Portable Air Conditioners - worth it?

[Na Fan]

The air cons at our house aren't cutting it. It's hot and steamy all the time - and we're not even in the hot season yet!!

 

Any of you own any portable ones? Are they good? Recommendations?

 

 

[scubascuba3]

A small massage shop i went to had one and it was useless, probably dependent on price paid

[Will B Good]

The only ones any good must vent to the outside.....anything else is a waste of time and money......decent ones are not cheap by any means.

[ThailandRyan]

When was the last time you had your Aircons serviced and recharged @Na Fan.  Every 6 months you should be having them cleaned and then the units freon checked.  My large Aircon in the center of the family room ceiling needed to have the freon recharged.  Now it gets quite chilly.  

 

Bought a portable for the GF's mother and it needs to have water added to it.  She uses it at night along with a fan in her room at the house in Myanmar and she says it keeps it at 25 Celsius.  Comfortable for her, but to me that's not efficient.

[lopburi3]

Have you invested in a professional cleaning?  Can make a world of difference and only costs about 600 baht (often less).

[sammieuk1]

No do you want to buy one very little use ????

[Moonlover]

An A/C unit is technically a heat pump and it's job is to pump the heat out of your room, into the outside world.

 

A free standing unit with no connection to the outside world cannot possibly achieve that, so I wouldn't even give them a second thought. As others before have said, get your unit serviced.

[Swimfan]

I use a 4.4kw portable air conditioner in my unit in Sydney. It easily keeps the 50sqm living area cool on the hottest of days and has no problem getting down to 20degC. Obviously is ducted outside through a window kit.

[Na Fan]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When was the last time you had your Aircons serviced and recharged @Na Fan.  Every 6 months you should be having them cleaned and then the units freon checked.  My large Aircon in the center of the family room ceiling needed to have the freon recharged.  Now it gets quite chilly.  

 

Bought a portable for the GF's mother and it needs to have water added to it.  She uses it at night along with a fan in her room at the house in Myanmar and she says it keeps it at 25 Celsius.  Comfortable for her, but to me that's not efficient.

I'm aware. Thanks. They're brand new. Inverters. Same size as we previously had (non-Inverters). And they just don't cool.

We had 3 different techies here, including one from the manufacturer. They all came during cold weather and said "it's all nice and cool, what's the problem?". I give up.

 

So, question remains - what is good? Brand? Model? Is what I would love to hear about.

[pgrahmm]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When was the last time you had your Aircons serviced and recharged @Na Fan.  Every 6 months you should be having them cleaned and then the units freon checked.  My large Aircon in the center of the family room ceiling needed to have the freon recharged.  Now it gets quite chilly.  

 

Bought a portable for the GF's mother and it needs to have water added to it.  She uses it at night along with a fan in her room at the house in Myanmar and she says it keeps it at 25 Celsius.  Comfortable for her, but to me that's not efficient.

Those water filled can only cool to the ambient room temperature ....The water in the tray/tank is at room temperature....

They raise the humidity level by putting misted water into the air....

They have to be thoroughly cleaned or they can produce bacteria making people sick - like in legionnaires disease sick..... They're not effective at cooling, especially if there's humidity in the air........

 

[clivebaxter]

2 hours ago, Na Fan said:

I'm aware. Thanks. They're brand new. Inverters. Same size as we previously had (non-Inverters). And they just don't cool.

We had 3 different techies here, including one from the manufacturer. They all came during cold weather and said "it's all nice and cool, what's the problem?". I give up.

 

So, question remains - what is good? Brand? Model? Is what I would love to hear about.

What make are those a/c units? didnt Sheryl have a similar problem with new inverters

[Na Fan]

Just now, clivebaxter said:

What make are those a/c units?

Carrier

[1FinickyOne]

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

decent ones are not cheap by any means.

I wouldn't say that... when it is so hot that you can't sleep, it is quite a bargain... just think what you save in laundry bills from not sweatin' up the sheets... I bet a guy like you might make up the cost of a good a/c in one hot season worth of having clean sheets [also worth having] 

 

A/c and clean sheets and you will be livin' the high life... 

