Keeping Cool with Portable Air Conditioners

If you are looking to buy a new air conditioner, you might consider looking into purchasing a portable ac unit. Portable ac units are a great choice to keep your room or office cool during the summer. Most of us are accustomed to seeing houses cooled with a central cooling system, or swamp coolers, or to seeing rooms cooled by air conditioning units that sit in the window. Portable ac units are similar to these window systems in that they are used to cool one room and are relatively cost effective. The way they work is similar. But the difference, of course, is that portable ac units do not sit in the window?they can be placed anywhere in your house and can be moved around as needed. Most portable ac units have wheels on the bottom so it is not difficult to move them from room to room.

Like window units, a portable ac works by circulating the air in the room. The warm air goes into the machine and passes over coils, where it is cooled by refrigerant gas. This process produces excess moisture and heat, which needs to be transported away from the unit. Window air conditioning units accomplish this easily because half of the machine is already outside. The byproducts are released into the hot air outside. Portable ac units also transport the air outside. One or two hoses attach to the top of the portable ac and are connected to a plate that you install in your window. The hose sends the excess hot air and some of the moisture directly outside, as does the window air conditioner. The water that is taken from the hot air as it is cooled is collected inside of a tank located in the portable ac unit. Make sure you empty this tank regularly so the portable ac can continue to operate.

When you purchase any new home or office equipment, you need to understand what components to look for as you examine various brands and styles. The same goes for looking for a new portable ac unit, and one thing to look for is how many exhaust hoses the unit has. If you are trying to cool a large room, it is best to get a unit that has two hoses. This helps the air circulate more quickly.

Another thing you should consider is how big the room that you want to cool is. Portable ac units come in different sizes and capacities. Portable ac machines are rated by the amount of BTUs, or British Thermal Units, of heat that can be removed from the air in one hour. For a room that is 300 to 400 square feet, you want a portable ac that can remove at least 12,000 BTUs. When you go to purchase your portable ac, make sure to come to the store knowing what size of room you want to cool so you can get a machine that can cool it.

You really can't go wrong with any type of air conditioning system, but portable ac units may be the best for you because with a portable ac, you can look forward to staying cool all summer.

Portable Air Conditioners