As many of you know, I live in an older house. It has central a/c and heat, but there are certain rooms that just don't cool as well as others. My bedroom is one of them. It gets the most sun during the day and there are no trees near the window to shade it. So, it is almost impossible to get it cool at night even with a ceiling fan running and the a/c cranked. I do NOT want to install a window unit because of the location of the room and the limited number of windows, but the idea of a portable a/c unit sounds like it might work. I'd still have to vent it through a window, but it wouldn't have to be an installation like with a window unit. Has anyone had any experience with these? Any recommendations? Thanks!
my bro in law had one in his upstairs office. I hated it but that room as huge. That was 5 years ago. They may have gotten better.
I have had to use some in smaller server rooms, and the two brands I've used they were both loud as hell and having to drain the water once a week is a TOTAL pain..
A portable A/C unit sounds like it would use a lot of juice, so running that along with your central air doesn't seem to make much financial sense. You'll probably be better off getting a bigger central unit. Perhaps you need to get your duct work looked at...
We are using one in a computer room that needs to run a little cooler than the rest of the offices. It is no louder than a typical fan and we have not had to drain it in over 1.5 years since it is designed to evaporate any of the condensation. No complaints, in fact I got one for my son when his apartment air conditioning died.
We had the same issues with some of our smaller bedrooms not cooling like the rest of the house. It turns out that the box (excuse my ignorance of the equipment terminology, but I think it is the Plenum or Plunum) that all of the ducts run out of was configured incorrectly. Apparently, we had 2 ducts running from the back of the box which was a straight shot from the source of the air (compressor? maybe) so those two ducts were getting the majority of the air flow. That back wall should have no ducts connected to it so the air can be evenly distributed to the ducts attached to the other 3 or four sides of the box. I would get that checked out first, if you haven't already
We did that too, had a new box installed for around 3k, and it didn't do squat....our 2nd story still gets to around 83 degrees in the dog days of summer. To answer Jeff's question, Home depot has some good units available. DD
The guy who inspects my a/c is a family friend. He told me straight up that my a/c is fine as is, but my problem is a combination of 3 things: 1. old drafty house that lets a lot of air out/in 2. rigged duct work that had to be engineered to fit in tiny spaces not designed for central a/c 3. One room that gets hotter than all the others because of a flat roof on it. Unfortunately, the only way to fix it all would be to completely re-duct the house and replace about 15 windows (since they are all historic, it would have to be wood windows at about $80/each not counting installation). Given the fact that I did $10,000 worth of renovation to the house last year and I still need to replace the furnace, I can't afford any of this at the moment. I've read about portable a/c units like powerchuter mentioned that don't need to have water dumped and run fairly quiet. This is my best option for right at the moment. Maybe next year, I'll get to all the windows and the rest of it. Right now, it's the difference between $500 and $5000-$7000.
Jeff, Please report back how it worked, because we have done EVERYTHING to try to keep our boys rooms upstairs cool..... We even tinted the windows BEHIND the solar screens.....still gets hot...the irony is that upstairs there is one room that stays nice and cool all day, and of course that has to be the guest room. I am considering getting a very small window unit for my boys Jack and Jill bathroom and run it during the day to cool their rooms as well as that bathroom.....but it is a small window...and I would have to run electricity to it.....ugh. DD
I heard one of those 1-2 minute news blurbs on XM I think (ESPN?) where they said portable AC units suck. Can't remember why though... yeah, I know... I'm lots of help.
DD: I have a window unit in my upstairs converted attic area. It's used as a spare bedroom and it is AWESOME! I've read a LOT of bad reviews about portable a/c units, but the Sharp CVP09FX sounds like a very good one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...7YFP1&coliid=I3GSVCGQTT7JIU&v=glance&n=284507 http://www.compactappliance.com/sho...ilprintmain.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=10890 Good reviews from everyone thus far and it is supposedly the quietest on the market, though I'm not too concerned about that since I'm used to window units. Cools 250 square feet, which is MORE than enough for my space. Hopefully, either in spring or fall of 2007 I can actually go through the process of replacing my current a/c system and do something about the windows in the house. Until then, this is probably my best option.
