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Portable room air conditioners consumer information

Portable room air conditioners consumer advice and tips. Portable A/C reviewed and rated, price comparison

Portable room air conditioner is an easy and inexpensive way to cool your room. Why to invest in a window unit for each room when you can have the same effect with just one portable air conditioner? Mobile units are very similar to window ones in their cooling capacity, the only difference is you can move it to where you like. If your place doesn’t have central A/C a small portable unit can be a good solution against the heat.

Even though you don’t need to put a portable A/C in the window, it extracts hot air that must be vented. If the hot air is not vented, the unit can not cool a room effectively. Window and venting kits are usually included with portable air conditioners at no extra cost. The exhaust hoses are generally between 5 and 7 feet long. Best way is to vent the hot air through the window, but you may also vent the portable AC through a wall vent, into the attic or drop ceiling. Venting it around a door would also be fine.

Mobile air conditioners are also very useful to cool a computer room. As you know computers like cool and dry air, so a portable air conditioner with dehumidifier function is used quite often instead of switching an entire central system on.

Are portable room air conditioners energy efficient?

The answer depends on the model you select, but in general yes they are. Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) is a standard measure of efficiency for comparing appliances and the cost of their operation. Most efficient air conditioners have the highest EER. Different models by the same brand often have different EER. Any rating of 12 or more is perfect. Portable units with higher EER might be a bit more expensive, but in the long term higher energy efficiency will save you more and it is also better for the environment.

There is another way how a portable A/C can save you a lot. Since you only cool one room, not the entire house it consumes considerably less electricity.