Nice job. Some of these units don't need a drain in cool mode. They actually 'spray' the condensation over the hot coils which vaporizes it and it is blown out the exhaust with the hot air. The Frigidaire FHPC102AC1 is one such unit. It even says that in cool mode you should cap the drain for best performance. In 'dry' mode however you would need to connect a drain hose - it does have a drain hookup bottom rear. Thanks for a informative and nice video.
*Love this unit! Using upstairs in my sons bedroom **Fastly.Cool** and he’s finally able to be comfortable upstairs without me freezing downstairs. Works for more sqft than expected!*
@@KgiMedia601 I few weeks ago I took a couple of caster wheel off a zero turn mower to the scrap yard. I decided to build a gantry. Those casters would have been perfect and would allow it to turn easily when transporting. When I give up something that I thought was useful and find a job later that it could be used on it makes it harder to part with other things. I do realize the day will come when everything has to go. The day they carry me out feet first (if I’m lucky) or sooner (if I’m not so lucky)
I'm looking at doing the same thing for a different reason. I bought a used 11000 BTU unit and haven't decided yet how I'm going to exhaust it. But I believe you made a mistake using the 4in instead of the 6in dryer vent. You reduced your ductwork by 33%, which is definitely going to affect your efficiency because you're forcing more air into a smaller space, which slows the air down due to back pressure. All in all, you're getting less CFM over your condenser coil, which reduces the efficiency. This might also lower the life expectancy of the compressor due to overheating.
Nice job... I just moved to Houston and it's been ~100F and I need a garage cooling solution. What do you think about adding those panel pieces for the garage door slabs?
yes but just make sure you're already 100% ready to make the hole/s before renting. it probably only costs like 20 bucks to rent at home depot for like 4 hours. seems like a waste if you only need 1 hole but it is what it is. one time i rented a pex tool from home depot just to make 2 crimps costed me 11 bucks to make 2 friggin crimps but whatever as long as the job is done right its worth every penny at the end of the day.
Next time it would be easier and quicker to drill your hole through the drywall first then drill a small hole from there through the brick. This way you will see the exact spot on the outside for your larger big hole.
Very nice! Thanks for sharing this. I was just wondering, what's the purpose of the piece of plywood that sits right against the wall? You already have one that slides to the grooves of the plastic ducting that comes with the AC unit. Just curious if it serves any purpose. Thanks again for the video.
Great to find this...I had bought the same exact unit and am doing the identical install. Just wondering about using the 4" exhaust rather than the 6"?
If you have a natural gas water heater or furnace in your garage you could actually pull the exhaust fumes back into the garage now that your pulling air put of your garage. You're basically making your garage negative and air is pulled from the easiest place aka your exhaust pipes....be safe
Thanks for mentioning the possibility of pulling carbon monoxide from my gas water heater which is located in what I call my Boiler Room right off the garage. It does have a door I keep shut unless I'm actually entering or exiting the room but that could be a problem. Thanks for the heads up, you may have saved a life.
Purchased: August 2023 - still works GREAT!I ru-vid.comUgkxxsUnXhGsSJLim_XnMHyQK0u3XVaW-CGn live in a studio and during the summer it gets scorching hot - really old building with no ac units. I can’t express how EASY it was to install. This unit has been a life savior during the summer and some days during other seasons where it can still be a bit warm at night. In this small place is my friend, a husky, poodle mix and myself. We need AC - lolI don’t use the dehumidifier option - I’m not sure if it will leak in my house, since I did not install the small draining hose that came with it. May look into it late but I don’t worry about much humidity in the apartment. I don’t understand why the negative reviews since all things mentioned, I personally did not find issues with. Definitely worth it!
First of all nice place my reason for asking these questions... I noticed over your door there is a system similar to that of a mini split system AC/ heating system and that is wouldn't that have been enough to cool and heat the garage? If that is a mini split AC/ heating system wouldn't it have been easier to up date the mini split to cover a larger area rather than cut a hole into your beautiful house for a portable AC that won't do as well? Just asking because I find that the mini split, even though it cost more, is more efficient, covers more of the area, and acts as a larger system but ductless and less daily maintenance. Just saying. I use one in my 460sqr ft shed and man does it cool and heat. It covers up to 550 sqrt ft.
Updating the mini split would have been $$$$ - this little unit only cost me a couple hundred dollars & I only use this secondary unit a couple times a year when I host poker.