I had a portable AC last year, when I lived in Pittsburgh. My apartment was on the sixth floor (top) and in the sun all day -- my thermometer inside would go to the mid 90s sometimes during the day -- it'd be cooler outside than inside. Needless to say, I desperately needed an air conditioner. My building required those vertical units, and I couldn't find any under $500. So I ended up getting a portable unit at SAM'S. When I first got it home, I hooked it all up and had it drain into the internal bucket. It could probably hold about a couple liters of water. After it filled up, the AC would shut off. This turned out to be a HUGE problem at first, because the bucket would fill up in like an hour. So I didn't realize this my first night, and I went to sleep with the AC on full blast, and woke up and it was even worse than usual (I took my window fans out) in there. Eventually, I realized that the best thing to do was put it up on a table, and attach the external draining hose, then have it drain into a big plastic bin, then I'd pour the bin out into the bathtub every morning. It was a huge pain, but it was the only thing that worked. Cooling-wise, the AC had 3 fan speeds -- high, medium, low. I kept it on high, and it could never really cool the apartment. It would always be hot in there, and during the day it might get up to around 88 instead of 94. But during the evenings, it would get down to the low 80s, high 70s in the apartment, which was nice. I had it blowing directly on my bed, which was VERY nice because it would keep me cool at night, while the rest of the apartment might be fairly warm. The area that it did really, really impress me in was durability -- I had it running FULL BLAST for about 3 1/2 months straight. It may have been turned off two or three times, but it was running almost all the time. Never a problem. It would just hum along. If you stood in front of it, the AC would blow nice cold air onto you, but if you were just in the room, you couldn't expect much relief. To make a really long and pointless story short, my portable AC sort of sucked, but it was better than nothing. In my new apartment I have window units and they kick ass. I have one in my living room and one in the bedroom, and together they cost almost the same as my portable unit. Mine looked just like this one, but it was from GE. I thought it was only a 10K BTU unit, but I don't really remember exactly.
My family is all in the A/C business, and the first thing I thought of when you mentioned your problems was poor insulation and unequal air distribution by the ductwork. It sounds like that's really the heart of your problem, but I guess you already know that. Everyone is complaining about the water problem, but the fact is that that's just how air conditioners work. They ALL constantly drain water. So your best bet is to try to rig something so that it will manage itself. Maybe you could run a hose into your bathtub or something. Kind of rigged, but at least you won't have to keep changing the drain pan.
Whatever you do, KEEP those old windows--they are original and cannot be duplicated. I just bought a 1500 sqft 1930 Tudor style cottage in a historic neighborhood in Fort Worth. It has 20 plus windows that are all preserved and original with the counter weights and hardware. The previous owners, who lived there for 13 years, added storm windows to protect them and weather stripping. Everyone who comes to the house is delighted by the old windows and their detail. Not only that, they actually open! I have seen MANY old homes in my year-long search for mine, that the original wooden windows were neglected and completely water/insect/mold destroyed. If this isn't the case with your home, I implore you to keep the old windows. Historic/old homes are my passion, I would love to hear more about yours.
Well, if I make changes to the windows, they will be restoration windows. The one's I have are so old and problematic, they aren't repairable for a reasonable amount of money. Many of them have significant structural issues and not all of them match. I'd like to restore the one's that can be restored, but I just don't know if it will be cost prohibitive to do so. The windows in the immediate front of the house - the bedroom and front room - were replaced a number of years ago with standard vinyl storm windows. I'd rather have the originals or replacements, but that isn't my biggest issue at the moment. As for the water drain problem, that isn't an issue with the particular unit I posted above. It has a device that blows the water out of the exhaust and helps to evaporate much of it as it does, so no bucket UNLESS you use the dehumidifier, which I don't intend to us. Humidity doesn't bother me.
That stinks about the unrepairable windows--once they reach the point of being that flimsy you are right, hopless. When was the house built?
I don't know the exact date. That seems to be a bit of a mystery. The estimate is 1930, which is probably about right. I know it was no later than 1935 because of a former neighbor who had lived here all that time, but I doubt it was earlier than 1928 either given the neighborhood and the location of this house.
