Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
I’m looking at getting a portable air conditioner for my bedroom at home. My disturbed sleep stresses my arthritis and my depression and given the heat we’ve had over the last few years seems a sensible purchase.
Is a window seal necessary? There are some anecdotes across the internet showing reductions of up to 78%, which makes you think twice. Looking at what’s being suggested/sold, they’re fine netting akin to net curtains, not looking likely to stop heat sinking in through the window. If I’ve got heavy-duty curtains and I keep them closed whilst the hose hangs out of the window, would that be enough to offset that reduction?
Window seals are pretty essential for the outlets on mobile ac units. Buy one for a tenner from Argos or make fashion your own, either way the effort is worthwhile. Especially with energy bills going the way they are.
Amazon sometimes do them for under £300, and they'll be around 9,000-10,000 BTU which is fine for a bedroom and will make a dent in a living area too.
You'll get used to the noise, but must be aware of the security implications of using one on a ground floor - so it won't be wise to leave it on when you go out to keep a room cool. However, mine cools a room in 10-15 minutes. I can sleep with it, and my model has a sleep mode that gradually increases the target temperature (both saving money and meaning you won't wake up with the room being freezing).
I have an older unit that needs a recharge, but it's 15 years old. Still works fairly well, but not as good as the second unit. That's only a few years old, but do the maths and you'll see that £300 for something that should last 10 years or more is not very expensive.
Both models came with various accessories to seal a window, and you could potentially drill a big hole for the vent pipe (with a flap on the outside).
Get one that can heat as well and you have a backup for any heating problems you may have.
Ideally, look into a split system with fitting. They'll be way more efficient, quieter, have no security issues and cool a larger area. I haven't looked recently, but 10 years ago I enquired and I think you could get one fitted for £700 or so. Probably more now (especially when it's hot!) but it has many advantages. Most likely adds a bit of value to the house too.
This year, I've used it for about 10 days - so the operating cost isn't too crazy. It means a nice, comfortable sleep - or the ability to work from home (the only issue being the noise if you need to make a call).
Used to have a portable unit, (actually fairly cumbersome to carry around the house). It cooled a room well, but was noisy and quite expensive to run. Always found getting the hose to form a good seal in different rooms with different size windows was a real pain.
Since moving house had a proper unit installed (Mitsubishi wall mounted units with an inverter outside). Its a dream, virtually silent, cools very fast. It’s a different league regarding efficiency and quietness. Worth every penny (and can also use it to heat house, or just provide ventilation which is handy in high pollen season if have allergies), and can be used to dehumidify as well.
Used to have a portable unit, (actually fairly cumbersome to carry around the house). It cooled a room well, but was noisy and quite expensive to run. Always found getting the hose to form a good seal in different rooms with different size windows was a real pain.
Since moving house had a proper unit installed (Mitsubishi wall mounted units with an inverter outside). Its a dream, virtually silent, cools very fast. It’s a different league regarding efficiency and quietness. Worth every penny (and can also use it to heat house, or just provide ventilation which is handy in high pollen season if have allergies), and can be used to dehumidify as well.
I really should look into this again, but right now I'm thinking the next wise investment is solar panels and a home battery to try and become less reliant on the grid. Every price increase makes solar a better investment!
I had exactly this problem last year. Mrs BR bought the portable air conditioner, without (as is often the case) understanding how it would work.
We bought one of the window seal net curtainy type things, but it was absolutely useless. It wouldn’t fit properly and even if it did it would have been difficult to install on the type of window we have given it’s location.
so I got inventive. I bought a clear acrylic sheet from B&Q that was roughly the same size as the casement of the window concerned (about £30 IIRC) and some Velcro tape. I cut the sheet to size, then cut a hole a little larger than the end fitting of the exhaust pipe, in the right place in the sheet to get the air out when the window was open. Velcro around the edge of the sheet to match the frame of the window. Works a charm. And outside summer, the sheet lives with the air conditioner in the spare room.
One thing to watch out for with this admittedly Heath Robinson system - it essentially seals the room, and therefore the air con creates negative pressure. Until I worked that out, I couldn’t understand why the sheet kept blowing off the window, despite the velcro being more than strong enough. The answer is to leave the door into the room slightly ajar, which doesn’t noticeably affect the rate at which the room cools.
