Very interesting video from Technology Connections <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-mBeYC2KGc> "Portable Air Conditioners - Why you shouldn't like them".
... if you ignore the energy consumption, which is the whole point of the video.
Noisy and inefficient is a good description. Granted, it had to run off a regular 15A outlet so it was never going to be as powerful as the one in the attic. But it made sleeping possible by getting the temperature below 85F (30C).
The content might be interesting, but it's way too long. The guy goes on way too many tangents and adds way too much filler. You probably can boil the whole video down to a few bullet points, yet it's 16 minutes long.
Seems to be unique
Watching his videos reminds me of university and being in a really high quality lecture or lab session.
> Seriously, either we need to get more awareness of how dumb single-hose portable A/C units are, or we need to just use window units whenever possible. While I know that there are times a portable unit is the only option (remember, I’m in that boat), it seems that only very high capacity, premium machines have the facility to use two hoses. Which is frankly stupid but then again that’s what I’m trying to tell you now.
Yes, you "shouldn't like them," unless it's you're only option, like in his case.
In the video, the guy says he owns two portable AC's. So there's that.
Also, don't forget the ever-popular "apartment building doesn't allow anything protruding from the windows" rule.
Of course it would take up more space and be louder than a regular window unit, but at least it wouldn't require hoses. Plus it could drip condensation out the window through a short tube.
For anyone reading this, presumably because windows are thin and walls are thick, window ACs are expected to stick out and thus have vents on the sides, whereas wall ACs have vents only on the back surface.
So as long as you figure out drainage (so condensation doesn't just land on the windowsill), you can install a wall AC in a window and have it not protrude.
The compressor and radiator are outside. A section a couple inches tall contains the pipes, wiring, and braces. The fan, blower, filter and thermostat are in the front bit. Your window panes (hopefully double glazed or better?) and a couple inches of foam provide the sound dampening. The lowest displacement model claims 47dB with the fan and compressor at full bore.
We received funds but the funds were not enough to retrofit a 600-unit building with central A/C. However, the city of SF will not permit wall-mounted mini-split units nor window units in the building, since that’s a change to the facade. So we’re stuck with portable units...
https://aepronet.org/california-supreme-court-rules-against-...
https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/2014/s...
But I created a wedge-shaped mount for the hose ports that fits in the triangular window gap exactly, so the room is still relatively sealed. When summer is over, the mount is disassembled and stored flat.
I've never seen anyone else do this. I've always hated the look of hoses dangling out of open apartment windows and of course that's terribly inefficient. Every time I see our windows from the outside I'm rather jazzed at how great-looking the solution is.
Typically we get just a few days where it stays over 80 °F with high humidity, so I guess it isn't particularly adaptation.
I once went hiking. I checked the forecast and the maximum was 72. Great! I almost had a heat stroke - very bad day. I confirmed later that the temperature was not higher. And I've hiked at warmer temperatures just fine.
This is why when I buy a car, I want to make sure it's trivial for me to adjust both the flow of air and the level of cool/heat independent of each other, and not rely on the temperature setting. Almost all cars let you do that these days, but there was a period where some cars did not let you do that. Having a thermostat and letting you maintain a temperature is really not much of a feature if the variance in the "right" temperature is too large.