Any recommendation for portable air con?

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Mon, 10 May 2010 06:28:16 GMT

HyperKiasu — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:28:16 GMT

Dear atrecord,

Very appreciated for your comments.

It seems that the noise is a hurdle for me. becoz we are very used to quiet aircon.
i can accept other cons as i dun think we will use air con very often. for current split, we only use total of 2 to 3 months per year.

think the feedback for portable is discouraging, i might consider window unit. really need to consider all the pro and cons for both options.....

thanks again :thankyou:

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Mon, 10 May 2010 06:17:08 GMT

atrecord — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:17:08 GMT

I bought a portable air-con last year. A few things to know:

- it is very noisy, reason being the compressor is inside the room - unlike the split units, where inside the room is only the blower, with the huge noisy compressor outside the master bedroom window sitting on the stainless steel brackets (for HDBs). If someone tells you they can sell you a portable aircon that is very quiet, he’s bluffing.

- do not mistaken the air-cooler for portable aircon. The former uses ice, and will make a air-conditioned room cooler. If in non-aircon room, it is just a fan with little bit moisture (thus psychologically better). The latter is real aircon.

- the portable aircon is very much LESS efficient than the split unit, if compare same BTU. a 6000 BTU split can cool a room easily. A 9000 BTU (the one I bought), cannot cool the same-size room well. I supplement it with a fan…

- the portability isn’t really total portability, as the hot exhaust air needs to be purged outside of the room, else the hot exhaust air will make your aircon even more inefficient and the room more difficult to cool down. The exhaust is in the form of a flexi hose (like the drainage hose of the washing machine, but diameter is abt 20 cm). This should lead to outside of the room, and the end of the exhaust needs be ‘installed’ properly so that the hot exhaust will not leak back into the room to be aircon’ed. The different makes have different ways to do so, but for mine, the hose comes with a long, narrow plastic strip that can be cut to fit into one of the (push-out casement) windows. This strip has a hole that fits nicely into the end of the exhaust, so the flexi hose leads to this hole, which is fixed on the window, then out of the room. Now, the long narrow plastic strip can be cut to match the length of the window, but not the full width. The balance of the window is sealed up with plywood. so the plastic strip and the plywood will seal up the whole window, and allows the hot exhaust air to go out (and stay out)… Note that these two items are screwed-tight to the aluminium of the window, and there will be no more light passing through. The glass of the push-out window is forever left ajar, as the plywood and plastic covers it up. If yours is a sliding window, then it’s easier - just push to fit.

- if really intend to move this aircon to another room, will need to take out the plastic/wood part and install it in the new room.

- electricity consumption is more than split, since it is much less efficient. Cannot find those efficiency rating label one…

- there are some brands that has a secondary exhaust - for water discharge. this is even more troublesome. some brands need you to pour away water after some time… I chose one that supposedly evaporates the water so there’s no such hassle.

These are my findings when I researched on portable aircons, as well as experience after i bought it.

On brands of aircons, every salesman will tell you a different story, as I suspect they get good deal (commission/margin) from a certain brand, so will try to sell it at all costs… my own personal experience, though, tells me not to buy carrier… what used to be THE aircon brand, is now really lousy.

Hope this helps.

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Mon, 10 May 2010 02:15:36 GMT

HyperKiasu — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:15:36 GMT

caroline3sg:
yes, it has some noise. Not quiet like split unit. I may consider getting window unit for my study room.

In the market, there is only 2 brands, grey Panasonic (if I remember the brand correctly) and white Carrier. Previously I have used carrier window unit before and lasted rather long. But the saleperson recommended Pana but the colour is not nice.

ya, Carrier is good. my split is Carrier too. 27 degree is cool enough, and it is super quiet. very economic bill also....

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 13:57:24 GMT

caroline3sg — Sun, 09 May 2010 13:57:24 GMT

yes, it has some noise. Not quiet like split unit. I may consider getting window unit for my study room.

In the market, there is only 2 brands, grey Panasonic (if I remember the brand correctly) and white Carrier. Previously I have used carrier window unit before and lasted rather long. But the saleperson recommended Pana but the colour is not nice.

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 10:54:09 GMT

HyperKiasu — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:54:09 GMT

caroline3sg:
for window unit, the part of the window occupied by the aircon cannot close else the hot air cannot go out. Your curtain also cannot draw to cover the aircon.

i c. also heard windows unit quite noisy...

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 10:53:04 GMT

HyperKiasu — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:53:04 GMT

markfch:
HyperKiasu:

may i know what cause the difficulty in airflow circulation? the vendor told me the hot air will be circulated out of window through a hose connected with the window grille... is it the same for your dad's case?
In my dad's case, the bed was right next to the window so it was difficult to pull a hose from air-con to window. In the end, we had to left the bedroom door ajar for the hot air to come out. Quite unslightly.

i c.
the common room quite big. think i might need to rearrange the furniture...
thanks

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 08:20:51 GMT

caroline3sg — Sun, 09 May 2010 08:20:51 GMT

for window unit, the part of the window occupied by the aircon cannot close else the hot air cannot go out. Your curtain also cannot draw to cover the aircon.

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 07:31:23 GMT

markfch — Sun, 09 May 2010 07:31:23 GMT

HyperKiasu:

may i know what cause the difficulty in airflow circulation? the vendor told me the hot air will be circulated out of window through a hose connected with the window grille... is it the same for your dad's case?

In my dad's case, the bed was right next to the window so it was difficult to pull a hose from air-con to window. In the end, we had to left the bedroom door ajar for the hot air to come out. Quite unslightly.

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 06:29:01 GMT

HyperKiasu — Sun, 09 May 2010 06:29:01 GMT

Dear caroline3sg & markfch,

thanks for your reply.

my hubby dislike aircon thus yrs ago we installed split air con for two bedrooms only, leaving one common room unair-con.
now as kids are growing old plus parents will come to stay with us during school holidays, so i think portable can offer flexiblity so that it can be used for either living room and common room.
heard BTU 120000 can cool an area of 400 sqf.
no need to use ice.

may i know what cause the difficulty in airflow circulation? the vendor told me the hot air will be circulated out of window through a hose connected with the window grille… is it the same for your dad’s case?

for window units, does it have to be installed in the window or below/above window? it needs a pipe for water drainage?
appreciated your information…

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sun, 09 May 2010 04:56:26 GMT

markfch — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:56:26 GMT

My dad used to have a portable air-con but its use is limited as we had difficulty circulating the air-flow. Yes, I think window unit is still better.

Reply to Any recommendation for portable air con? on Sat, 08 May 2010 14:40:19 GMT

caroline3sg — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:40:19 GMT

why don’t you get windown unit? It is about $600+

I heard portable aircon uses ice (not sure if it is true). Not so good for bones if it is the case.