Portable Air Conditioners : A ‘Must-Have’ For Your Home
Posted by Knowledge Guy in Home Decor and Beauty, tags: Air Conditioning Units, Appliances, Btu, C Systems, Capability, Central Air Conditioning, Central Air Conditioning Units, Climate Control, Cool Air, Economic Sense, Endless Number, home air conditioners, Hot Air, Little Consideration, Perfect Sense, portable a/c, Portable Air Conditioner, Portable Air Conditioners, portable air conditioning, Portable Air Conditioning Units, Storage Space, Superstore, System CrashesWhen people think of home air conditioners, the first thing that usually comes into their minds are central air conditioning units or window units. Very little consideration is given to portable air conditioning units despite the fact that they are probably one of your most versatile appliances.
Just thinking off hand of situations like parents with children that have gone away to school 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. Yes, you will need a degree of climate control to keep your things from getting ruined, but it doesn’t require the same temperature as the areas of the home you occupy the most. 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 an endless number of ways to use a portable air conditioner in and around your home. They become invaluable if and when your main system crashes in the middle of the summer.
Portable A/C units are very cost effective. While shopping at the local superstore, I ran across a 7,000 BTU unit that cost less than $300. Not a lot of money to have a backup for your primary air conditioners and available if you need some extra spot cooling without causing your electric bill to spike out of control. Portable air conditioners also store away nicely when they are not in use. You don’t need to empty out your garage just to store it away. Portable air conditioners take up about the same amount of storage space as your vaccuum cleaner.
First off, you should buy a portable A/C system with the highest BTU rating you can afford. This will provide you with the maximum cooling capability for most any situation. Here is what you need to know before buying a portable air conditioner.
All A/C systems create cool air, but they need a way of removing the hot air. The hot air needs to go somewhere. Units come equipped with flexible duct tubing to expel hot air. Every unit I’ve seen also comes equipped with an adjustable window fitting. Doing some advanced planning for this may help in selecting the right system for you.
Another characteristic of air conditioners it that they dry out the air and create condensation. Central air conditioners dispose of condesnsation via PVC tubes connected to the sewage system. Window air conditioners channel the condesation out of the rear of the unit. Handling condesnsation is a problem for portable units due to their nature. The most common solution used is an internal container where it holds the condensation until you empty it. Most unit will turn themselves off when the water container gets full. Most systems will come supplied with reservoir, or a hose to allow you to route the condensation outdoors. 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.