[finnsk]

I have a "portable" aircon, a 14000 btu with outside connection it works ok. Bought it 2 years ago only cleaning filters.

 

The price was around 8000 baht, it was an offer in Thai Watsadu.

 

But but it is not very economical, i think it is using around 50 % more power than a fixed one with outside compressor, the portable ones is build very compressed with the heat and cold units beside in the cabinet. And it is making some noise, much more than a fixed one with outside unit.

 

Technical it is ok and working as expected and can cool down a bedroom on the sunny side. To use as an extra cooling unit for sometimes use it is fine, but for every day use I will not recommend it.

 

[Will B Good]

6 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

I wouldn't say that... when it is so hot that you can't sleep, it is quite a bargain... just think what you save in laundry bills from not sweatin' up the sheets... I bet a guy like you might make up the cost of a good a/c in one hot season worth of having clean sheets [also worth having] 

 

A/c and clean sheets and you will be livin' the high life... 

Sleep on the floor, in the buff, with a single fan......saving a fortune.

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, Na Fan said:

Any of you own any portable ones? Are they good? Recommendations?

We have 7 A/C's in the house, one has passed away and we don't use that area so won't replace it.

 

A while ago, before the A/C's we purchased one of those portables, they seemed cold enough at the store, well that is because the store is air conditioned is it.

 

They are useless and noisy, although the sister-in-law jumped on the opportunity to buy at half price a year later.

 

You mentioned the technicians have been around and they say it's fine, my daughter has an old A/C and sometimes just blows air and is not cold, that said, I lift the cover and there is a white switch, I press it and wait till it beeps a couple of times and then I hear the motor kick in, so try that, if that fails drop the temperature to 18 and see what happens, if it doesn't go cool, flip the lid and press the white button and hold till it beeps twice and see what happens, otherwise if it's old and hasn't had a service/clean, try that, or buy another. 

[1FinickyOne]

23 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Sleep on the floor, in the buff, with a single fan......saving a fortune.

sell any tkts yet?

[Yellowtail]

23 hours ago, Will B Good said:

......saving a fortune.

For what?

[Will B Good]

29 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

For what?

Nana...doh!

[kamalabob2]

The previous posts have pointed out that when you shop for the "portable units" the store itself is cool, The units I have experienced not only do NOT cool very much, but they are darn noisy. Not worth the expense. Cleaning the a/c unit properly is well worth the money. 

 

[Na Fan]

So in other words, we're screwed. Great. I'm now sitting here, pouring sweat. It's a little warm outside. The aircon is set to Full-Auto and 20 degrees (at the recommendation of the manufacturer's technician). And it's hot as hell in here.

 

To clarify:

- We move into a new home, there were large aircons installed.

- They were cool, even at the lowest setting

- But they leaked water and were spewing ice. They were about 15 years old

- We had them cleaned. We had them serviced.

- They were cool but kept flooding our home and bed. It's awesome if you're woken up at 3AM by loud noise above your head, followed by a shower of ice. Really. Awesome.

- So the owner replaced the aircons with new brand new ones.

- But, the new ones are Inverters. Apparently more expensive than regular ones. Also, apparently they just don't work right.

- From day 1 we said they are not cool. Even though the BTU are the same, they do not cool the room. It's not comfortable.

- We had technicians here

- We had a different team of technicians here

- We had a team from the aircon manufacturer here

- And again, the aircons are brand new.

 

They all said the same thing: the aircons are cooling. They are normal. They stand in the area where the cold air comes out of the aircon and they say "look it's cool". The run the aircon at max power (loud as hell), shut all doors for 30 minutes and say "look, the room is cool".  I wanna kick them in the nuts and say "look, it hurts".

 

But everywhere else in the room it's not bloody cool. Plus, they were always here on cold days. It's the cold season here now.

Come March, April, May, we'll be in serious trouble.

 

So, what the hell can I do? Replace the aircons again, at my own cost? As a gift to the landlord? /s

 

I understand the landlord, they spent 50'000 to replace the aircons. It's not their fault the aircons suck <deleted>. But whose fault is it?

 

I dont know what the hell to do anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Longwood50]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:18 PM, Na Fan said:

Any of you own any portable ones? Are they good? Recommendations?