Nice job. DFW in the house also. I can't work on my car in this crazy heat, so looking to run a portable unit. I'm thinking of using the provided rectangle vent that would normally sit under the window and place it under the garage door. That means I'd have to support the weight of the garage door on a series of bricks, then cover off the remaining gap with plastic sheeting or something perhaps a little more heat reflective. Going to be a bit of a kludge. The garage door faces north. Any thoughts?
You may want to see if you could go up through the ceiling into the attic space and exhaust out the soffits. It would depend on how your house is set up.
I bought a portable (actually 2) AC unit for my garage in Florida many years ago. The first one was 9000 BTU cooling which did not bring the temp down. The second one is a 1200 BTU cooling unit. This also does not bring down the temp but is a good dehumidifier. So Basically they do not work. I did pretty much the same you did and put a dryer flapping louver vent in the wall. The problem is 2 fold. First the heat the unit generates (because all the working parts are in the room) sorta defeats the cooling it can create. The 2nd problem which some units have a fix for is that you are drawing air from your interior space and blowing it outside creating negative pressure in the garage. This causes air to come in all around the garage door. (Yes garage door is insulated and has weather stripping) Some units now have an intake air line that you also put through the wall. This will fix the second issue. Since you are using this as supplemental air to your split system I'm sure you don't have the same issues but as a stand alone for me it was a fail.
you are right about the portables bringing their own heat and actually window units though they look ugly especially this day in age considered ghetto but they are definitely more efficient. probably a good 3 seer higher. Youd actually be better with 2 12k btu window units or a 2 zone 2 ton 18 seer mini split. make sure that your attic is insulated. also install whirlybird wind turbines they cool down the attic by like 15 degrees and makes the place way more efficient. consider if you have windows letting the sun in and if the garage door is facing the sun. and how high the ceiling is. make sure that the evap coils aren't sitting in the drain water. insulation is the biggest factor.
These portable AC units are trash due to pulling hot air from outside through all cracks in your home/garage. This happens as a result of having the compressor inside the home rather than outside as found on a non-portable ac unit/typical window unit. The room is balancing the pressure when the unit runs which pulls air from outside to balance the pressure. A window ac unit or any unit with the compressor outside like a Mr. Cool unit will keep the same air pressure inside. This results in not pulling hot air from outside through cracks to maintain the rooms air pressure which is counter intuitive in any ac unit. Should have went with a Mini split like Mr. Cool if your committed on putting a whole through the wall. Your energy bill would have been much less, and more importantly, your garage would have been a great deal cooler.
LMAO! If you watched the whole video, I already have a mini split. This was simply to help out with Texas summer heat when I host Poker - I have 25 grown mens body heat in the garage - the mini split can't keep up & this unit really help! Thanks for watching!
It's a definite drawback to the portables. But, they're very handy when you don't have a window for a window unit (like a garage, or apartments that won't allow it). And for occasional use, the efficiency hit isn't such a big deal, they're cheap and easy. Makes sense in this application I think.
While functional, reducing the exhaust vent size like that may cause units to fail prematurely or operate inefficiently. One can go larger for short distances on the exhaust, but as a rule of thumb, never smaller. Otherwise it looks ok.
I'm a dryer guy about to install one of these in my garage- I know exhaust reductions are usually bad in laundries because we're moving so much air. Have you had any issues with heat dumping reducing the exhaust from 6" to 4"? I'm looking at doing the exact same thing.
It might come down to your AC unit too. I have a midea 14000 BTU and just reducing mine from 5 to 4.25” caused the unit to slightly struggle and in a matter of minutes will shut of the AC and only run fan mode. I’m going to return my unit and try the Honeywell and hope for the best. 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽
To everyone that keeps saying mini split..mini split....He has one! as he has mentioned repeatedly and shows in the video this is to help on poker night in Texas with 25 guys in there.
I’m was hoping there’s a way I could vent through the garage door but I guess not. No way I can do this or my hubby, but you did a great job!! So had to give a like!! 🙌🏼
I know I am replying to a year old comment, but I have seen a set up where someone routes the portable AC exhaust through the garage door. It involves removing one of the panels of the garage door or drilling/cutting into it. Would probably skip that myself as you lose the ability to easily open and shut the door.
