Many apartment dwellers want to air condition their homes during sweltering summer weather. But they don’t have the outdoor space for a split AC or in-wall AC system. If this is you, a portable air conditioner may be the solution you’re looking for.
What is a portable air conditioner?
A portable air conditioner is an air conditioning unit is small air conditioning unit designed to cool one room and to be moved from location to location. Portable air conditioners can be plugged into your power outlets and connected via an exhaust pipe to a window.
Portable air conditioners are self-contained units. Other air conditioners are split into two units, one inside the house cooling and another outside getting rid of heat. But a portable air conditioner performs both functions in a single unit and then pushes the heat out the window via an exhaust tube.
Getting rid of heat in this way means you need the right kind of windows to use a portable air conditioner. You’ll need a vertically sliding window to accommodate the device. Most portable air conditioners come with a window kit that attaches to an open window and creates a seal.
Some people believe that portable air conditioners are weak. But a portable air conditioner with a 10,000 BTU rating is just as powerful as a split AC or in-wall unit with the same cooling power rating.
The difference is that there are more split AC and in-wall units with higher BTU ratings. The most powerful portable air conditioners have BTU ratings of around 14,000. By comparison, you can find split AC units with 20,000+ BTUs.
That means a portable air conditioner is best for cooling a single room or a small, one-bedroom apartment.
Advantages of portable air conditioners
The two advantages of portable air conditioners is that they are inexpensive and easy to move from location to location.
Portable air conditioners typically cost $300 – $600. By contrast, a typical in-wall AC or split AC will cost you thousands of dollars. It’s also less expensive to run portable air conditioners as their lower cooling capacity requires less electricity to maintain.
The main design feature of portable air conditioners is that you can move them from one room to another. Most portable air conditioners come with wheels and a handle and can be installed in a window in 10 – 20 minutes.
Window AC units come the closest to portable ACs in terms of maneuverability. A lot of users will install a Window AC at the start of the summer and remove it for fall and winter. However, Window ACs are heavy and don’t have wheels. Installing a Window AC is a two person job.
Split AC and in-wall systems are fixed in location. You have to change your home’s wiring and install refrigerant lines between units in order to install these systems. Paying someone to install these systems is a cost you don’t have to cover with portable air conditioners.
Disadvantages of portable air conditioners
The two disadvantages of portable air conditioners is that they are less powerful than other AC systems and take up a lot of living space.
Portable ACs are not the best choice if you want to cool a three-bedroom home. These units max out at 14,000 BTUs, which is enough for a small apartment.
You might still be able to use a portable air conditioner in a larger apartment provided you settle on only cooling the living space and keep the doors closed. A common solution would be to buy more than one portable air conditioner and place them in different rooms in your home. This works well with Window AC units as well.
If you want a permanent cooling solution for a larger property, split ACs or in-wall ACs are better options. You can easily find units in those categories with 24,000 BTUs or more of cooling capacity.
The other disadvantage of portable air conditioners is that they take up more living space than other units.
In-wall ACs have an internal unit that’s mounted to your wall. Window ACs block your window but they rest on a windowsill instead of the floor.
The result is that neither crowds out your living space. Unfortunately, portable ACs sit in the middle of your living room or bedroom. You often have little choice over where they go because they need to connect to a window and a power outlet.
Mark is a journalist who has written about home products for two years. He holds a masters degree with distinction from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh.