Why Should You Get a Portable Air Conditioner?

Portable air conditioners are just as good as window AC units, with very minimal installation needed. They offer a versatile and efficient way to cool a smaller room down. This guide explains the inner workings of portable air conditioners and how they keep your small room and chilly one.

How Do Portable Air Conditioners Work?

It’s pretty much the same as any other ACs. They share the same basic refrigeration principles as other types of AC units. However, their design and functionality are designed for its flexibility and ease of use.

Key Components of a Portable AC

Evaporator: Absorbs heat from indoor air environment.

Compressor: The refrigerant gets pressurized, preps the heat to be released.

Condenser: Releases absorbed heat from indoors to outdoors.

Fan: This helps circulate the air over the evaporator and condenser coils, which aids the heat exchange process

Exhaust Hose: This vents the hot air out of the room through a window or a dedicated vent

The Portable AC’s Cooling Cycle

Air Intake: The portable AC unit draws in hot room air and moves it over the cold evaporator coil.

Heat Absorption: The refrigerant in the evaporator coil then absorbs the heat from the air, cooling the air down.

Heat Expulsion: The refrigerant, which is now hot, releases the absorbed heat to the outdoors through the exhaust hose.

Cool Air Circulation: The cooled air in the system is then circulated back into the room, lowering your room’s temperature.

Dual Hose vs Single Hose Portable Air

A crucial aspect of a portable air conditioner unit is the venting system. For it to effectively more heat out from the room, the portable ACs should come with an exhaust hose that can be attached to a window, door, or a wall vent. Ensuring proper venting is important for hot air to stay out of the room, and allowing the portable AC unit to operate efficiently.

Single Hose (Better for smaller rooms): Single hose models are the default variants of portable air conditioners, which are a lot more common. They typically use a single hose to exhaust hot air out of a room through the window or any venting points.

Dual Hose (More efficient for bigger rooms): It’s on the title, that means it has a second hose to exhaust hot air out a room. For bigger rooms, these are way more efficient, balanced and cools a room down double or more compared to a single hose portable AC.

When setting up a portable air conditioner, make sure you have a vent and choosing the right spot for your venting is important for your AC performance. The venting process is crucial as mentioned, it extracts hot air out of your room. Not to mention, it also extracts moisture

Why a Portable AC is Suitable For You?

These are typical use cases or buyers of portable air conditioners, each of these categories have unique needs that make a portable AC unit an attractive option:

Renters and Apartment Dwellers: Renters typically seek portable air conditioners for their non-perment residence.

Specific Room Cooling Needs: Homeowners at times, may purchase a portable air conditioner to cool specific areas or rooms that does not have central AC vents tied into, such as, sunrooms, garages, or a detached house.

Mild Climate Homes: People living in areas where hot weather is not consistent, but have short months of hot summers.

Energy Saving Supplemental Cooling: Some users may buy a portable air conditioner to supplement their own central cooling systems, to save energy when the whole house does not need cooling.

Temporary Housing Situations: short-term rental homes, dorms, or mobile homes might not have existing AC therefore, having something that is flexible would be ideal.

These Are The Things You Need to Install A Portable AC

If you’ve already decided to go with a portable AC unit, these are the things you need to prepare before you install the unit.

Ventilation Kit: Most portable AC units come with a venting kit for expelling hot air outside.

Exhaust Hose: This hose is important for directing hot air from AC unit to a venting area.

Drainage Hose or Tray: Portable ACs dehumidify the air indoors and it the moisture collected should be collected in a tray or bucket.

Electrical Outlet: A dedicated electrical outlet is needed to power the unit

Insulating Material: To ensure proper efficiency, make sure to insulate the ventilation area around the installed venting kit.

Space Requirements: Make sure you have enough space based on a Portable unit that you have decided.

Portable Air Conditioner vs Other Air Conditioners

To help you understand the difference between portable air conditioner and other types of air conditioners, I’ve created comparison below.

These cost of different AC systems provide a overview of what you might expect to spend initially on an AC unit. However, it’s also smart to consider AC maintenance, operation, potential repair costs over time.