Do Portable Air Conditioners Really Work? (A real world test) 

Hi Todd. You are correct! We lived there for 22 years and just sold it last summer. We made a ton of changes inside and out so I’m surprised you recognized it.

@@handydadtv So crazy. The house looks so great. Amazing. I’m sure you had a lot of great memories there. Best of luck to you!

Crazy stuff

Ok so damn

@@handydadtv How much did you seek the house

First line of the review and I'm already getting the bullshit vibes

Thought the same thing LOL

Thanks for subscribing! Welcome to the family!

Good idea. Did you do it yourself?

@@handydadtv i was wondering if you knew anything regarding this unit scrubbing air pollution from neighbors smoking cigarettes heavily and contaminating air in my apartment? would this unit help "clear the air"? (or actually i bought a 12000 BTU) thanks in advance for any advice. p.s. great video!

Lol love the plus

Thanks 😊

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

Glad to hear!

That was a smart general manager!

HandyDadTV I just subscribed to your channel

Thanks so much 😊

Thank you 😊

Thanks. Good tip!

Ok thanks.

But then he’d make us see how his room was maybe 3-4F cooler with the AC on and that wouldn’t be nice for his sponsor

Yeah, but mini split units are WAY more expensive. Apples vs oranges.

What brand and BTUs?

HandyDadTV Fujitsu ASU12RLS3 12,000 BTU 29.3 SEER. Heat pump & Air Conditioning

Glad to hear

LOL

Forced air systems are always hard to regulate. I’ve never been in a house with a consistent temperature in every room, summer and winter.

How often do you have to drain the air conditioner?

Fun fact: I grew up in Old Bridge. I spent eight years at St. Thomas school and my mother was the school nurse.

@watchinglosersagain how so?is there any way to make the air central?we bought ours just today and it litteraly only airs the ceiling : / if i can't find a solution for it tbh it would be a huge waste of 400$

@@JaydenChenli do you have ducts in your house? If not install a ductless mini split air conditioner. Next best option if you dont have ducts.

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

So nice of you

Thanks 😊

How so y is it bad ?

​@@pavy415 You're sucking air from the room into the unit and the unit sends it out the window. The air that has been pushed out must be replaced somehow - where does the air come from into your room then? From the outside of the room, which is warm.

@@pavy415 They also don't remove the moisture from the room so it's humid, 68 degrees with humidity is not comfortable. A window unit will drip water outside, these do not.

Im gonna try this. Thanks for the idea

@@PLATESWEEPER where can i get that insulation from?

Thanks

I’m not sure if they make this exact model anymore. Check their website.

That unit didn’t have a drain. I guess it evaporated the water in the exhaust.

when you turn it on, does hot air come out of the back vent when the hose isnt attached?

is it good? im on the fence too

@@wastedbread8036 Try to avoid them, If you can get a window ac or if you cant get a two hose portable ac

@@thesavagedog28t61 suggestions>

@@malooshieYup, and it's VERY hot.

It must evaporate the water out the exhaust. It has a drain plug though, and the manual says it will show an error code if it ever NEEDS to be emptied. I used it through the hottest and most humid week in NJ and it had very little water in it (I opened the drain just to see).

I own two similar models and they have been lifesavers! Most of the water goes outside via a tube inside the hose. There is also a collection tank in the unit that will hold water. I have never had to empty mine.

Thanks 😊

check the kW per hr/24hrs. They normally said to be at £3/$5 per 8-12 hrs

That’s a great question. There is no tank to empty so it must blow out with the exhaust.

Thanks so much 👍🏻

I bought it locally

Thanks

Pretty sure there’s a diagram in the manual.

Sorry i dont have this exact one mine is rca but they looked similar

I agree with you

What im thinking about this unit , it sucks cold air inside the room, and blow it out through the duct , to release the hot air ,

