What Are the Benefits of Portable Air Conditioners?
If you’re looking for a convenient and simple way to a room or specific space, a portable air conditioner might be the way to go.
A portable air conditioner brings a hassle-free cooling solution to any room, and can be put to use in the home or office. In this article, we’re taking a look at portable air conditioners and how they could be of benefit to you.
What is a portable air conditioner?
A portable air conditioner is an alternative air conditioning system which expels warm air from a room via a duct (or hose) connected to a window. Portable air conditioners can be either single hose or double hose units, and don’t require any external units, allowing them to be moved easily between rooms.
Simple cooling solution
The main benefit of a portable air conditioner is how easy they are to install and use when compared to built-in air conditioners. Portable units don’t require an external condenser unit; instead, they connect to your window via a hose and window bracket/casement. Installation is quick and easy, leaving you with an instant cooling solution that can be implemented easily in any other room.
In the home, this is useful if you only need to cool certain rooms or if your space is limited and you don’t require larger scale cooling. In open plan offices, a portable air conditioner is perfect for cooling hot spots or more localised areas which need dedicated cooling. Smaller office rooms will also be effectively cooled, and portable systems can also be a great emergency alternative should the built-in system fail.
Cheaper than larger systems
For smaller homes, or homes which don’t require constant or extensive cooling throughout, portable units are a cheaper alternative to wall mounted or central air conditioning.
Firstly, the initial price is lower due to the lack of any external units or complex installation. Secondly, portable air conditioners allow you to target specific areas as and when they need to be cooled. This is much cheaper than running a central unit to keep your whole home cool when it might not be necessary. In this way, portable units can take much of the burden away from a central unit, saving you money in the long run.
The lower cost of portable units will likely be attractive to small business owners, too. Portable units excel when tasked with cooling smaller or medium sized rooms, so for smaller or independent shops or businesses, a portable unit might be a great way of saving money without sacrificing comfort for you, your clients or your patrons.
Portability
As you might have guessed, portable air conditioners benefit from their portability! This gives you much more options than you’d have with wall mounted units, and suits households or businesses where constant cooling isn’t necessary. Portable air conditioners can be moved from room to room as needed. You can cool your home office or study while you work, and then use the same unit to cool a bedroom, playroom or any other room that you would like to make more comfortable.
This helps you cool areas as required, and saves you from wasting energy and money cooling rooms that aren’t occupied or are rarely used. All you need is somewhere to plug it in and a window for the ducts and you’re good to go!
Range of units
Portable air conditioners have a BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating, which should be used to help you decide which unit should be used for your given space. A higher BTU suits larger rooms, and portable air conditioners generally range between 5,000 to 40,000 BTU.
This leaves you with a lot of options. Homeowners and businesses can find portable air conditioners to suit their cooling needs, whether you need a unit to cool a conservatory or bedroom, or need something to cover a larger, more open space.
It’s important to choose the right BTU level to properly cool your chosen space. Choose a unit that has too little power will mean that you will never be able to suitably cool the room, and the unit will be running constantly.
Too much, however, and your unit will repeatedly cycle on and off as it quickly cools your room, switches off, then activates again as soon as the temperature rises. Both of these scenarios can lead to accelerated wear of your unit, shortening its lifespan through overworking. If you’re unsure about the most suitable rating for your needs, simply ask a professional to recommend a unit based on the size of the space you need to cool.
With over 45 years of experience in the industry, Conditioned Environment are here to help with all of your air conditioning needs. We supply a range of portable air conditioners to customers throughout London and beyond, as well as providing dedicated maintenance, repair and installation of air conditioning units for domestic and commercial purposes. To find out more, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team today.
