Brendan Hughes

I have to buy a small aircon for our rented flat for this summer. Did a bit of price research last year (lots of portables around 4-600 quid), but never really understood specifications, BTUs etc. Can anyone give tips - style, brands to buy or avoid, special models? My main problem is the arrangement of the flat means it will not be easy to vent, or to get a split unit and put the noisy bit outside (though split units seem to be pretty expensive anyway).

Would I be better off just getting a dehumidifier?

Thanks for any tips

Brendan (in a nice aircon'd office all day but with wife melting at home)

mj

Air-con and dehumidifiers are different animals.

Air con cools/warms air, dehumidifiers dry air.

B&Q were doing portable air con units for about £200 quid a while back, though I don't know if theey are any good or not.

spanner76

hi ya mate
as an air con engineer i would say after looking at them that the b&q units are ok for domestic use.
if you have a large flat 300sq ft or more go for a split unit a mitsubishi slim jim, or an airedale unit, i would avoid imi as i seem to repair/recharge more of them.

phone around places like control center , hrp and nrs do a/c units , you can have units which cool only or units which have a heat pump attached to heat as well
split units need a service every 12 months , also they should be charged with r407c (£104.oo for 13kg)a small split unit with a small run (pipe work between the outdoor and indoor unit)will have about 1.5-3kg of gas in it , but as you see the price for a recharge will be high.
the other choice is a sealed unit , these are not very repairable.
hope this helps any more q's mail me

spanner_man75@hotmail.com