I have one running right now in my family room because my downstairs central AC died and we are waiting to get it replaced. We purchased this one when it got over 90 inside the house Friday and before it got to 109 outside on Saturday. I think it saved us. I realize my use is different from yours and only temporary, but a number of the AC service companies have these portables that they loan out until they can get a system repaired. In fact, the company we are going with for the new installation told us he uses them so much we could go buy a few and use them until we got our system running and he would add them to his inventory and credit us back on the installation.

The one we have is a 10K BTU LG. It was $299 at Lowe's and seemed to be the best bang for the buck (*K was $269 and 12K was $399). It takes maybe 5 minutes to unpack and set it up. The exhaust can vent through a window opening and they give you an expandable piece to fill the open window space with a hole where the exhaust hose slips in as well as foam insulation for the perimeter. No hole in the house needed if you can open a window just a few inches. It is self drying, so no condensation -- all you have is the hot air being vented out.

Ours is running on high and the fan is on the loud side. Not obnoxious, but you can hear it pushing air as well as feel it. That would be the one thing I would see someone not liking, but I don't know that you would need to run one this hard. I can't speak to the energy efficiency versus your whole house system or the longevity. I can tell you they work and seem to be lifesavers as well as effective marketing tools down here.

Hope that helps.

This post was edited by lascatx on Mon, Jul 1, 13 at 14:03

Thanks for the comment.

There is no window available for the hose.

So, I hope I can find someone who put a hole in the side of their house for this purpose (like venting a dryer hose).

Mac

If you need to do something like that, I would get the unit you intend to use and then fit their duct to the vent.

I was moving our unit the other night (we turn it one way for day and the other at night) and the exhaust duct came loose from the window plate. The unit stopped working and gave me an error code. Apparently there is a sensor in there somewhere so that it won't run and spew heated air into the area you are trying to cool. You will need to figure out how to make that work for your space.

What is the temperature in the master bedroom when you set the thermostat to 66 degrees?

At 7 pm the setting goes frorm 72 to 66.

We go to bed at 8.

Mac

I don't know where you live, but I know it isn't near me. I bet you would have had a heat stroke in my house Friday -- it was 91 degrees inside! At 66, we consider turning on the heat. LOL

We have a Danby 14k BTU portable A/C. It is fairly quiet and keeps our upstairs pretty cool. We've been experiencing highs from 90-100 F the past week and it's able to keep the bedroom nice and cool.

We previously had a Sharp plasmacluster A/C I think it was 6000 or so BTU when we lived in a smaller place. I actually preferred it, it was very quiet and very cold. We gave it to a friend when we moved to a place with central A/C, then when we moved again without central A/C we bought ourselves the bigger Danby. Both have been reliable and cool well.

Portable A/Cs are definitely louder than central A/C of course, though most are quieter than in-window A/C but not as efficient. However they can be stowed in a closet when not in use, like we do since we don't need it most of the year.

Get a two-hose model rather than a one-hose. The latter suck conditioned air out of your house.

My son lives up in Simsbury, CT, and has a home there for his mother-in-law. I asked him to write up his experience with a portable room unit.

He wrote, "Sure-- here's our info--
We went with a Whynter 12000 BTU dual hose model. We really had no option for a window unit in the room we were addressing. We do have small window units in other bedrooms. The noise is definitely significant, but at least the noise is a constant drone, without the vibrations of window frames. This unit was installed with two hoses (intake and output), so we put two holes in an external wall. We bought the unit back in 2011 and have no issues mechanically. There has never been anything to drain, and had no leaks. It's on wheels, so storage has been no problem. It's met all our needs.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Son's 12,000 BTU Portable Room A/C

Thanks for the postings.

One small change I am considering is venting the hot air into the room next to the master bedroom - my personal office (which is neither cooled nor heated by the central heat pump).

However, I am guessing that would raise the temperature of the office 10-20 degrees, which would be too much.

Mac

You do not want it blowing hot air in another room unless your goal is to heat that room.

Doesn't code require that a bedroom have a window? Or at least a second point of egress? I would be reluctant to put a hole in my house for something that is designed to be portable and/or temporary. Can you really not sleep at 72 even with a fan (that would be quieter, use less energy and require no holes), a lighter bed cover, etc.?

A transportable air conditioning is an air conditioning that's mobile. Very similar to any air con system, all portable air conditioners got to be vented in some form or fashion. Portable air conditioners pull in warm air, cool it, and expel the cooled air out of the front of the unit and therefore the remaining warm air and moisture out of the rear of the unit. Since portable air conditioners pull moisture also as heat out of the air, many of us are concerned about where the water goes. Since portable air conditioners contain both a compressor and fan, they sound almost like a window air con unit, which most folks have heard at just one occasion or another.