Those portables all end up having trouble with water not properly being handled and dripping while in air conditioning mode. Make a small hole to run a hose from the tank you can empty at the bottom of the portable outside. Problem solved. I had one on a old wooden box and ran a hose to a old 2 gallon hundred year old whisky bottle and emptied it every few days. Drilled a small hole right bellow the neck to allow air. Portables are noisy, inefficient but are ok if that's all you got. I bought Mitsubishi mini splits and they're quite. Cool great cheap to run.
I’ve already got a Mitsubishi mini split installed in the garage, this is there for poker nights - to help out with the extra body heat when I have 25 grown mean in my garage in the summers months.
I’m in Argyle, my mini split handle most of the cooling, the portable unit helps out & really helps cools the other side of my 1200 sq ft garage the mini split can’t cool down.
I am thinking to do something for my garage (in Plano, TX) with the recent 100-109F heat. I spoke with some folks, and they said Texas does not insulate the attic garage bcos they want the heat to escape to the roof unhindered. Is this a valid statement? in my opinion it is better to have both garage door and attic insulated. and the ventilation (portable AC) added as a complement to those. What you guys think? Gathering experiences for those that already "been there done that" before I plan what to do :) .. thx
Having the garage insulated help tremendously with keeping heat out, my garage is way cooler because of that. Obviously the benefit when I’m running the a/c is there too. I only run my units when I need them
That's correct if it was running solo - I have a mini split unit on the other side of the garage - remember, my garage is 1200 sq ft. So this helps the other side out alot! Also, it's a garage, not an air tight room.
My only issue with these portable AC's is that they seriously suck to cool an interior room, let alone cool down a 90 degree double stall garage. I had this same idea too, but after using a portable in the bedroom after the central air went out, I realized it wouldnt even make a dent in my garage.
Follow up video with temperature before portable AC on and then what the temperature is after a few hours please. Also, any worries about bugs or rodents getting into the vent/hole?
10:45 Would have put the exhaust vent on the other side of the garage. IMO it would be rather unattractive seeing the vent or having the vent blow hot air on you as you walk to the front door.
@@One2ManyHobbies just add a floor register over the condenser and tape the rest of the grill off with HVAC tape. Because right now this is literally creating a vacuum and sucking in all the hot air from outside.
@@One2ManyHobbies Because you can't live in a vaccum chamber. The air being exhausted outside needs to be replaced. So the air from outside comes in through any crack or opening making the room hotter. If you add a second hose it uses outdoor air to cool it's condenser thus leaving more cold air in the room AND not making a vaccum.
@@iair-conditiontheoutsideai3076 Ah, I get it now - you're correct. I consulted with a HVAC tech about this, and because the space isn't air tight - it wouldn't have made a huge difference, so I didn't do it b/c I didn't want a another hole in my garage. I use this unit 3-4 times a year.
Great job, clean execution. I am also planning to do the same, i’ve got 500sqf garage, how is it , is 14k BTU enough to cool your garage? Also, is there any problem reducing the hole from 6 to 4inches? Thank you so much for sharing this video.
This unit alone will not cool down my garage in the Texas heat, I also I have a mini split unit already installed. I added this unit to help when I host poker, having 25 grown mens body heat really heats up the garage.
The only question I have about the setup is the fact that the exhaust is drawing air from the garage which then is creating a negative pressure which then draws in more hot air through any leaking. So if you've got the 15K BTUs you're probably only getting the 5K BTUs out of it overall. Almost seems like a larger mini split would have been money ahead, but for $290 bucks what do you expect right, :-) pretty sure the mini split upgrade would be a lot more.
The answer to your reduced size of ductwork is yes, I believe there will be a problem due to lower air flow across the condenser which reduces the efficiency and may actually lower the lifespan of the equipment due to overheating.
I would expect it to reduce the efficiency of the unit, but I doubt it would due damage. It's just going to reduce how fast the exhaust gets out and and that'll reduce the heat transfer across the cooling element. 6" to 4" is pretty substantial. On the bright side, it's now a super short duct, and that's good for efficiency (the longer that duct is, the more length of hot-ductwork is exposed and just heating the room back up). Like nbco said, the way portable units work, they're constantly sending a portion of the room's air out the exhaust, so they just draw in outside air through the cracks to make up for it. That's true of any portable AC (except the 2 hose ones) though, not a problem with the installation itself. But, that makes this a good application for it. If it was going to be running all the time, another minisplit would be more efficient. But for occasional use, this is a cost-effective solution and you can just eat the bad efficiency of the portable unit.
