Air cooler fans better than air con?

[Jeffkp]

I have a small office off my living room. It does not have aircon, I bought one to supplement. I run the aircon for a while and then turn off. Chiller takes it from there. Not useful as stand alone. also, you can run the aircon at higher temp and the chiller can cover the difference. Of course, in either case your using electricity.

[bazza40]

Spend the money on electricity for the aircon. These units only work with high temperatures and low humidity.

[Gerard052]

I bought one for 9,000baht. Totally useless in Bangkok. It made my room feel extremely humid. The ones that you see in the department stores work well because they are inside with dry air conditioned air already. Waste of money.

I agree 100%, I bought one and kept it for less than 24 hours, bought it in the afternoon and returned it the next morning, totally useless. I bought an aircon which is way better.

[1FinickyOne]

Any feedback on those portable a/c units that run about 10,000 baht?

they seem to shoot out some cold air but hot air comes out the back and I have no easy way to get rid of that hot air... my windows are not set up to accommodate...

My regular window a/c is barely cooling off my office... not sure if it is the extreme heat or worthless techs who have been here 3x w/no positive results..

Edited May 12, 2016 by kenk24

[DrTuner]

Useless. The reason they may work in an already AC'd space is because the air humidity is lower, due to the condensate water being routed from the AC evaporator to the outside of the building. Everyone's seen those pipes drip the water outside.

Edited May 12, 2016 by DrTuner

[DrTuner]

Here's a tip though: seal your space with duct tape and put a 1" layer of silica kitty litter on the floor. That'll bring the humidity down. Or just buy a <deleted> AC.

[tonray]

You are better off upgrading your AC unit to one with a DRY setting, which acts like a dehumidifier and runs on low fan. This cycle uses slightly less electricity than a regular Auto/Cool setting and can really dry the humidity from a rooom well. Sometimes in a small room (35 sq mtr or less) just using this setting even with the temp set at 30 C is enough to make it comfortable.

[RandolphGB]

Seems like most people find them pretty useless.

[Koosdedooes]

Seems like most people find them pretty useless.

In Thailand, in other less humid places they do actually work, not as good as an aicon but evaporative coolers do work

[oldgit]

Any feedback on those portable a/c units that run about 10,000 baht?

they seem to shoot out some cold air but hot air comes out the back and I have no easy way to get rid of that hot air... my windows are not set up to accommodate...

My regular window a/c is barely cooling off my office... not sure if it is the extreme heat or worthless techs who have been here 3x w/no positive results..

If you want one of those portable packaged units, you MUST find a way of getting rid of hot air. Can you form a 100mm dia. hole in the wall? The length of hose is normally about a metre long, so you don't have much to play with, but there's normally a change section plastic terminal piece (100mm. dia. to 150mm x 50mm) which you can use by opening the window a couple of inches, then sealing off the space around it with wood panelling. I've known some people who have directed the hose into the false ceiling space but I strongly recommend that you don't do that!

[jayci]

Evaporative coolers do work, but not in a closed room. You need good inside / outside air flow that is low humidity.

[Sekingco]

I use one on the front porch, works well. I sit in front of the unit and much better than just a fan.

[DrTuner]

I use one on the front porch, works well. I sit in front of the unit and much better than just a fan.

If I needed a fan outside, I'd put a misting water nozzle in front of it to make use of the cooling effect of water evaporating off the skin. I suspect that's what you're feeling. For that a misting fan is probably better than a swamp cooler. Edited May 13, 2016 by DrTuner

[Keesters]

Just wait till you turn it off. The room will be so humid you'd wish it would rain inside.

[darhut]

if they were any good people would not bother with A/C last one I looked at in a shop was pumping cool air at the front and emitting hot air from the back. They seem good in a shop, that's where they should stay!

You may have been looking at a portable A/C unit ?.

[charliebadenhop]

Just wondering if we are all talking about the same units here?

There are units that send out a cool mist. These seem like they would be a really bad idea in a house.

There are units that have what looks like a radiator in the back and you put ice and water in the back. The cold water (I think) cools the radiator.

