# Portable air conditioner (on wheels) - how is heat vented?



## wahoowad (Jul 2, 2012)

I'm learning about portable air conditioners that you can wheel from room to room as desired. I'm curious how they handle the exhaust heat that a traditional window unit produces...? I imagine they have a hose or bucket to collect the condensation but you can't just release the heat back in the room???

I've had just as many prolonged summer power outages as I have had winter storm outages. My generator can run the fridge and one of these portable AC units to keep a bedroom cool for mom and the pets.


----------



## Dix (Jul 2, 2012)

They work fairly well, but need to be ducted with a hose (usually supplied) for venting purposes..

http://www.royalsovereign.com/appliances/portable-air-conditioners-1.html

I don't recommend the brand, but that's the style.

What about the wall mounted units, can the gennie power those?

http://www.lg.com/global/products/air-conditioner/index.jsp

This style needs to be vented too.


----------



## MasterMech (Jul 3, 2012)

Generator will power a window/wall unit just as well as a portable.   Portables vent out the window with a flex hose, like dryer vent hose.  The downside to portables is that their efficiency is usually mediocre at best.


----------



## save$ (Jul 3, 2012)

We have a portable and it does as good a job as any of my three widow ones did.  The advantage is they don't have be lifted up and fitted to the window.  The disadvantage is that they cost a more to  buy. I have two heavy window units that are on the floor in a closet.  Too heavy for us.   We are cooling the main living area of our home with a portable unit and with one small window unit for our bedroom.  I won't' turn them on unless it is in  the upper 80's.


----------



## maple1 (Jul 3, 2012)

We've got one smaller sized window unit, that can keep only one small area of the house liveable when it's really hot. It's a real pain to put in & take out every year. I think the next addition will be a mini-split rather than an air conditioner - they seem to have come a long way, and if we can put it off a couple of years should hopefully be even better. A heat pump water heater is even on the radar, but I'm not sure they can move enough BTUs to give much noticeable AC effect - still reading up on those. Just seems a waste to generate all that heat & just dump it out the window, when there is technology out there to store it & heat water with it - using less electricity in the process.


----------



## firebroad (Jul 3, 2012)

The portables are fine if you have those tiny windows (or no windows) that a window unit cannot fit into.  When I moved into my latest home, the main room had a bow window with the side vents that crank open, and placing an air conditioner in another room would not be effective.  My neighbor, whose home was constructed by the same builder, had a similar problem and had a large hole cut into the stone wall to accommodate a window unit; it has since died (so has the neighbor), and the new owners put in a portable with a vent.
My solution was to have central air installed, which, while somewhat more expensive initially, is actually cheaper to run that two window units.  Of course, I only have one floor and the air handler sits in the attic with the vents in the ceiling.  If I could not have afforded such a system, I probably would have gotten a portable--easier to take out in the winter, that's for sure!


----------



## BrotherBart (Jul 3, 2012)

What has kept me away from portables is draining the condensation from them.

I use a generator often in winter but this was the first summer event where cooling was a must and it was a learning experience. Running two small and one large refrigerator and two window units on a generator can be an adventure. Five significant inductive loads that cycle a lot. And sometimes two or more at the same time.


----------



## firebroad (Jul 3, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> What has kept me away from portables is draining the condensation from them.


 
Never even gave that a thought  Sure wouldn't want to dump that every day, or even 2X


----------



## BrotherBart (Jul 3, 2012)

firebroad said:


> Never even gave that a thought Sure wouldn't want to dump that every day, or even 2X


 
With our humidity around here it is gonna be more than 2X a day. And you ain't gonna be leaving the house for long with it running if you don't have it hooked to a drain.


----------



## slim (Jul 3, 2012)

Some units advertise reversabilty so that if used per directions, the unit can act as a heater [heat pump]


----------



## save$ (Jul 3, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> With our humidity around here it is gonna be more than 2X a day. And you ain't gonna be leaving the house for long with it running if you don't have it hooked to a drain.


No no no,  you don't need to have a unit that you need to dump water.  I don't doubt there are units that do need to, but mine and all the ones I have seen do not have to be dumped even when you run the dehumidifier mode.  http://www.bestbuy.com/site/DeLongh...48121321&skuId=2699383#tabbed-customerreviews.  My unit works like a charm and I don't ever see any dripping water.  You roll the unit to near a window.  Connect this large vent tubing to the back of he unit and to an adustable sliding panel that you close the window on.  (about 6 inches).  Plug it in and you are done.  Check the reviews for these units.  Some much better than others.  Good ones really do a good job and can be used where you may never been ale to install a unit before.  Such as mobile home window that won't support the wt. of a window unit.


