Portable air conditioners: yeah or nay?

I remember a thread of disgruntled portable AC users last year but I have heard the technology has gotten better. What are you to do when you can't jam a window unit in? Anyone happy with their brand? Help. It is getting hot.

Portable A/C units are pretty much your only option if you aren't willing to/unable to get a window unit. The most important thing I would say is to figure out how many BTUs of power you need from a unit. The main factor in determining this is calculating how many square feet the area to be cooled is, followed by secondary factors such as how much sunlight the area gets, if a kitchen is in the area, and how many people will occupy the area at any time.

Here's a decent guide from Lowes
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=BuyGuide/AirConditioner.html

As for portable AC units themselves, having used one, I would say they are basically a fan that blows cold air. They can keep a room at a decent temperature during a normal day in the high 70s/80s, but once a heatwave hits, it really can't handle it. They can get the job done for a small bedroom so if you're sharing an apt with roommates, you can keep your room comfortable with a portable unit.

Also remember you don't want to go overboard on the BTUs, get too powerful a unit, and it won't properly dehumidify the room making it very uncomfortable.

Hope all that helps!

We have a portable in our bedroom. The previous post is pretty much dead on. It's effective enough to keep a small room comfortable, but don't expect much more.

Those things look like massive energy guzzlers, and don't you have to stick a hose out a window or something on them?

I wonder if cooling down a difficult room could be just done with one or two really good Vornado fans....

I'm going with "Nay."

the problem is that when you stick a portable AC in a small enough room - all the cooling is undone by the excessive heat from the unit itself. its SUCH a bad idea unless you really have no other option.

So I'm curious why you can't use a regualr window unit? Even if you only have 1 window and it is over the fire escape you should be able to put a window unit inthe top of the window as long as it does not protrude past the sill and the bottom sash goes up high enough

BrooklynJack wrote: So I'm curious why you can't use a regualr window unit? Even if you only have 1 window and it is over the fire escape you should be able to put a window unit inthe top of the window as long as it does not protrude past the sill and the bottom sash goes up high enough

I suppose we could put the unit in the top of the window. I prefer NOT to use air conditioning unless it is oppressively hot and like fresh air in the room (our ceiling fan works really well). But maybe we could deal with the top of the window if that allows us to keep the window open most of the time.