Cool air comes out of these, but I cannot notice and mist coming out.

These units are also somewhat useless?

And BTW, the sales person said they work effectively for 8 hours or so.

??

Edited May 13, 2016 by charliebadenhop

[little mary sunshine]

Portable A/C units work very well as long as

You vent the hot air out the window using

The flexible hose provided with the units.

Also on some units you must empty the

Water they collect when used as a de-

humidifier .

[DUNROAMIN]

I bought an evaporate cooler several months ago due to the excessive heat. Did all the research on the internet before buying, found that both types of portable coolers are not very efficient in humid or dry conditions. Against my better judgement I thought I would give the water cooler a try, it did make a small difference when sitting close to it, however, if you don't keep the water ice cold it just blows hot air around after a while. Not worth the money. The air cooler will also be more efficient if kept close to a open door or window. Keep in mind that what makes it unbearable in summer here is the high humidity and a cooler adds more moisture to the air increasing the humidity. Generally speaking, the old fashion fan is still a winner, just keep a cool hand towel wet with you and with a quick wipe down your body will cool down.

My recommendation:

Don't buy any type of portable aircon. Use a fan and cool towel and let your body do the rest.

If you can afford it buy a fully installed wall aircon.

[DrTuner]

Here's an explanation how swamp coolers work, when they work, which they rarely do here in Thailand: http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/heating-and-cooling/swamp-cooler.htm

[jacko45k]

I bought one for 9,000baht. Totally useless in Bangkok. It made my room feel extremely humid. The ones that you see in the department stores work well because they are inside with dry air conditioned air already. Waste of money.

I have felt a benefit from them out of doors.... but they were large units.

[kannot]

Any feedback on those portable a/c units that run about 10,000 baht?

they seem to shoot out some cold air but hot air comes out the back and I have no easy way to get rid of that hot air... my windows are not set up to accommodate...

My regular window a/c is barely cooling off my office... not sure if it is the extreme heat or worthless techs who have been here 3x w/no positive results..

equally useless unless they HAVE TWO VENT HO|L|ES AT THE REAR see youtube test on them being useless here

[kannot]

Just wondering if we are all talking about the same units here?

There are units that send out a cool mist. These seem like they would be a really bad idea in a house.

There are units that have what looks like a radiator in the back and you put ice and water in the back. The cold water (I think) cools the radiator.

Cool air comes out of these, but I cannot notice and mist coming out.

These units are also somewhat useless?

And BTW, the sales person said they work effectively for 8 hours or so.

??

ive never seen a "sales person work effectively here" especially for 8 hours unless thats 8 hours on their mobile or having a group chat

[losworld]

Totally useless in a humid climate. At best they can lower temps by 2 to 3 degrees. In a humid climate they just introduce more water vapour into the air.

Btw. Had one in the UK for "hot" summers, ended up on the rubbish tip.

Yeah but might work okay in northern thailand during the hot season with lower humidity. My uncle built one for his house in the California desert and dam it worked well keeping the place around 65-70 fahrenheit when it was 110 outside.

[kannot]

Totally useless in a humid climate. At best they can lower temps by 2 to 3 degrees. In a humid climate they just introduce more water vapour into the air.

Btw. Had one in the UK for "hot" summers, ended up on the rubbish tip.

Yeah but might work okay in northern thailand during the hot season with lower humidity. My uncle built one for his house in the California desert and dam it worked well keeping the place around 65-70 fahrenheit when it was 110 outside.

my chart shows you "when" it will work

[mikiea]

Totally useless in a humid climate. At best they can lower temps by 2 to 3 degrees. In a humid climate they just introduce more water vapour into the air.

Btw. Had one in the UK for "hot" summers, ended up on the rubbish tip.

i agree totally , i had 3 piped ceiling units in a 2600 sf ranch home in the Nevada desert , they were wonderful ,super cheap , cool clean moist air , absolutely amazing , hardy ever used the a/c unless the house was full of people . not much use here , way to much warm humidity already unless your into growing mold .