Portabale AC units?

[Tman122]

Or a good option for those of us who have an all electric house with no duct work. Not really a doit yourself project unless your good. Pipes full of Coolant. 240v Power.

[Vinny]

Here's my $0.02.

Anything that produces cool air also produces heat. I would think that if you can position the unit outside the room you want cooled and pipe in the cool air you will be OK. I would also think that if it's in the same room it will be very inefficient.

AC units do produce heat and heat pumps (basically AC units running in reverse) can heat a house if the temp isn't too cold. I have central air and in the summer with my house already at 72º it produces a lot of heat when the comporessor kicks on.

I didn't look at any of the links but I believe a split unit is more like a room or 2 central AC unit (I'm thinking similar to a hotels unit except where the compressor is outside). This seemed like a good way to put AC into a house as long as you don't mind the compressor units outside around the house.

I can understand the not wanting to use a window AC unit but their sizes are coming down. A friend at work bought a 11000 BTU LG air conditioner and he said it is small and comes with a remote, I haven't seen it myself so I can't tell you any dimensions. I think it also has a SEER of at least 10.

The other alternative if you have the money is high velocity central air. Apparently they can retrofit older homes and supposedly it works great. Unlike regular central AC they install small (3" ?) pipes and it works by creating a high velocity of the air coming out of the small ducts.

I don't know much about AC although I researched a lot when I was buying a new furnace and AC unit. I also work with some people who do work on commercial AC units so I picked their brains a little. Unfortunately most of my knowledge is with central air units but it may also apply to the room AC units too (the heat they produce is something that I know for sure about).

I hope this helps!

[Tman122]

Actualy the units we are looking at and talking about do not pipe in cool air. The pump/compressor sits outside and the pipes are full of a coolant R-128 or whatever that junk it. The small pipes are run up the outside of your house along with another set of wires from the outside unit and through the wall. They hook to a small fan/coil unit that gets mounted on the wall and is thermostaticly controlled. These unit can be sized to hook up to one fan/coil unit or up to I think 4 in serveral locations. Pretty slick, keeps the heat generation source outside and is very unatrusive inside. And they work extremly well. The small 1/2 copper coolant pipe gets a thick insulation on it to help there effieciency. We sell them, sorry to sound like a sales guy...LOL

Pretty much the same as a regular air conditioning unit only not piped into your duct work where the coil sits and your furnace fan circulates the cool air, But rather a stand alone unit with it's own fan. Someone had 2500 bucks for a stand alone unit well these things aren't cheap and 2500 may be on the low end for a fully installed unit. A window unit is alot cheaper and may be worth carry and store every year?

Tman.....your friendly neighborhood HVAC/PLUMBING/BUTTCRACK/ PART TIME SPATECH guy!!

[Vinny]

Actualy the units we are looking at and talking about do not pipe in cool air. The pump/compressor sits outside and the pipes are full of a coolant R-128 or whatever that junk it. The small pipes are run up the outside of your house along with another set of wires from the outside unit and through the wall. They hook to a small fan/coil unit that gets mounted on the wall and is thermostaticly controlled. These unit can be sized to hook up to one fan/coil unit or up to I think 4 in serveral locations. Pretty slick, keeps the heat generation source outside and is very unatrusive inside. And they work extremly well. The small 1/2 copper coolant pipe gets a thick insulation on it to help there effieciency. We sell them, sorry to sound like a sales guy...LOL

Pretty much the same as a regular air conditioning unit only not piped into your duct work where the coil sits and your furnace fan circulates the cool air, But rather a stand alone unit with it's own fan. Someone had 2500 bucks for a stand alone unit well these things aren't cheap and 2500 may be on the low end for a fully installed unit. A window unit is alot cheaper and may be worth carry and store every year?

Tman.....your friendly neighborhood HVAC/PLUMBING/BUTTCRACK/ PART TIME SPATECH guy!!

Tman, you elaborated on exactly what I thought those split AC units were ... in my mind I knew what they looked like ... I gave the reader's digest version!

[Bonibelle]

Tman, can I ask since this is your field?...My Sanyo units are in the two upstairs bedroms. The install was relatively simple (my husband had HVAC friends that do pharmaceutical applications). We installed on the knee wall of my Cape Cod, so all the pipes run through the eves in the front of the house. As far as I know the only maintence I need to do is clear out the water discharge pipes and wash my unit filters. Is that right?

I found these things when there application was virtually limited to industry installs. Steve's friends put the original units in our house very reasonably (probably about $3,000 for the 2 zone unit). that was about 15 years ago.  My newer unit was $3000.00 for one zone, but that was 4 years ago and it is a big unit. All of the "guts" outside fit under my back deck. The external fans are quiet and I think they look much better than a central unit!

I think I sound like the sales person, but when I find something that works that well, consistantly, I like to share.

If you go this way, Drew, you will have no reqrets.... ;)and it will save your back from hauling those window units.

[Tman122]

Tman, can I ask since this is your field?...My Sanyo units are in the two upstairs bedroms. The install was relatively simple (my husband had HVAC friends that do pharmaceutical applications). We installed on the knee wall of my Cape Cod, so all the pipes run through the eves in the front of the house. As far as I know the only maintence I need to do is clear out the water discharge pipes and wash my unit filters. Is that right?