I hear you. However, the dual-hose should be used for heat-wave areas where you will need sustained AC for hours at a time. Single-hose units do work initially, but after about an hour the vacuum effect sucks in the hot air. You are indeed right, but hear me out. Where I live (California coast), temperatures are rarely hot due to the marine layer, and it is rare when we have a day even above 85. Summers are usually cool and overcast, with average temperatures here in the mid-60's. For the rare day it does get warm, we will see highs of about 85, and over 90 is very rare. Last year (2019), we only had one day at 94, and the next day was about 86, and that was it! Here where I live, the high temperature usually is reached at about 300P and it starts cooling at about 530P. I have a single-hose unit, and I turned it on at about 330P. Worked perfectly fine, with the indoor room temp at about 72-73. I used it for about two hours and it worked that whole time. After dinner, the weather outside was starting to cool, so even if the unit was sucking in the hot air, the outside air was starting to cool down anyway. If you do not believe me, look at the city of Pacifica and see the patterns of high temperatures during the summer. Believe me, it never gets hot and sticky here, but every year there is that rare day when AC will prove useful, even despite a single-hose unit. I bought my AC unit back in 2017, and for all of 2018 I never used it, and I only used it once last year when it was 94, and I only used it for about two hours that day. I will keep my single-hose unit here, but if I move to Houston I will not only buy a dual-hose unit, I will first see if I can install a window unit before I buy a dual-hose. You know very well that window units are the most efficient.

@@RK831 Do you think these would work in UK? the problem we have really isn't so much that the outside temperature gets really really hot in summer, but more that during the day rooms get very hot (greenhouse hot!) and because of their brick construction they stay hot all night long as heat radiates back out from the bricks. But nights are generally very cool, even in summer, so the vacuum effect drawing in air from outside wouldn't be an issue.

My portable ac works great

Typically, small units are louder than central air.

That's how it is, unless you set it to the lowest temp and leave it running continuously

It’s a sunroom

That’s possible?

@@handydadtv yes. Cool the condenser with outdoor air via a second hose ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WMIKrW5131s.html

Whenever I put an air conditioner in the window, I always put a board to prevent any window from opening any further. More to prevent the unit from falling out, but it also keeps the window from being forced open from the outside.

Add a thick dowel in the track to prevent window from being opened.

@@handydadtv I don't understand though, does the window have to be air tight and just the air con exhaust going out ? Wouldn't that means you'd need to cut a hole throight the window ?

Air-tight is impossible with window air conditioners. I just do the best I can.

The south is brutal rn

Thanks

Depends on the temperature outside. The unit is undersized for this space, but it reduced the temperature by 10-20 degrees and made it much more usable.

Thanks for the tip

Yes still working

Better ones have two hoses so they don’t steal room air.

Only when we wanted to use the sunroom.

that is a long time and a lot of energy.

Room size?

I agree man. This is why I always get so turned off when these.... "Influencers" announce their video is sponsored 🤢💩💩💩💩💩💩

You just bought a cheap one ,my one keeps it cool

I got one and Works fine just keep your door closed

No drips. It must evaporate the moisture in the exhaust.

It’s a SUNroom.

Great idea.

LOL

That’s not nice

In the description. But it expired.

Yes. I moved but my son is still using this AC in his apartment.

I didn’t remove my screen.

Thank u, sir. I was pretty sure that screen removal wasn't necessary, but its ALWAYS good to get an expert answer.

As long as its on the OUTSIDE of the window you dont have to.

They’ll be impressed for sure

Wow!

Yes, they aren’t as efficient as window AC units, but some people have no choice. Some portable units have two hoses so it pulls from the outside air. That doesn’t have the air infiltration you mentioned, but they are more expensive.

I’d like to try one of those too.

The best most efficient way to go. But you need minimal hvac skills to install yourself and take you’re time on the install

😂

Ceiling fans don't actually lower the air temperature. They move the air around which gives the sensation of cooler air as it moves across your skin, but the actual air temperature doesn't change.

Yes if you can, window units are better; central air is the best.

I keep my house AC at 78, so 80 in the sunroom was great!

Average, I guess. I didn’t measure the sound level though.

No, 20 degrees less than INSIDE.

@@handydadtv so you recommend buying this even for today ?

Sounds like it’s too small for your space.

@@handydadtv 8000 btu room is 16x 12 definitely bigger than needed even if it was being 6000 BTU.

Yeah I hacked mine to fit the window.

I agreed but it definitely helped.

@@handydadtv One thing I forget to mention that helped a ton on my single hose Honeywell was insulating the exhaust hose. That thing gets very hot and radiates a ton of heat back into the room. I got some duct insulation from Home Depot and after that the outside was pretty much room temperature. Just doing that probably raised the DOE rating of mine from 8.5K BTU by about 1,000 BTUs. Why the manufacturers don't offer insulated hoses as an option is beyond me, it greatly increases their efficiency!

@@edwardpate6128 Good point! I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these, and if I do, I'll definitely insulate the exhaust hose. Thanks!

Fahrenheit

No water needed. It has refrigerant like every air conditioner. Just that the hot air blows out the hose.

@@handydadtv do you have to refill the refrigerant?

Not under normal circumstances.