How do you cope with the heat? My thoughts on using a portable air conditioner after 3 years

@ArturAVS, that scam you showed is really doing the rounds online. Just a week ago, a family member showed me an advert for it on Facebook and asked if it was worth buying... And I can see it’s only just appeared on our forum:
[Solved] Is it worth buying a wall-mounted air conditioner for 299 zł for a caravan?

The way this contraption actually works is ridiculous. I was browsing the news this morning and this video caught my eye. It’s true that I have the right cooling components to fit a proper air-con system in my workshop, but I lack the motivation and the time, and given my physical condition, it’ll be a struggle too .

I’m wondering why window air conditioners and split-type portable units have disappeared… I’ve actually had mine running from 9.00 to 20.00... It’s a PV model, so it’s been fine. It hasn’t broken down since 2006 and hasn’t needed any top-ups...

ArturAVS wrote:

Admittedly, I do have the necessary cooling components to install an air-conditioning system in my workshop

So you’ve got fans, coolers, heaters, heat recovery exchangers, a humidifier, filters, a cabinet housing all the aforementioned components, and the control system???
I don’t think so; at most, you have components of an AIR CONDITIONER, not an air-conditioning system.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but one should expect someone who’s practically in the trade to use the correct terminology, rather than parroting marketing nonsense.

Strumien swiadomosc... wrote:

My window unit’s been running from 9.00 to 20.00.... So, judging by the PV, it’s been fine. It hasn’t broken down since 2006 and hasn’t been ‘finished off’...

Precisely because it hasn’t been ‘finished off’ – that is, shut down – so as not to wear it out.

Strumien swiadomosc... wrote:

I’m curious as to why window and split-system air conditioners have disappeared

Because they were too expensive and relatively fiddly to install. A single-pipe monoblock unit is supposedly ready to use. Just plug it into the mains, run the pipe out of the window and… you’ve got a cool breeze coming out of the outlet nozzle.
The vast majority of buyers are completely ignorant of how the unit actually works. On top of that, aggressive, misleading marketing and… high temperatures are driving sales of this rubbish.
What’s more, the two-pipe models – which are the only acceptable ones – are significantly more expensive and also more difficult to install, as they have two pipes rather than one.

jack63 wrote:

components of an AIR CONDITIONER, not the air conditioning system.

It’s the air-conditioning system, not the air-conditioner. Most of them come from units that used to regulate the climate in hospitals. The automation is a ‘minor issue’; the bigger problem is the three-phase power supply for the motors used in them. Unfortunately, I don’t have a three-phase supply and that’s unlikely to change any time soon.

ArturAVS wrote:

Most of them came from air-conditioning units used in hospitals.

Something still doesn’t add up for me. What sort of climate control???
Could it be that you’ve salvaged bits of air-handling units from the scrap heap?
I don’t expect the size of these units to be suitable for domestic use.
Incidentally, I’d advise against using them for reasons entirely unrelated to technology.

It’s not just about ventilation, cooling, heating, humidity and so on. A few years back, a mate and I were taking these units apart. As for their capacity, I agree. They’re far too powerful for a normal flat. But if I really put my mind to it...

Inspired by this topic and the temperatures we’ve had over the last few days, I’ve added a second air intake pipe. It took an hour’s work. The pipe is secured to the grille with cable ties, and the unused holes have been sealed from the inside with adhesive tape. There’s a Styrodur panel in the door (it doesn’t leave any beads of dirt). I’ll be testing it out soon.

I agree with the previous speakers that this type of air conditioning isn’t an ideal solution, as drawing in warm air from outside ‘heats up’ the rooms where the vents are located (in my case, the kitchen and bathroom). But a cooled room is a godsend, both physically and mentally – you don’t have to stress about feeling helpless, at the mercy of the weather. All in all, it’s worth it despite everything.

Frog_Qmak wrote:

Inspired by this topic and the temperatures over the last few days, I’ve added a second air intake pipe

Doesn’t it draw air through the upper grilles?

My wall is very well insulated, but all the windows face west and, on top of that, there’s a balcony door taking up half the wall. When I moved in, I anticipated what would happen when the sun beat down, so I laid almost white tiles on the balcony (10 square metres).During the day I close everything up, and at night I open it all up and put fans outside. There are plenty of them, and they blow air into the flat.
Unfortunately, this works perfectly only when the summer is more or less normal. Now it wasn’t enough, because it’s hot at night too...
The losses are considerable. A hard drive (a budget Toshiba) went up in smoke. I fitted a tried-and-tested Samsung PM981, which is (supposedly) indestructible, and which failed after just a day.The hard drives were just the start, as the fridge also needs replacing (along with most of the food stored in it). There are numerous solar farms in the area, so I wanted to measure the voltage on my mains supply. I went to fetch the meter, which I’d left…on the windowsill. As you might guess, the meter ‘didn’t make it’, so I can’t tell you what the readings were
My wife’s beautiful plants met the same fate as the meter (my wife survived).
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the cellar over the last few days. I go down there on the pretext of a backlog of work, but the truth is that it’s 22°C down there and there’s a fridge full of beer.
The journey down to the cellar was bearable, but the return trip has been an ordeal since the day before yesterday. The lift’s out of order, and I live right at the top.
Today I fitted some white blinds and it helped. It helped because as soon as I’d finished fitting them, it started raining
I feel better when I lean out from my balcony recess and look down at the lower floors, where every other flat has dark tiles

>>21931153
To be honest, I haven’t checked – even if there were a slight drag, it wouldn’t be much, because by definition the top and bottom must be separated from each other to prevent a thermal short circuit.

