Howdo
Has anyone got any experience of a portable air conditioning unit? I assume there’s plenty of you who are struggling with this heat wave. So I’m wondering if it’s worth digging into the life savings and investing in one. They can be pretty pricey though, both to buy and run, so only want to fork out if they really can make a big difference.
Thanks
Dan
hi dan
sorry but i can’t help with this.
there are one or two shops where it is always cold, so i head for them!
especially the chiller or freezer aisles. even if i don’t want to buy anything.
carole x
Argos do a small portable unit, £280, just bought one for the office in work. It does give out a good amount of cold air, and is fairly quiet when running. You will need to have somewhere for the exhaust pipe to go, which is like the exhaust pipe on a tumble dryer. We just opened an office window and stuck it out, but that really is defeating the object as you should keep the windows closed so that the cooler temperature is contained, just like you would in a car with the A/C on, you wouldn’t drive round with the windows open. Not sure if Argos did cheaper ones ?
I will be looking out for answers to this thread with interest.
In the meantime, the thing that is helping a lot in this heatwave is my new ‘HyperKewl’ cooling vest (body-cooler is probably a better description) - easy to find on the Web. They’re about £50.
They use evaporative cooling - the principal is low-tech, but their fabric is clever. You soak the vest in the sink for a couple of minutes to let it absorb lots of water into its core, then you squeeze out the excess and put the vest on over a T-shirt or something. The clever materials mean you don’t get wet, but it does a surprisingly good job at keeping you cool for hours. I thought it would turn out to be £50 down the drain, but find that I am delighted with it.
Alison
Would a fan not be cheaper and do same job?
Hi Carole
I’ve got a tesco just round the corner, I’m extremely familiar with the contents of the chilled aisles!
Dan
If only it did the same job! A fan can cool you down if it’s blowing directly on you, but that’s not much help if you’re moving round doing stuff, and it’s not going to change the room temperature. Air con, though, will actually lower the temperature as it’s blowing out cold air, rather than fanning the same warm air. If you’ve got air con in your car, compare the difference between having the fans blowing with and without the air con on.
Dan
Thanks for your replies. I’ll explore the different options, and knowing me I’ll probably spend so long making a decision that the heat wave will have finished
Dan
Hi Dan i was looking into a unit, but my daughter recommended me to an oscillating fan on Argos. Its very tall and has remote control. It sits in the corner of my bedroom, and to be honest my room is quite big over 15feet x 13 and on 1 it keeps me cool and the dog. Its lush, and I can set it for up to 8 hours. I only use it on static.
It only cost me 54.00 the best money i have spent, as i have bought oscillators before, but this one is brilliant. One of my other friends has MS and he has 2 now one in his sitting room and one in bedroom. I don’t bother with my sitting room as its lovely and cool in there.
I find on 1 it is perfect for me and not noisy but yes on III setting it sounds a bit but really I dont need it higher then 1.
For the price it really cools down the room.
I have 2 portable air con units £280 from argos they are great and keep my house so cool,people who visit dont want to leave because my house is that cool.I could not do without them,and although expensive they are so worth it.They are a bit of a pain regards the venting pipe its big,but i would really recommend them to anyone.I have one upstairs and one downstairs.
They sound like the units I bought from Argos.
You can extend the flexible pipe, its only 4 inch venting pipe, just like tumble dryer pipe.
All its doing is venting the warm air from the heat exchanger inside the AC unit.
Personally I wouldnt have the pipe sticking out of an open window though !
You need to contain the cooled air within the house, not have it escape through an open window.
Exact same principle as the AC in a car keep the windows closed
This did make me smile. My HyperKewl jacket arrived just when the last spell of hot weather was cooling off, in the predictable way. But it was there waiting when this one came along, and very useful it has been.
Alison
yes i bought an extension hose for them,a dryer hose.I would like to have the outlet pipe into a vent in the wall eventually,when i can work out best place for them.
Just looked up ggood’s recommendation. Looked impressive, and searched the reviews, but…
We have a portable airconditioner that I persuaded my husband to buy for his office. He’s now semi-retired and works from hom so we use it in our bedroom when it’s hot. The only thing is that we have to wedge the hose through one of the larger windows which we aren’t that keen on, but without that unit I wouldn’t have slept for the past two weeks!
I’d like to get a second one for our son’s room so will look at the Argos link.
I’m sooo over the heatwave now. Enough already…bring on the thunderstorms and rain - whenever that is. I remember the heatwave in 1976 and heard the weather lady on Radio London saying that what we’ve got now is definitely not as bad as that. At that time I was doing temporary secretarial work and I spent nine months at a big airconditioning company which must have obviously been airconditioned so I don’t remember it being that bad at work!
Was this the Argos one?
Would it work to get a replacement for the venting pipe, long enough to stick it out of your letterbox?
Dan
I saw that CoolAir thing on Amazon. There’s lots of identical versions of it, all for just over twenty quid. The basic principle (a fan blowing air that’s been cooled by some water) is common, and there are lots of different sized fans available. The reviews for the ones like CoolAir are pretty mixed (the article above is clearly a promo piece, so I’d be a bit dubious of its claims). But for twenty quid it might be worth a punt.
Dan
just sent for a cool air unit from amazon.
£21.99 seems too good to be true but we’ll see.
Honestly get the one i reccomended,you wont regret it,they are quite expensive at £280 from argos,i think its the only one they do.My son has just got one because he likes mine,my house is so cool just now,i would not be able to cope without my 2.