portable air conditioner

[Tractorat]

My wife wants a new portable air conditioner for the bedroom. And, she wants one that doesnt have to be drained.



I looked at one this afternoon, and the guy said if you put in in a/c mode only (no dehumidifier), it doesn't collect water.



Here is my question (I didnt think to ask him before I left the store). Isn't dehumidification part of a/c by default ? How do you cool the air with an a/c if you aren't taking water out of the air ?

 

[JR]

If you live in a humid climate, it will definitely make some water. Ours is drained through a 3/8 hose and is ran out the window next to the exhaust hose. If you live in a dryer climate like my mom does in Wyoming, they simply stick a shallow pan under neath and drain it every few days.
Our model can switch between a/c and dehumidify only, many days we just run the dehumidifier and it helps alot. We have a few big trees that provide good shade for the house and knocking the humidity out of the air can make a world of difference when your dealing with 80% humidity.

 

[HBarlow]

I can't comprehend the concept of a portable room ac unit. If the unit is portable with no ducting it will, at least in theory, produce chilled air out of one side and hot air out of the other and, as you said, it will remove moisture that has to go somewhere.

 

[jhenderson]

Every unit I have seen, comes with a flexible 6-8 inch diameter exhaust duct that vents out a window. They also had a drain hose to run outside for condensation. When I read the spec sheet on the one I was looking at, it stated the unit could remove up to 45 pints of water per day. They have to drain continuously. I have never seen one with a catch pan.

 

[jgillott]

Every unit I have seen, comes with a flexible 6-8 inch diameter exhaust duct that vents out a window. They also had a drain hose to run outside for condensation. When I read the spec sheet on the one I was looking at, it stated the unit could remove up to 45 pints of water per day. They have to drain continuously. I have never seen one with a catch pan.

I have a couple GE units that have a catch pan. On a humid day, they will run 4-6 hrs before they need to be dumped. They have the hot air vent hose that goes out the window only, not the drain tube.

On a side note, if anyone knows of a high BTU 230/240v portable ac unit, let me know. I would love to find one for our master bedroom. They make commercial units, but I was looking for one around 14K or 15K btu, equivalent to a large window AC unit. Our windows will not accomidate a large window unit. We are currently using a 8K portable, but it can hardly keep up when it is very hot.

 

[JR]

I have a couple GE units that have a catch pan. On a humid day, they will run 4-6 hrs before they need to be dumped. They have the hot air vent hose that goes out the window only, not the drain tube. .

You should have a nipple with a plug to drain the condensate, simply slide a piece of 3/8 hose over top of it And you can drain it wherever you want. Our windows in the living room go to the floor, so that is where we have the exhaust ran as well as the drain hose. No more babysitting a catch pan every few hours on days where it is 80 - 90 % humidity.

Another option may be if you have a basement and can route the drain hose down stairs into your sump. The hose is pretty small, not much larger than a coaxial cable, I'm sure one could get creative and find a way to do it. Sure beats draining a pan of water 2 or 3 times a day.

 

[Tractorat]

Our old portable a/c is on wheels, vents thru a hose to a window, and has a drain plug to drain into a bottle. The new ones say you dont need to drain them. The one Im looking at evidently has a dehumidifier that can be turned on or off. The salesman says if you turn off the hehumid, it doesnt collect water. My question is, does a/c generate water that has to be drained just as a default function of a'c ?

 

[JR]

I've never seen a properly working a/c unit that didnt make water from the evap.
Now like I said it greatly depends on the amount of humidity is in the air. My parents in Wyoming will drain a few quarts from their portable unit some days, and other days they will get next to nothing for days at a time. On a 90* day with high humidity my unit will drip water from the hose nearly constantly. It is an 11000 btu unit that is one year old as of this month.

 

[Tractorat]

It is an 11000 btu unit that is one year old as of this month.

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. Either from an a/c engineer, or someone with (like you) with a new unit.
That's what I thought would be the case.

 

[GW208]

We have no experience with the portable units but that heat wave a few weeks ago got us to thinking about getting one. I came across this one at Costco that claims to have auto evaporation and never needs to be drained, maybe that's what the sales guy was talking about.

It's cooled off now so we haven't broke down and ordered one yet but I also liked the idea of the dual hose system because it is supposed to be more efficient. I guess the single hose models use room air to cool the evap so you are always sucking in hot outside air to make up for what is being exhausted. From the way I understand it is this dual hose type uses one hose to intake outside cooling air for the evap and the other is for the hot exhaust air discharge so no room air is being vented outside. Kind of like running the car A/C in recirc mode.





http://www.costco.com/.product.1000...rypageHorizontalTop|PopularProductsInCategory

 

[JR]

Looks like the 2nd hose turns the water into a vapor and exhausts out the window, rather than collecting it and having to drain it. It might be a viable option if draining is an issue, but either way you cut it the unit is still condensating, your just getting rid of it in a different way. I don't remember seeing that option last year when we were shopping for ours.
Neither unit draws air from the outside, they both intake from the inside just the same as a window unit or a central a/c unit would via cold air ducts.