Anyone living in hot regions is most likely very familiar with the normal split system air conditioner, necessary to lead a comfortable life during the hottest periods of the year. One drawback of the normal air conditioner is, though, is the rather hefty price, the complicated installation that can only be carried out by a professional, and that once the air conditioner is installed, it is basically there forever without any chance of being moved to another place.
Because of that, probably many people are relieved by the latest trend of portable domestic air conditioners that have flooded the market in recent years. The premise is that the price is lower, it doesn’t require professional installation, and you don’t have a huge chunk of metal taking up space on your balcony.
Nevertheless the question is, do they live up to the promises? Well, both yes and no. It depends on what you are in search for. The biggest mistake you can do when considering buying a portable air conditioning unit, is focus too much on the word “portable”. It is a fact that they are portable in the sense that they are not a split system with one part inside and one part outside, and you can basically place it anywhere you like, plug it in and it will start blowing cold air. The problem is that to produce cool it is also necessary to produce heat. In normal split system air conditioners, the heat is produced in the part that is outside, and is easily disposed of. However with the portable AC everything is built together in the same unit, and if you dispose of the heat in the same room as you are trying to cool down, the effect will be reversed. Hence, some installation is required to lead the hot air out of the room, more exactly with a tube through a hole in the wall. But then arises yet another problem. If you take air from the room, cool down one part that is returned to the room and heat the other part that is led out of the room, then all of a sudden you have an air deficit in room, forcing hot outside air to be sucked in from any crack in the wall or window that it can find. This will make the cooling effect to diminish. So for that reason, you need yet another installation, another hole in the wall to bring in hot air from the outside instead of taking it from the same room. By doing that, instead of an air deficit, you will get an air surplus, with the hot air being pressed out through the cracks instead of the other way around. But with the “portable” air conditioner now connected with two holes in the wall, it suddenly doesn’t feel all that portable anymore.
Yet another problem for domestic use is the noise. Split system air conditioners have the most noisy part outside, preserving the inside environment relatively quiet. But the portable air conditioner has everything built into the same unit, making it louder than normal split system air conditioners. To handle this problem, AC makers do their best to adjust the design to reduce the noise levels, but in the end they don’t have any choice but to also make them weaker. Because of that, portable air conditioners are generally not recommended for larger rooms.
That being said, does that mean that portable air conditioners are a bad option? It all depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a cheap air conditioner and don’t mind it taking up space on the floor and being connected to openings in the wall, and if your room is not too large, this could indeed be an attractive option. Just don’t focus too much much on the word “portable”, because for domestic use, portable air conditioning units are anything but.
For industry use, that is a whole different matter entirely. Because in an industrial facility you have very large space that is ineffective to cool in its entirety, you have high ceiling so you don’t have to worry about leading the hot air out, and higher noise levels are usually not a factor. So for certain industry environments portable air conditioners can be a good option, and there they will truly be “portable”. You can even easily bring the portable AC unit with you if you need to change workstation.
But for domestic use, do yourself a favor and do your homework before deciding which option is best for you.
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