Portable Aircons - Worth it?

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InternetSwag

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South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
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Was thinking of getting the above, reviews look good, what do you guys think?

I've never owned an aircon before, so not 100% sure if these things need servicing etc.
 
How much btu do you need?
Room size
Running hours
Proficiency
etc etc

There's this..
Check this out on takealot: GMC Aircon - 10.000 BTU Portable Airconditioner

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South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
 
Have a DeLonghi that I bought over ten years ago. Still going strong. Cools down a typical size room fairly quickly. A split unit will however be more efficient and convenient if it is viable to install it.
 
Some advice if you do.

1. Make sure you have sliding windows, otherwise install is a mission
2. They need a drain. The easiest for me is a big 5 gal water bottle, I cut a hole near the neck and let that fill.
3. Keep your door closed and they really work well.
4. They can be noisier than normal split units, but not crazy bad.
 
I recently bought this (along with their kit to seal up a window that the exhaust is using):

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It works, but I'd strongly recommend not buying a portable air con. It is far, far removed from an installed unit. In its efficiency, in terms of noise, in how unintrusive it is to a room etc.

I'm renting, but I wish I had just spent a bit more and had a regular air con installed. I can write the cost off over a year easily in exchange for the heat not being present. I still might do that, and just give my portable thing away to a family member who wants it. Each week I dislike it more and more.
 
Might work well for single enclosed rooms.

Won't work well in open plan areas.
 
mine is around 10 to 15 yrs old .a total no name thing HsongFung .works fine .bedroom is 9 metres by 4 metres and its a 10 000btu .yes it can be noisy .outlet pipe must be properly installed .now im so used to it i cant sleep if its not clattering away .its been on the automatic setting since i got it ,no idea what temp it runs at ,i think its around 23 to 25 deg c .remote never worked from day one .so cant set anything else .it also doesnt drip water ,not sure where it goes ive never looked and bedroom door must stay closed .
 
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I had a few during the years.
I'll rather not have one based on my experience.

This is how it went :

  • Study got hot in summer
  • Bought 1st portable aircon
  • Sold it 2 days later
  • 2 years later - forgot how crappy it works
  • Bought another portable aircon
  • Sold it within a few days
  • Repeat once more ......
They are noisy.
They take up lots of space - especially once set up to work.
You have to sit right next to it to actually feel some cold air.
It never made my rather small study nice and chilly.
 
I wanted to buy one of these last year.

Did a massive amount of research, called aircon places etc

My room is about 4x4

Sliding windows is a must. That exhaust pipe thingy that goes out the window must be as close to the window from the aircon as poosible, because that exhause pipe gets vrek hot.

The longer the pipe from aircon to window, the more heat it emits into the room.

Then you have the issue of humidy or air condensation or whatever crap its called for your electronics in the room.

Get that "mixture" wrong as your stuff will kak off over time due to the moisture.

Screw it, they kak

Spend the money and get those decent one's where they install it into the wall.

I'm renting so not doing it as my friggen landlord will probably find some way to make me pay extra should I install it.

So I'm rocking the welfare fan in summer.
 
InternetSwag said:

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

Was thinking of getting the above, reviews look good, what do you guys think?

I've never owned an aircon before, so not 100% sure if these things need servicing etc.
Click to expand...
Rather spend that money on a wall split unit.
 
mr_norris said:
They are loud, they can only handle a small space, you need a window to vent out the hot air, and they chow electricity. It makes more sense to negotiate with landlords if you have to and install a built in unit. I will never waste money on a portable again.
Click to expand...
You are a man with great taste judging by your TV. Op listen to this guy.
 
You need to vent it outside anyway, and the vent needs to be relatively sealed to avoid wasting efficiency. For the amount of effort you may as well just install a permanent unit...
 
If you are only going to use the portable aircon unit in one location - like a home office or a bedroom, then why not consider this more efficient & less noisy & unobtrusive option instead - the Midea U 'Smart' Air-conditioner unit.

The Midea U is available in three sizes. An 8,000-BTU model, a 10,000-BTU model, and a 12,000-BTU model. - depending on your room size.

It has a unique U-shaped 'in-window' design - which keeps the compressor unit outside and the refrigerant unit inside - so no messy exhaust hose ducting to have to deal with.

1672326628062.png

1672327281489.png

Conventional portable aircon units unit use the indoor room air to cool the compressor unit (in essence constantly exhausting some of the cooled room air to the outside through the compressor heat exchanger & out via the exhaust hose) - which means that these conventional portable units are also extractor fans - which reduces their overall cooling efficiency considerably.

YouTube review of conventional portable aircon units, explaining their drawbacks;


Here is a link to a review of the Midea U window aircon unit and also some YouTube videos as well.

Midea U - Product Review:

www.tomsguide.com

Midea U smart air conditioner review

The Midea U smart air conditioner saved my marriage
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com

Midea U - Product Installation Guide:


Midea U - Installation Guide & Product Review:

 
I got one as a gift. Very noisy so you cannot have it going all night
 
InternetSwag said:

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

Was thinking of getting the above, reviews look good, what do you guys think?

I've never owned an aircon before, so not 100% sure if these things need servicing etc.
Click to expand...
Trust me, it's worth it.. When it's hot AF, room is stuffy , humidity is **** then this helps over a fan hands down.

If you experience the above then get it

Split unit AC -> Portable AC -> Fan
 
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