Portable Air Conditioners : A ‘Must-Have’ For Your Home

  

When thinking of home air conditioning, most people quickly envision window air conditioners or central A/C systems. Seldom does portable air conditioning get the first nod even if they are arguably one of the most versatile appliances you could own in your home.

Consider situations like couples with children that have moved on that live in large centrally air conditioned homes. It doesn’t make economic sense to keep all of those unused rooms fully air conditioned throughout the summer. Of course you will need a degree of climate control to keep your possessions from getting damaged, but it doesn’t need to be at the same temperature as your primary living areas. In a case like this, a portable air conditioner would make perfect sense. It is especially appreciated in the bedroom when trying to fall asleep at night. There are quite a number of cost saving applications for portable air conditioners. I have used mine on numerous occasions when we had a problem with our central air conditioning system.

Portable A/C units are very cost effective. During one of my last shopping adventures, I came across a 7K BTU system for around $300. That is a cheap solution to lowering your electric bill. Portable air conditioners also store away nicely when they are not in use. It’s not like you have to go out and buy a metal storage shed or build an extension on your home. Most portable air conditioners are about the same height and slightly wider than your vacuum cleaner just to give you an idea of the type of space they will consume for storage and use.

First and foremost, buy a unit with the highest BTU rating that you can afford. This will provide you with the maximum cooling capability for most any situation. There are a few other things you will need to consider before purchasing a portable air conditioner.

All air conditioners create exhaust which is the hot air being removed from the area being cooled. The hot air needs to go somewhere. Flexible duct is included with most units to channel exhaust away from the area being cooled. Most all units come packaged with a window adapter. You need to consider where you will most likely be using your unit and make sure you have access to an exhaust location and that the exhaust solution provided will work for you.

Another attribute of air conditioners it that they dry out the air and create condensation. Most central air conditioning systems dispose of this condensation with a series of pipes connected to the sewage system. Window air conditioners channel the condesation out of the rear of the unit. Because these are portable systems, they have to come up with another method.  The most common solution employed is an internal tub where the condensation is stored until you manually empty it. Most units will have a built-in cut-off switch that turns off the unit if the condensation container becomes full. Other units will come with a fixture to allow you to connect a hose and channel the condensation away from the unit. In either case, you need to be advised that if you plan to use a portable air conditioning unit in a high humidity area, you should make allowances for the condensation that will be created by using a portable air conditioner.

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