hail-hail

Hi Folks, looking to buy a portable Air Con Unit for the house, as the good lady wife found last years heat unbearable, and we will also have a new born very soon .

I have done a little looking around and the prices vary from £200 to anything.
They seems to be based on Btu (British Thermal Units) which tell the power output, i.e. the more the better, i think.

Does anyone have one or could recommend one, I dont mind spending money on the correct product.

Brendan Hughes

Portable ones will only do a small to medium sized room. Bought one last year after a year of agonising, crap in our living room (15'x15'), crap in our bedroom (15'x8'), only really worked in our son's room (9'x9'), and noisy as hell! Took it back 2 days later.

There's a ratio of BTUs to room volume, and portables aren't really made for big rooms (awaits expert to correct me).

Much better to get a split unit if you can - noise stays outside, and you can get more power.

hail-hail

Cheers Bren, which unit did you buy and how much was it, just so I know what to avoid

Brendan Hughes

Well it was in Lisbon, so I don't think you'll be buying it . Not only that, but I couldn't find one for less than 400 quid, yet there were posts on here about units in B&Q for 150-odd! How I hate edge-of-Europe monopoly markets...

Basically, all the portables I saw were about 7-8000 BTUs, and the calculations showed that any decent room needed 11-12 000 BTUs minimum. We thought it would work, but it very clearly didn't. We couldn't get a split as a) nowhere to mount the outside unit in the high flat, and b) we were renting, so couldn't punch a hole in the wall.

A friend tells me a substantial dehumidifier can make a big difference on its own to your perception of how unpleasant the room is.

JayPSC

I bought the £180 from B&Q (8000 BTU) & it works quite nicely, using it in my 10x15 bedroom full of electrical stuff & it seems ok (only been using it past 2 days).

Depends what size room you trying to cool but I'd recommend the B&Q one, simply because it's impossible to even find a 2nd had unit for under £200

Brit_in_Japan

At the risk of stating the bloody obvious, you should make sure that any portable unit vents the hot air to outside. If it doesn't the net effect will be to increase the room temperature!

hail-hail

lol at Jap, they come with a hose that you stick out the window

Jay, I can't find any at B&Q online, but have found :

This one from Comet

As stated everything else appears to be £400 plus. Does this look to be a similar spec to yours?

JayPSC

Strange, they seem to have stopped selling it. The Comet one seems pretty good for £200 though (more powerful than mine) - I'd go for it if I were you, just take it back if it's crap

Jay

HankScorpio

I had one from B&Q two years ago, it didn't like being moved (rattled something terrible when you did) and failed after it had been stored for 3 months.
Got one of these http://www.easyaircon.co.uk/acatalog...led_Units.html last year and it's been a lot better, no problems at all.
Expensive - yes, worth it - definitely, you can't put a price on a decent nights sleep, especially when you haven't had one for three weeks!

sparkykev

I you put the vent through a open window, unless its a small one, you end up letting the heat back in, i've routed mine through a built in wardrobe through the ceiling into the loft, works much better, but still noisey, ok if you have it on a hour before bed, cools the room down nice.

MrShades

I've got a portable unit from B&Q, not massively expensive but damn heavy - 12,000BTU - which was the highest rating I could find in a portable unit.

I work from home, and last year it was a godsend. It would cool the top of my house to a reasonable level if left on. When it was really hot, I'd put it in the bedroom prior to retiring - though on a few occasions it made it too cold and I had to warm under the duvet.

Well worth it, if you can get a good one. Split units are better - but more cumbersome. BTUs are king...

Shades