It’s too small. For a room of 20–25 m², you need an air conditioner with a minimum capacity of 4–5 kW, and then it’ll be fine; the air temperature at the outlet should be 7, 8 or 10 degrees at most; if it’s 13–15, it’s not up to scratch – it’ll just be circulating the air round and round, and it’ll have to run non-stop from morning till night just to make it a bit cooler, but only a bit...

I’ve got two single-pipe air conditioners and they seem to be working fine in the bedroom and in my study (and I’ve got two x2d printers running ASA practically non-stop). |The temperature is pleasant. It’s not a perfect solution – next year I’ll be doing a more extensive refurbishment and will install a proper one.

As I live in the attic, I don’t need to tell you what the atmosphere was like during that heatwave. I simply moved down to the cellar for a few days; at times, I was actually feeling a bit cold. Eventually, I’ll have to invest in a proper air-con, because it’s impossible to live in this flat when it’s so hot. The temperature reaches 32 degrees inside, so you can forget about getting any sleep.

PZ IX wrote:

I have an Electrolux monoblock unit with a power rating of around 1,500 watts

Correction: it has a cooling capacity of 3.5 kW.
That doesn’t change the fact that it draws heat from outside.

rosomak19 wrote:

In the end, I’ll have to invest in a proper air-conditioning unit too, because it’s impossible to live in this flat during a heatwave. The temperature reaches 32 degrees inside, so you can forget about sleeping.

I’ll be on the lookout for special offers that include installation; I’ll be giving it some thought now. In my case, despite the air conditioning making things a bit more bearable, every loss of cool air and every let-in of heat means more energy consumption and, unfortunately, more money out of pocket.

PZ IX wrote:

Correction: it has 3.5 kW of cooling capacity.

None of them has that much cooling capacity, as is evident from their design. The stated cooling capacity is a SCAM!
It’s difficult to achieve even with the air conditioner on its own, and in the context of a room’s heat balance, it’s a complete fallacy.
The AVERAGE room temperature rises rather than falls. Unless, of course, the air is drawn in from a cold cellar rather than from the ‘oven’ that the building’s surroundings become when the air temperature is close to 40 °C.

jack63 wrote:

None of them has as much cooling capacity as their design suggests. The stated cooling capacity is a SCAM!

This is clearly the case, as I’ve found it difficult to cool my home during the recent heatwaves.
The prices of new portable split units and the prospect of servicing them are appalling… it really ought to be much cheaper.

So I’m slowly getting ready to look for a reasonably good deal on a fixed-installation unit.

PZ IX wrote:

The prices of new portable split air conditioners and the prospect of servicing them are dreadful

It’s not so much the price of the units as the cost of installation by people with F-gas certification.
I’ve seen a 3.5 kW split system for 1,200 zł without installation. So the price is perfectly acceptable to me, as I can install it myself. Which, anyway… I won’t do, because I know what it does to our health.

The greater evil is overheating and heatstroke, or slowly dying of exhaustion.
After all, with sensible use and regular servicing, it’s not really that big a deal.

m2606 wrote:

The greater evil is...

Greater than what, and by what criteria? This sentence is a typical example of marketing manipulation. There’s no logic to it, but people fall for it because everyone ‘fills in the blanks’ with a phrase that suits them.
A typical piece of copy looks like this: ‘Our product is better because [someone] has had a stroke or Mrs Krysia has a headache.’
Logic and common decency – which is becoming increasingly rare – dictate that you should state what is better than WHAT and in what respect. For example, it uses less energy under similar conditions, or costs me less, or performs its function more quickly.
As it is, we’re left with an abstract piece of nonsense like: ‘How is a sparrow any different?’

m2606 wrote:

With sensible use and regular servicing, it’s not really such a big deal, after all.

What, in your view, constitutes sensible use, and what is maintenance, and what does this maintenance involve?
For now, it’s just more marketing ‘wisdom’ – in other words, meaningless drivel.

jack63 wrote:

Greater than what, and according to what criteria?

I think that’s clear: it’s based on what air conditioning does to your health.

jack63 wrote:

What do you consider to be reasonable use, what constitutes servicing, and what does this servicing involve?

I suppose that’s clear too.

jack63 wrote:

PZ IX wrote:

The prices of new portable split air conditioners and the prospect of servicing them are dreadful

It’s not so much the price of the units as the cost of installation by people with F-gas certification.
I’ve seen a 3.5kW split unit for 1.2k zł without installation. So the price is perfectly acceptable to me, as I can install it myself. Which, anyway… I won’t do, because I know what it does to our health.

What I was referring to here were portable split-system units, such as the Midea PortaSplit. In my opinion, these cost an absolute fortune, sometimes even when compared to buying and installing a budget version of a branded fixed air-conditioning unit.