Portable A/C's; improve with exhaust hose insulation

[petek]

I just received an exhaust hose insulation "blanket" off Amazon to fit onto my ancient portable a/c and it sure made a difference in how well it cools the room. I've always known about this inherent problem with these things but never bothered because it doesn't get used all that often. However the past few days have been miserable and it just wasn't cutting it in getting the room down past about 80 degs. A pretty cheap fix for around $20-$30 . I imagine just wrapping the hose with something else may works just as well if you're handy but right now I'm not handy LOL.

 

[rp2813]

My friend did this to both of his single hose portable units, but he just used blankets he already had. One was kind of quilted. They made a difference by eliminating any noticeable heat radiating from the hose.

I have a single hose portable in my bedroom. It's directly under a window, so the hose only fans out where it makes a tight S bend. it's compressed everywhere else, and that extra density is enough to eliminate the heat factor.

 

[combo52]

Clever idea, I imagine this would help, I’ve never been interested in using a portable air conditioner because they’re inherently much less efficient than one that’s installed in an opening in the wall or in the window itself, but they certainly do Phil void where you’re not allowed to have a unit in the window or you can’t put a unit in the window.

The big problem with them is they use nearly twice as much electricity is a good window unit so it’s not something you’d want to use a lot.

John L

 

[realvanman]

I would only consider a “dual hose” portable A/C, and I would insulate both hoses.

The single hose ones are creating a negative pressure within the building, drawing in dust, heat, and humidity through any and all cracks and crevices, as they’re pumping your clean, cool, and dry air outside (after passing it over the condenser).

Keith

 

[combo52]

Hi Keith, very good point about the single hose units because you’re always drawing air into the area. You’re trying to cool you can never get the humidity down. If you’re in a very humid area like we are here in the east I’ve noticed that people that try to cool their little apartment or something with a single hose unit. It just never gets comfortable.

We had another 2 1/2 inches of rain last night. it’s been raining every day. It’s hard even with a good central system to keep the humidity down in the 50% range.

John

 

[phillymatt53]

I know there are reasons for having those "portable" AC units, but I'd never consider using one.
A friend of mine who owns a condo has great central air (Lennox) but the condo association forbids window AC's, citing that it "detracts" from the looks.
My friend would like to cool just the bedroom with a "porta AC" but I warned him of the negatives mentioned here by others.

 

[petek]

Mine is a Danby two hose unit. Gosh it must be near 15 years old now. I bought it to cool the bedroom upstairs since we can't have central air and have a mini split for the main floor. Much less expensive than having another minisplit or two installed up there. It works well enough and I only run it for an hour or so before bed time and have rarely had it running all night. Noise is the worst offender with these things and they're butt ugly to boot.

 

[petek]

There are also a number of "portable" mini splits available over in Europe but only one here called Forestair. They were sold at Costco or direct from the company here in Canada but the reviews aren't all that great. https://forestair.ca/en/serie-mini-anglais