There is a difference between and air conditioner and an air cooler.  The cooler vents to the inside and is really nothing more than a fan that blows air over water or frozen blocks placed in the water bin.  A portable AC vents to the outside.  They do work but the vent hose has to go through an opening usually a window and that can be problematic. 

[lopburi3]

What settings do you use on remote control?  Full auto at 20c but how is air flow directed?  Are the vanes blowing straight out?  Is the horizontal control swinging?  The temp is above 20c in the room?   How cold do you want your room?  

 

There is nothing wrong with inverter AC units - most in use today are indeed inverter.  But have no knowledge of that brand here in Thailand home split systems.  Do you have a model number people could check?

[Na Fan]

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

What settings do you use on remote control?  Full auto at 20c but how is air flow directed?  Are the vanes blowing straight out?  Is the horizontal control swinging?  The temp is above 20c in the room?   How cold do you want your room?  

 

There is nothing wrong with inverter AC units - most in use today are indeed inverter.  But have no knowledge of that brand here in Thailand home split systems.  Do you have a model number people could check?

Swing is disabled - we can't have air blowing on our faces when we sleep or we'll get sick. It just blows straight out along the ceiling. Worked fine with the previous air con (and also in our previous homes).

 

Model is 42TEVGB013-703.

 

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

Using terms  like "cool" or  really  cold"  tells  you  NOTHING,  how  about a  thermometer and an actual READING  off  that?

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, Na Fan said:

But they leaked water

Noh they didnt there's  no water to leak, what you  have is a blocked or partially blocked  drain line  full of  condensed water,  many who clean these  things are totally clueless and think blasting some air  down the drain line if they actually  even do  that is  enough,many dont even bother checking the drain.

After watching some of them I now clean my own myself, you get a build  up of  jelly  inside the  drip tray and drain pipe, I clean this out by sticking a  hosepipe  on and giving it  merry  hell, then I chuck some bleach down it for good  measure, I also stick a wire  mesh on the drain pipe exit  to stop jing joks and other insects  such as  wasps trying to  block it. For  600 baht you get the general crapp   clean, they want more to strip  it down and actually  really deep  clean the drainpipe etc

[lopburi3]

11 minutes ago, Na Fan said:

Swing is disabled - we can't have air blowing on our faces when we sleep or we'll get sick. It just blows straight out along the ceiling. Worked fine with the previous air con (and also in our previous homes).

 

Model is 42TEVGB013-703.

 

 

How would hot air make you sick?  Or is it actually not hot?  Blowing straight out along the ceiling?  It sucks from the ceiling and blows from the bottom so you must mean adjusted to highest level and your heads are under the AC?  This time of the year you probably do not even need AC so suspect it is not cooling much - but without knowing actual temps and your expectations hard to judge.  Is a Thai bus cool or cold for you?  Is a shopping mall cool?  If the vanes are turned to direct flow to sides it can block a lot of air flow and auto is almost always lowest fan which also limits airflow.  I would set fan to 2 or 3 setting and see if that helps but maybe 1 when sleeping.  And make sure removable filters are cleaned every couple of weeks.  

[kamalabob2]

The OP has the 2nd from the bottom "series" of that brand as I look at the website. Does not mean it is a bad air conditioner. If the OP looks in the printed catalog it will indicate the decibel level and SEER number of the other possible series in that brand. It is a reputable brand.

 https://carrierthailand.com/air-conditioner/wall-type/   However Carrier is no longer part of UTC.

https://www.coolingpost.com/world-news/utc-board-approves-carrier-spin-off/

The Thailand owner of Carrier is a VERY well funded and VERY reputable firm B Grimm

https://bgrimmaircon.com/

The OP can work up the corporate level if he feels he has a defective unit. 

He might have copies of all receipts and copies of receipts of a real company who cleaned his units. 

[Sandboxer]

Save your money. About as useful as teats on a bull.

 

 

[Na Fan]

That's in the home office now, with the aircon running since 8AM (4 hours).

 

Oh yeah and a fan is running too. So the air is well mixed and there's no "hot pocket" where the thermometer happened to be sitting.