----------



## firebroad (Jul 3, 2012)

save$ said:


> No no no, you don't need to have a unit that you need to dump water. I don't doubt there are units that do need to, but mine and all the ones I have seen do not have to be dumped even when you run the dehumidifier mode. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/DeLonghi - C Series 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner - White/2699383.p;jsessionid=1551262E18AA3C944D02CC4A200A6D1D.bbolsp-app03-38?id=1218348121321&skuId=2699383#tabbed-customerreviews. My unit works like a charm and I don't ever see any dripping water. You roll the unit to near a window. Connect this large vent tubing to the back of he unit and to an adustable sliding panel that you close the window on. (about 6 inches). Plug it in and you are done. Check the reviews for these units. Some much better than others. Good ones really do a good job and can be used where you may never been ale to install a unit before. Such as mobile home window that won't support the wt. of a window unit.


So...where does the water go?  Is there an evaporation coil, if so that must get pretty expensive to run?


----------



## woodgeek (Jul 3, 2012)

The water goes into the output air stream....as it is quite hot, it can easily carry the H2O load.


----------



## maple1 (Jul 3, 2012)

I did bring a fairly large portable AC home once. I forget the brand - maybe Whirlpool - but it went right back to the store when I unpacked it & read in the instructions about emptying the self-contained bucket dealio of condensate, same procedure as a dehumidifier. There was no indication that procedure was required in anything printed on the outside of the box. Might have been able to rig up a drain tube of some kind, but not in the place it was going to go.


----------



## BrotherBart (Jul 3, 2012)

Yeah they took the drains off of window units a few years ago because slapping the water up and blowing it through the condenser raised the efficiency numbers. And on high humidity days had water pouring out of the front of my A/C units. Until I drilled those holes in the bottom of them outside of the windows.


----------



## save$ (Jul 3, 2012)

maple1 said:


> I did bring a fairly large portable AC home once. I forget the brand - maybe Whirlpool - but it went right back to the store when I unpacked it & read in the instructions about emptying the self-contained bucket dealio of condensate, same procedure as a dehumidifier. There was no indication that procedure was required in anything printed on the outside of the box. Might have been able to rig up a drain tube of some kind, but not in the place it was going to go.


There is an attachment that goes on the bucket of most dehumidifiers that will automatically keep the bucket empty.  It is sort of like a inline sump pump.  This attaches to a hose you can set to drain off where you want.  Available t HD for $77
I don't notice my portable unit using anymore electricity than any other ac unit of the same cooling capacity.   No bucket in my portable unit.  My cooling cost are not too significant because there are very few days I will run it for any length of time.  I don't mind a warm room, but I can't stand a hot and humid room.   Usually not too many of those here in Maine.


----------



## seige101 (Jul 3, 2012)

save$ said:


> There is an attachment that goes on the bucket of most dehumidifiers that will automatically keep the bucket empty. It is sort of like a inline sump pump. This attaches to a hose you can set to drain off where you want. Available t HD for $77.



Save $40 and buy a automatic condensate pump from amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AHT78O/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 i had it drain into the drain for my water softener.  If you don't have a drain handy you could drill a hole to outside and have it water a spot of grass or a flower bed.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AHT78O/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


----------



## MasterMech (Jul 3, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> Yeah they took the drains off of window units a few years ago because slapping the water up and blowing it through the condenser raised the efficiency numbers. And on high humidity days had water pouring out of the front of my A/C units. Until I drilled those holes in the bottom of them outside of the windows.


 
We've got a few of those evaporation type A/C's at work that keep the electronics cabinets cool.  After the second time it started raining in a cabinet holding several thousands of dollars worth of equipment the drill came out and there is a now a drain tube.

And while slapping water through the condensor with the fan might boost efficiency numbers, it ain't the quietest process.  Now where's that drill.....


----------



## thinkxingu (Jul 6, 2012)

A little late to the party, but I had a portable A/C unit for one month.  Though I never had to drain it (condensate exits with hot air through exhaust tube), it was...well...crap.  The exhaust tube got real hot, which radiated heat into the room; it was real hard to seal the exhaust vent to the window; it was loud and not all that easy to move when considering the changes to the exhaust tube for each room; and it ate power like crazy.  I sold it on CL and put in central air.

S


----------



## Hogwildz (Jul 9, 2012)

I have a portable that has one vent for the hot exhaust air, and a tube that the condensation drains outside with.
The newer models have an OAK & an  exhaust tube.
Without the OAK, the unit draws hot air in from the rest of the house and in my case on real hot days the only cool spot is right in front of the cold air vent on the a/c unit. The rest of the room only gets a little cooler at best. On days like today it does cool the room better. If I was to ever get another portable, it would be the one with the OAK to remedy this problem.


----------



## ironpony (Jul 9, 2012)

thinkxingu said:


> A little late to the party, but I had a portable A/C unit for one month. Though I never had to drain it (condensate exits with hot air through exhaust tube), it was...well...crap. The exhaust tube got real hot, which radiated heat into the room; it was real hard to seal the exhaust vent to the window; it was loud and not all that easy to move when considering the changes to the exhaust tube for each room; and it ate power like crazy. I sold it on CL and put in central air.
> 
> S


 
my experience also


----------

