Portable air conditioners can be a highly effective way to either supplement an existing central HVAC system in one room or cool a room entirely. Models vary in cooling capabilities, directly related to the unit's BTU rating per hour. Not only do portable AC's cool the surrounding air, they also dehumidify - keeping the air both cool and comfortably dry. The portable A/C units offered here differ by brand, maximum cooling area, and by additional unit features (such as whether a remote control is included, how many speed options there are for the unit fan, etc.). Some units have additional heating & IONIZER capabilities as well. Perhaps the most important thing to determine when choosing a portable air conditioner is the size needed. An air conditioner that is too small will not be able to keep up with cooling demand.
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What is a portable air conditioner?
A portable air conditioner is a self-contained free standing unit that typically sits within the area that is intended to be cooled – providing traditional ‘refrigerant driven’ air conditioned air.  

What is required to set a unit up? Are there any air hoses?
All compressor driven units (including portable air conditioners) exhaust hot air as part of the cooling process and therefore require an exhaust hose setup to discharge this hot air. This air hose is often vented out of a window or through a wall if preferred.  All Portable Air Conditioners come with the necessary accessories for either installation: window kit & through wall installation kit.  Setup is very easy and generally takes between 20-30 minutes to complete. 

Will I need to empty water? Will water collect in the unit?
When air is cooled water is extracted from the air. Therefore, all portable air conditioners remove water from the air while they are cooling. There are many different ways that various models deal with this condensate water. The simplest units have a built in water bucket that needs to be emptied on a regular basis (as frequently as every 8 hours to as infrequently as once a week depending on the humidity conditions of your environment). More sophisticated units can evaporate a great a deal of moisture into their hot air discharge and hence there is either less or even no water to empty. All units support a water drain hose being connected to allow for water to continuously drain out via gravity if desired. Condensate pumps are also available to help pump this drained water through a hose that can move in an upwards direction if needed. This hose can be directed outside or to an indoor drain pan.

What type of electrical requirements?
Most units use typical household 115 VAC and require no special wiring or outlets. Of course, as air conditioners can draw a significant amount of energy, caution must be taken not to overload a circuit with multiple high energy consumption devices (e.g. refrigerator or dehumidifier on the same circuit). Some of the higher BTU (14,000 BTU or higher) may or may not require special outlets or dedicated 20amp circuits to operate. Please see product descriptions for more information. Energy consumption will vary depending on the model and your environmental conditions. 

What size air conditioner (BTU) do I need?
Generally, a 12,000 BTU room air conditioner will cover 350 to 400 square feet, while The more powerful units ranging from 14,000 to 16,000 BTU will cover up to 500 square feet.. However, this is only a rule of thumb and does not take into account ceiling height (cubic space), insulation type (building construction), geographical location (ambient temperature), heat emitting sources (people, electronics), sun exposure (windows) , etc.  Therefore, we recommend customers be conservative and buy slightly more BTU than they think that they might need. Refer to the BTU key for a General Reference.

What is the difference between a single hose design and a dual hose design?
Some portable air conditioners have one air exhaust hose and some have two air hoses, one for air intake and one for air exhaust. A single hose unit will take air from the room that it is in and return most of that air back into the room as cold conditioned air. However, a small amount of that air will be used to cool the unit and be blown out of the air conditioners exhaust hose. This results in a slight negative pressure in the room being cooled as a small amount of air is constantly being removed from the room. If this negative pressure is adjusted for by drawing unconditioned air into the room from adjacent spaces then the cooling efficiency is slightly affected. A dual hose unit works by taking in air from the outside through one of its hoses and using that air to cool the unit - and then that hot air is expelled through the exhaust hose. As such, it does not create negative pressure inside the room being cooled. However dual hose units use warmer unconditioned air to cool their compressors which results in slightly less efficiency and also use two fans internally which results in slightly higher energy usage. At this time, there is no conclusive evidence that either solution, single vs. dual hose, is better than the other when all factors are considered. Click here to view our Dual-Hose Units.

Can I discharge the hot air out of a horizontal opening sliding glass window - door?
Although most units come with window kits for traditional (vertically opening) double hung windows - only selected units will work with sliding glass doors and sliding glass windows. In some cases this may require the purchase of additional accessories. Please see the product descriptions and / or contact us for details.

Can I lengthen the exhaust / hot air discharge hose?
In general, you cannot lengthen the exhaust hose of units. Depending on the manufacturer, this may void your warranty and potentially cause your air conditioner to overheat. All Portable AC’s come with a minimum 5’ foot exhaust hose length.

Do I have to remove my screen from the window with the Window Kit?
The answer to this question may vary based upon your particular window and screen. However, most of our customers find that they can leave the screen in the window and that the exhaust hose of the AC does not extend out from the window.

What should I use for a server room?
Portable air conditioners are oftentimes used for supplemental cooling for computer server rooms or as primary cooling during the weekends when building air conditioning may be shutoff. However most Portable AC's are not designed to accomodate server rooms with the listed BTU capacity and therefore it is recommended that you contact us before purchasing an HVAC appliance if you plan on using it in a server room.

Will a portable air conditioner work for multiple rooms?
Generally, Yes as long as the space being cooled is within the square footage capacity of the unit. However, the cold air will not sufficiently travel down lengthy halls & through narrow doorways. If a space has very large openings from one room to another, then adjacent spaces will reap more of the benefits.  Similar to Window units, Portable AC’s are most effective at cooling their immediate area…Fans can be used to help circulate air.

I have a casement / crank out window, will this work?
There are no portable air conditioner units with a window kit that will work for a casement window. Some customers have fashioned a solution using Plexiglas to cover their entire window area and then have a small hole cut into the Plexiglas for the hot air discharge hose. No solution is provided "out of the box" but some customers have fashioned their own.

Do you Accept Returns?
Our inventory ships directly from the Manufacturer or warehouse locations in Factory Sealed Condition.  If a unit arrives damaged or does not function according to the listed specifications, we will gladly grant an exchange (at no cost to you) or issue a repair call to get the unit operational.  However, our general stated policy is that we can not and will not accept money back returns (exceptions may apply).  If unit has not shipped out yet, we will gladly cancel your order and return payment in full. Once the parcel is registered, interception fee's may apply.  If you are adament on a return, please contact us to request an RA.  If an RA is granted, please see below for our return conditions.  See Our Return Policy Page for more Info >

 
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