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Comment by starpilot | Hacker News Reader

Portable AC's exist because window units don't fit in sliding windows and you can't move them from room to room. That's the point of being portable! Believe me I'd love to be able to buy a $50 used window AC like I did in college if it fit my window.

In the video, the guy says he owns two portable AC's. So there's that.

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> because window units don't fit in sliding windows

Also, don't forget the ever-popular "apartment building doesn't allow anything protruding from the windows" rule.

Someone ought to make a reverse window unit. It would be like a regular one but hanging inward instead so it doesn't protrude. Supporting the weight might be a challenge but solvable with some legs or maybe angle brackets.

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.

the compressor makes heat in addition to being loud. Thats the other strike against portable AC units. The compressor is heating up in the room you want to cool

The whole point of a window unit is that the very hot compressor is outside the room you're heating. Without that, you may as well get a portable unit.

That's not a insurmountable problem using a bit of insulation and careful design.

Still just inventing a portable unit at that point.

But one without hoses, with less heat dump into the room, and alternative mounting.

These exist, usually an off the shelf through-wall AC unit with custom built sleeve and legs. You can see them (or not see them) in some of the landmark pre-war buildings with strict facade rules.

Thanks. Today I learned that window ACs and wall ACs are different things even though they look extremely similar.

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.

Midea has a u-shaped unit that won some awards.

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.

This is a thing? I've lived in many apartments (moved yearly for a decade) and never heard of it.

Yes. My apartment building in SF was part of a landmark legal case because many units stay over 80 degrees for large portions of the year due to poor consideration of solar factors. Usually only builders are sued for defective construction, in this case the architect was sued due to poor design.

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...

They'll be really annoyed when everywhere is flooded because they were wasting power, that'll change a lot of facades

Same here. My apartment windows only tilt upwards, so there was no way to use a window mount. A portable unit was the only way to go.

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.

I wish it was just code to have mini splits installed in every apartment. They're straight better than other options at both heating and cooling, and very affordable these days.

Can't say enough good things about my Mitsubishi split unit, installed a couple weeks aho during kitchen reno. It's quiet, efficient, powerful, and highly configurable / programmable.

I recently scored major points with the in-laws by convincing them to get a mini split for $800 instead of a window a/c-heater combo. Their place stays much cooler, and their electric bill went down by $125 last month.

Mini splits are fantastic. My experience from them has been from every home / small store I've ever lived in or visited while in south east asia. Window units can be annoying because of the wind they produce while I've never had issues with former.

Can you please take a picture of your setup? I’ve considered this before myself, but I’d say the barrier is people’s “imagination” around the design.

Send me an email (see profile)

You can fit it in a sliding window. Go to the hardware store and buy a sheet of 1-inch thick foil backed insulating styrofoam. Cut it to fit perfectly above the AC unit.

I don’t understand why we don’t have a vertical AC unit. I think they are just too used to making them square. Might have something to do with constructing the radiator. Or habit.

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