioner unit.
• The efficiency of the portable ac is less ac compared to window as house pipes limit the flow of air. The air circulation rate is less.
• As the whole unit is inside the room, there must be sufficient floor space for the unit. Most portable cooling units take up one foot to one and a half feet of space and are about 30 inches tall.
• The noise levels are high compared to window and split AC
• The large tubes of the portable AC sometimes cause a nuisance in the room and do not match well with the room aesthetics and also the AC unit situated amongst the furniture.
• The water collected due to condensations needs to be removed from time to time to avoid spillage. You will need to empty the drip tray where the water is collected through the dehumidification process on a regular basis.
• Portable air conditioning units are less efficient and require more power than window units for cooling a room of comparable size.

Choosing a Portable Air Conditioner Model

To get the most efficiency from your portable air conditioner unit, look at the models that have evaporators to remove the water in the form of vapor and also have air purifiers at the same time. Buy according to the room space, do the AC tonnage calculation and then buy the AC. If the AC does not have the proper capacity for the room, it will run constantly and never effectively cool the room. Units that are too powerful will continually cycle off and on, this reduces compressor life and at the same time does not allow proper dehumidification of the room.