Portable Air Conditioner

What is a portable air conditioner?

What is a portable air conditioner and how could buying one make changes to your life? 

Well, for starters, it can help you save a bundle on your cooling bills as you only need to run it in the room you are in rather than having air conditioning through your home and running all of them. That means more money in your wallet which you can use to purchase ice cream, go shopping, or do whatever else you choose to do with the money.

But there’s another very important reason why you should consider owning a portable air conditioner and that has to do with your health. Did you know that when it is extremely hot outside, your body temperature begins to rise? And, if your body temperature gets too high, you begin to feel tired, rundown and unwell. This is true whether you are an adult or a child.

So, is keeping cool a priority to you?

Do portable air conditioners really work?

So, you want to keep cool but do portable air conditioners really work? The short answer is Yes.

Of course, they do! They’ve been proven over and over to be a very effective and reliable way to keep cool. They’re so effective, in fact, that many people who have them installed in their camper vans to use them while parked in the sun! Can you even imagine that?

Keeping cool in your home or in your van, caravan or another place you have the power outlet to run one is great on those hot days. 

Advantages of using a portable air conditioner

So, what are the advantages of using a portable air conditioner? Keeping cool on hot days.

That’s it. That’s the only reason anyone should use a portable air conditioner. However, there are a few other reasons why using one may make sense for you: It can save you money by cutting down on your cooling bills as you only run in the room you are currently in rather than cooling down the entire home or apartment.

It can improve your concentration and alertness, just think how often do you feel sleeping when it’s hot. Personally, I run an air conditioner and have a small USB powered fan blowing in my face to keep me nice and alert.

But, it’s all about being cool on those hot days.

Disadvantages of using a portable air conditioner

So, what are the disadvantages of using a portable air conditioner?

None whatsoever! They are perfect for the purpose. They are so effective, in fact, that many people who have them installed in their camper vans to use them while parked in the sun! Can you even imagine that? You’re getting way ahead of yourself, aren’t you? Let’s deal with the really important stuff first. Like… does it work? Will it really keep you cool? Yep! It’s been proven over and over. Here’s a link to an article from the Washington Post written by Eric Holmberg. It was published in the August 4, 2005 edition and is titled “Does An Air Conditioner In The Window Work?” The answer is a resounding YES! It will really keep you cool.

How much energy do air conditioners use?

According to the data I saw while researching this topic, a portable air conditioner uses as much energy per hour as a typical fridge freezer uses in one day. Furthermore, the costs can easily rack up if you don’t turn it off after one hour.

Is air conditioning bad for the environment?

If you take a look in Google for this subject you will find a number of articles that talk about air conditioning units being bad for the environment or contributing to sick building syndrome (something I saw on a CBS post). I have to admit I do wonder about any gasses used in these units and I have myself felt a dry throat after being in an air-conditioned room for some time.

However, as technology moves on, items built today are generally made with the environment in mind. That being said, could we consider a portable air conditioning unit made today being environmentally friendly? 

If we were to take a look at Amazon we see portable air-conditioners that have descriptions with bullet points such as: 

• Uses co-friendly CFC free Green R-32 refrigerant

So, we can see they are looking to create new air-conditioning units that are now not bad for the environment. Always read the description of any unit you will be buying.

Is it worth getting an air conditioner?

If you have a large house and you can afford it, then by all means get an AC unit. However, if you are on a tight budget or simply don’t want to spend the money, then I would suggest you skip this item and buy plenty of fans. 

Today’s portable air conditioning units are much cheaper than buying air conditioning for the whole of your home. You may be able to get away with just one unit and use it in the main room you are occupying as a family. Use bladeless fans in other rooms. You may want to consider having a bladeless fan in the room as well as a portable air conditioner if you like a cool breeze blowing on you.

How to choose a portable air conditioner?

This is really down to personal choice. Make a note of the options you want then start searching online on sites such as Amazon.

Look at the different brands and models. Decide which one you would like to have and then read the description of that particular model. The first thing you should look for is the size of the compressor. A larger compressor will give you more cooling power but also uses more electricity. A smaller compressor will use less electricity but will not be able to cool your house as much. You also need to consider how much refrigerant the unit uses.

Maintenance of a portable air conditioner

There is always maintenance to do on air conditioning units. You should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when it comes to the maintenance of the unit you buy.

There are generally a few things you can do on a regular basis to help keep your AC running smoothly: Clean the condenser – this is the part of the unit that sits outside your house and is connected to the drainpipe of your sump pump. Just give it a good clean every now and again. Use a brush and some soapy water. Change the filter on the indoor unit – this will stop dust and other particles from getting into the unit and causing it to work less efficiently.

Change the filter every as suggested by the manufacturer during the summer months and in the other months during the rest of the year. Change the refrigerant – this needs to be done every five years or so – again check the manufacturer’s instructions. You can get information from your local hardware store or from the manufacturer.

You should always follow the maintenance instructions or schedule as written by the manufacturer as each unit may be different.

Where to buy a portable air conditioner?

There are a number of different stores and places you can find and buy a portable air conditioner but I would suggest doing your research first. One of my favorite places to buy is always Amazon.com.

Not only can you find just about anything you could ever want or need, if you read the reviews before you buy, you can also find out how happy the other customers were with the product they bought.

Another place you can shop is Craig’s List. This is a website that allows people to post ads for whatever they are selling. You can search for air conditioners by model number or type. Make sure you read all the reviews and take the time to talk to people on the phone if necessary. Both of these websites are great resources but again, do your research. 

Should I buy a portable air conditioner?

The final question I hope you can now answer after reading this article. It really is all down to personal taste. Although I own one, I often prefer to just run my bladeless fans. It’s true that they don’t make the room as cold as an air conditioner but they are cheaper to run for longer periods.

Myself personally, I would only run it when absolutely necessary, for those times I really want a cool room I run the air conditioner unit. 

If you don’t need to ever have a cool room then maybe you shouldn’t buy one. Again, this is just my opinion. What do you think? Please let me know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this rather long article. Hopefully, it was informative and gave you some ideas. If it was at least somewhat helpful, I’d be very grateful. That is, after all, my goal with all of these articles. To help people. To give them the tools they need to live a more fulfilling life.