@Bayum i can send you some pics if you like - PM me if so.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I really should look into this again, but right now I'm thinking the next wise investment is solar panels and a home battery to try and become less reliant on the grid. Every price increase makes solar a better investment!
I‘ve investigated recently, and discovered a few things:
1) Solar PV installers are very busy, and bumping up prices accordingly as they know how much you will save
2) Not all houses have roofs that are easy to get a decent amount of panels on
3) A battery is only worth it if you have a bigger PV system. It is typically much cheaper, albeit a little less efficient, to install a solar switch on the immersion and use excess PV to heat the tank, using that as a quasi battery (albeit with the output being hot water).
The high demand and prices inevitably being increased is a big problem. I think waiting until winter might help a bit (people less likely to want to order solar when the panels are least efficient) just as waiting until winter is a great time to buy an air conditioner.
The high demand and prices inevitably being increased is a big problem. I think waiting until winter might help a bit (people less likely to want to order solar when the panels are least efficient) just as waiting until winter is a great time to buy an air conditioner.
We’re a little off topic, but I gather the demand for panels is so high at present that supply is rather tight. If electricity prices do go up to c50p / kWh and stay there, the pay back period for a simple 4kW home system without a battery will be in the region of 4-5 years. With that sort of ROI every commercial business (and most public businesses!) with a decent roof should be looking to put up systems ASAP.
The high demand and prices inevitably being increased is a big problem. I think waiting until winter might help a bit (people less likely to want to order solar when the panels are least efficient)...
Actually, PV efficiency is inversely proportional to temperature. Cold panels generate significantly more power than hot. As an example, the panels I installed at my parent's house would exceeded the maximum voltage of the charge controller at 20°C, fortunately the temperature never goes below 27° during the day.
Actually, PV efficiency is inversely proportional to temperature. Cold panels generate significantly more power than hot. As an example, the panels I installed at my parent's house would exceeded the maximum voltage of the charge controller at 20°C, fortunately the temperature never goes below 27° during the day.
I know the efficiency is impacted by heat, but I still think people are less likely to think of solar in the winter, and especially around Christmas time when people are considering other expenditures.
I am only referring to the time to enquire and order a system, not when it will work best. I've seen the graphs and can see how they are expected to work over any given year.
Of course the next price hike may trigger more interest in the winter..!
Perhaps not as efficient as it could be, but the combination of cooler air, the dehumidifying that it also does, and the fact it is moving the cooler air it generates around the room (so is also having a fan-like effect), makes all the difference between a rather unbearable day and a perfectly comfortable one.
As for price, my unit cost about £500 a couple of years ago. At current electricity prices it costs about £3 to run for 12 hours.
Last month (July) there were some scary news items about very high temperatures for my area and my age group (mid 80s), so I visited my local Currys and Homebase. From Homebase, I bought a £300 "portable" air conditioner with stretchable hose & window fitting. Since than I've had the air conditioner at the top of my stairs, with the hose leading out at a convenient window, and with the cooled air blowing down the stairs and thence into my lounge and kitchen. I don't run it at night but during the day, it does a fair job of making me more comfortable whilst in the lounge watching TV. (I can't hear the noise when I'm in the lounge.) Once the ambient temperature dropped a little, I didn't have it "on", but it's "on" now, and I'm feeling the benefit of it.
Hi,
One alternative option you might want to consider is the humble ceiling fan.
Of course it provides no actual cooling whatsoever but I have found they can make a significant improvement to how a room feels. I have them in some rooms and moving air compared to stationary air is so much better. To me it can make the difference between being able to sleep or not.
There are many different types available and, whilst you either have to fit it yourself or pay someone to do so, it's significantly cheaper to buy and to run than A/C.
Good luck staying cool.
Mr Toad
I answer phone, as I’m quite near it for once…
hello it’s mumble mumble loft insulation
Didnt quite hear that…
mumble mumble insulation government scheme
Where are you ringing from…
mumble
Where are you calling from…
an international call centre in the Philippines.
Really? It must be the middle of the night there, do you get paid much for helping with this sort of scamming?
silence
click
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
