Why Buy a Ventless Portable Air Conditioner
People may like to read about why they should buy a ventless portable air conditioner and see that there are many benefits from portability to cost savings.
During those balmy summer days and nights, when things start getting hot, it's time to cool down some and make the best use of modern technology as possible to achieve that end.
That's why it's a very good idea to make sure you have at least one vent-free portable air conditioning unit in your home.
I'll look at why that should be and the several advantages of owning one of these highly portable air cooling units.
But first, a little information for those who are not sure what, exactly a ventless portable air conditioner unit is and what it does.
What is a Ventless Air Conditioner?
What we refer to as a ventless AC unit without a vent hose is actually not a true air conditioning appliance at all.
It is in fact an evaporative cooler or swamp cooler.
It may look like a true freed standing AC unit, but in reality it has no regrigeration mechanics inside, just a water reservior, a soakable, porous medium and a fan!
It works by drawing warm air into the back of the unit with the fan, then forcing it through the wet medium, which evaporates some of the liquid. That evaporation traps heat in the water vapor, chilling the air that is then forced out into the room via the front of the unit.
While it doesn't cool and dry all the air in a room like a refrigerant-based AC does, it can lower the ambient temperature through evaporation by as much as 20 degrees.
The cooling process uses very little electricity to perform its job, often using a frugal 100-200 watts of power. When compared to a 1-2kW energy consumption of an AC, you can see how economical this kind of cooler actually is.
The only real downside to a swamp cooler is that it will not work effectively in a damp, humid climate. That rules out large areas of the United States, with only inland desert areas being really suitable for this type of cooler to be effective.
Now let's look at a true, refrigerant-based air conditioning appliance in contrast to the above swamp cooler:
Comparing Swamp Coolers with AC
A portable air conditioning unit is a small version of the large in-house, central air or ductless air conditioning system that keeps your home cool during the hot days and night that typify the summer months.
This is especially so if you live at a latitude that means you're going to experience temperatures in excess of 88 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius).
With a portable unit, you have the freedom to cool only one room at a time, which is the room you are currently occupying and if your budget does not extend to having a whole house, or partial permanent air conditioning system installed, then one of these low cost units will do the job of keeping you comfortable when all around you are melting in the heat!
Portable Air Conditioner Unit Advantages
The main advantage of a portable air conditioning unit over a larger permanent system is cost.
Not just the start up cost of buying a larger system and having it installed, although there is a large saving to be made by opting for the smaller unit.
The main saving will come later when you receive your first power bill after using either system for a summer. You'll generally find that a small, free standing air conditioner unit will use a lot less power than its larger, installed counterpart in a one on one comparison.
But the real saving comes from the way in which you would use any home air cooling system.
With an installed in-house air conditioner system, you are tempted to leave it running so that it cools the whole house. You'll justiy this practise by saying that you will be moving from room to room and it's nice to walk into a cool room, wherever it may be in the house. This, of course woiuld be quite true and a valid reaon for keeping the whole house nice and cool in summer.
But it doesn't hold up when you get that energy bill and it floors you at the sheer size of it! It's only then that you realize how much it costs to keep a whole house cool during the summer months, day in and day out, including overnight. That huge expense is caused by keeping rooms cool that you may only spend a few minutes a day using.
Not only will this scenario result in a huge energy bill, but think of the additional damage you are doing to the environment by drawing so much unnecessary electricity from the grid to keep rooms cool that are unoccupied! So what is the solution?
Small is Beautiful (and Cheap)
A ventless portable air conditioner solves the expense and environmental problem in two ways.
Firstly, it uses less electricity than a larger fixed unit to keep a room cool. Secondly, you can only physically occupy one room at a time, so why not just cool the room you are in and then when you plan to move to another room, take the unit with you!
In fact, it pays to have two portable air cooling units. One that you keep in your bedroom and switch on around half an hour before you plan on going to bed, so that you're bedroom is nice and cool for you. The other does for the main living/dining area or where the family congregates in the evenings.
Now don't go finding excuses, such as the kids all want to be in their own rooms, watch their own TV and listen to their own music. Well, if they want to do that and sweat it out, let them! Otherwise, you can begin to act like a real family and spend some quality time all together in one room like they did in your grandparent's day. Ok, that may not work for some families and here's why.
You can relent a little if you have two or more kids each with their own rooms by getting them portable units for those rooms as it's not nice and sometimes downright impossible to sleep in the heat. Of course, that'll mean they'll be more tempted to stay in their rooms, but not if you have the balls to enforce a few rules, like no air conditioning units get switched on until half an hour before bed time!
Summary
For more information, there is a related article that can be found at: Portable Air Conditioner that will expand on the information provided here.
However you play it, by having two or three individual portable air conditioner units in the house and using them sensibly, with the thermostats turned so that you have a comfortable room temperature of around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) and not so cold you can make icicles on the shelves, then you are going to save energy, do your part in helping the environment and saving yourself a packet of money in the process!
Posted: November 5, 2023
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