I found these things when there application was virtually limited to industry installs. Steve's friends put the original units in our house very reasonably (probably about $3,000 for the 2 zone unit). that was about 15 years ago.  My newer unit was $3000.00 for one zone, but that was 4 years ago and it is a big unit. All of the "guts" outside fit under my back deck. The external fans are quiet and I think they look much better than a central unit!

I think I sound like the sales person, but when I find something that works that well, consistantly, I like to share.

If you go this way, Drew, you will have no reqrets.... ;)and it will save your back from hauling those window units.

Yes the only real maintainence is keeping drain piping clean and keeping filters clean and your compressor fins outside, like any AC unit. The one thing I would recommend but it's probably out of the question now is, these units work better placed high on the walls inside. As cool air moves across the room up high it sinks and cools a room more effieciently. Placed low they leave alot of warm air up high. Crack the highest window in your house to push warm air out. Or run a ceiling fan to move all the air to create more effieciency. There popular because of there effeiciancy compared to whole house units which cool duct work crawl spaces and a bunch of places that don't need to be cooled. They are more central to where you want to cool, 1 room or another as you move that way. Or in a smaller house like mine, one upstairs during the day and one downstair at bed time while the other is shut off. But not cheaper than whole house units. But if you have no duct work as I do, the only other way besides window units. Or Lake Superior. 38 this morning.

[drewstar]

Thanks Guys.

I like the ductless system.   I'd be looking at one unit, mounted on an inside wall and could run the tubes up the wall into the attic, and then it's a 20' run to the exterior wall and side of the house were I put the second half.

3K? Ouch. I was hoping under $1.5.....

The wife isn't crazy about this system. I don't know why. (she does't like the looks of the unit) I bet I could get her to come around on that, but 3K to cool one room?  I might just go with window mount for a few more years.

(the one that fell out the window looked like it survived, but I remoutned this weekend and if runs more than a few minutes gets very loud.).

What's the best brand for portable AC units?

[Tman122]

Fedders

[Bonibelle]

Drew call some AC guys in your area and get accurate prices. My sunroom is 24X24 with a vaulted ceiling, so the unit to cool that room had to be pretty large. It also required some major electrical work and a long run from the other side of my house.  You probably won't need one that large.
There are several manufacturers now and the nice thing is that while they are mounted on the wall perminantly, they don't impact your view out the window or prevent you from opening the window for fresh air when AC is not needed.  I love my Samsung unit because the fins move allowing distribution of cooled air really fast. The older Sanyo units have fixed fins that are moved manually.
Tman is right about the placement. We moved the unit in my kids bedroom and it is now mounted higher on the wall, it cools faster than the unit in my bedroom which is mounted at the top of that knee wall. Since I also have ceiling fans, I find the set up economical and a much better solution than window units....Get a good fix on prices before you give up on this Drew.

[Repeat_Offender]

The portable ac units have two design flaws that make them less desireable and efficient than their window counterparts. The efficiency loss comes from the fact that the condenser air intake is actually the cooled room air. The unit uses air that you paid to cool to condense refrigerant as part of the cycle. The desireability issue relates to the fact that you have to manually dispose of the resulting condensate created by the cooling process just as you would a dehumidifier.
The ductless split ac units (Sanyo, Mitsubishi etc) are far more efficient and quiet, but geometrically more expensive.

[Tman122]

There ya go........The lenght of the refrigerant lines can come into play for effieciency and the maximum run is clearly listed per unit. Our guys do a great job blending these into the outside of the house with over 100 different colors of insulation covering. All wires and drain lines are hidden in this covering. They have not been out long enough for us to notice any major deterioration or break down of the insulation but it will become a problem over time and is considered a consumable product. The cover removal and insulation replacment is a do-it yourself project.

[Bonibelle]

Hey Drew, this is just a thought, and you should check to be sure, but..I think these efficient airconditioners should qualify for the government energy credits (at least according to Readers Digest!)..That might make the price a bit easier to take.

[tommy tunes]

Hey Drew, check this link

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/categories/hvacr/ac-refrigeration/ductless-split-systems-ac-heat-pumps

Last I knew they went strictly business to business, but if you're in business, or know someone who is, I think the most they asked me for was my tax ID number for proof.  A wee bit less than 3K  8-)

[Tman122]

Hey Drew, check this link

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/categories/hvacr/ac-refrigeration/ductless-split-systems-ac-heat-pumps

Last I knew they went strictly business to business, but if you're in business, or know someone who is, I think the most they asked me for was my tax ID number for proof.  A wee bit less than 3K  8-)

Drew I can get you a national discount at Grainger and have it shipped direct if you'd like to investigate this more. As long as there is no star on the item price, figure close to 20 % off

[drewstar]

Thanks for the offer T man.  I will keep it in mind.

I am still up in the air on this. (ok, I'm slowy convincining my wife that this is the way to go...)  I think I need to get a guy out to my place. I don't think I'll be doing it DYI.

I noticed the Grainer units were 230v....darn,  I haven't thought about electrical.    I've got a 110 line in the attic but will I need 220?  

As we all know electrical can add several hunderd $ to the price.  I was hoping to keep this under 2K- installed -  but if this creeps over 2K I'm nixing it I've got other toys I'm saving for and a $600 window mount will be fine.