Hello bud, It's me again, bro. How has the unit been performing after two years, especially following the 4 inch reduction? Is it still functioning well? Hope you make another video for update, and to shutdown all the haters for the size reduction 😂
It's a nice idea, however "in. Budget" I don't think so, the easiest ? Yes but if in Texas and your garage doors are not insulated as well as the top of your garage, the the budget thing will actually cost you more in wasted energy
These one hose a/c are so backwards while it's cooling the air it's also taking the cool air out the room to cool itself off that's how it blows the hot air out you should always try to find the type with the two hose one pulling outside air in just to cool itself off and blowing it back out instead of using the inside air
Exactly. It's creating a negative pressure in the garage... and that air has to be replaced with something (most likely drawing hot air from around an attic door or the garage door itself).
Why does that portable air conditioner need draining? They supposed to self-dry. You must have an older unit. I also would have went with the 6" dryer vent. The 4" puts too much back pressure on the air flow. I put one in a basement with tiny windows. It wouldn't fit. I had to cut a hole like you. It was near the electrical panel, so I put it on a dedicated circuit. The unit works great! 🐀🐾
you'll be fine with this but you could use a 6 inch vent and made a bigger hole but ya who wants a 6 inch hole in their friggin house. especially that beautiful brick.... reducing it to 4 inches will slightly decrease the efficiency but probably not very much or at all if you keep the exhaust vent run short. these portable units arent nearly as efficient as the mini split is in fact they had to stop rating them by seer because they produce their own heat. ya even though they do vent outside they still produce some heat in the house that you are fighting so these units i think they only get like maybe 10 or 13 seer. and dropping to a 4 inch vent for sure no more than 10.
Would you say a mini-split is better for the two car garage or portable AC. I’m in Texas as well. And I am looking for something for my garage. Stuck between the two. However, I still need to get insulation for the attic.
The problem with portable AC units is they pull air from the room and exhaust it outside. This creates negative pressure which pulls warm air into the room from outside. I would be interested to know how well one of these units would function if it was basically stored outside and set up to duct the cold air inside.
I have a mini split unit that is very efficient - this just helps in the one corner of the garage & it works well for the period of time I need it to cool down the space
only thing I would of did was took a long drill bit and drilled 1 hole from inside out, to give a guide as to where I needed to make the vent hole. The inside and outside "ground level" are not always the same, so it can skew your measurements. But it turned out great. Get yourself a hand grinder with a cut off wheel. That would of worked great cutting the exhaust duct. I have always said, a guy is either a wood guy or a metal guy, very rarely both. Your a wood guy.
I didn't have a long enough drill bit, I tried that first & yes! you're correct, I'm a wood guy! Father in-law is a metal guy, two different breeds! lol
These people are stupid. I can’t stand it. Watch the whole video before you comment about a mini split and blah blah blah. He obviously wasn’t doing this to be the most efficient thing in the world. It’s just to help out when people are over for poker. Even if it helps by 2-4 degrees it’s worth it. Great job man. I was actually thinking of doing the same thing for when I have people over for playing darts in the summer. Gonna check Facebook marketplace now.
these are useless. They actually pull conditioned air from the room and exhaust it outside. Meaning they pull a vacuum on the room drawing in hot air from doors, windows, and vents. I used one in conjunction with a window unit when my ac went out. It was in the living room and I had a window unit in the bedroom. My bedroom wouldn't get below 73. I shut off the portable in the living room and the bedroom dropped to 65 in 30 minutes. They do make dual hose portables that work much better and suck air from outside.
@@Mostviews111 No, it's a garage, that's not 100% sealed facing the West sun in the evening. Again, this is for the added body heat when I host 25 poker players in the garage, guess you didn't watch or listen to the video.
Watch the whole video! Lol I already own one, this is just to help with body heat when I host poker, having 25 grown men in my garage adds a lot of body heat!
I plan on doing this same thing for the same reason, poker, in my 2 car garage. Question: Why didn’t you use the 6” vent instead of the 4” and forget about reducing, what is just too big on the outside of the house?
Love to see him plugging into the outlet that he is then drilling thru from the other side of the garage, I thing thats called “completing the circuit”. Please isolate (turn off the breaker in the main panel) the outlet circuit before doing this. Good video, I have been looking at these for sometime now.
