Portable units may be the only option to cool a house and when choosing one pay attention to the mechanism, pricing and several other factors.
When there is no whole house air conditioning or a practical way to attach a window unit, portable room air conditioner is the only option to cool your room. These units come totally packaged and only thing you need to do is to plug into an electrical outlet. Consider these before buying a unit.
Cooling mechanism
This has been a key issue with portable air conditioners. Many units do not perform at the stated level. A typical air conditioner comes with a low-profile vent adapter bracket that allows you to hang the unit so that it can exhaust hot and humid air from inside the space. But this very same air is what you are trying to cool down. This is why true portable air conditioners have two vent pipes, one to exhaust hot air to outside and another to bring air to cool the condenser coils. Some units come with fan coil units. Some may have a hose to drain the water too. Single hose units come in 7,000 to 9,000 Btu/hr range and are appropriate for a single 100 sq. ft. room. The mid-range unit could produce 12,000 or 13,000 Btu/hr. Units over 14K is good for whole house but keep in mind these are portable units and not necessarily intended to cool a whole house. Pay attention to hose length when buying a unit and buy a notch more than the recommended capacity for the intended space. Check out the selection of portable units available at www.movincool.com.
Pricing
The lower end portable air conditioners may fetch $300 but depend on features other higher range units could cost over thousand dollars. Dual hoses add to the cost and a pump to drain water out may add additional dollars. Name brands could cost bit more than other units in the market. Size of the fan and condenser unit or better known as fan coil units is important in selecting a unit and they could add to the cost of the unit too. Whatever price you pay, look at the warranty especially for the compressor and get a unit with a better warranty.
Other considerations
Some units require 220 volt outlets. Pay attention to this most homes do not have this in the living room or bedrooms. Filters may cost extra. Reusable filters may serve better than disposable. Pay attention to the weight of the unit since you will be moving the portable room air conditioner unit around the house or up or down stairs as needed.
The online retailor www.movincool.com carries a wide range of portable air conditioners for all your cooling needs.