[SGVLUG] OT: portable air conditioners

[Claude Felizardo]

Anyone have any comments on portable air conditioners for say a
300-350 sq ft room?  I'm talking about refrigerating coolers, not
evaporative though I don't mind that as a supplement.  Are the 2 hose
units more efficient then the single hose models?

When we added on to our house a number of years ago we knew our
existing central A/C unit was undersized so the A/C contractor who was
running the extra ducts and vents had suggested zoning but it wasn't
in the budget.   We play the game of closing down the vents in the
bedrooms during the summer months which is usually sufficient except
for the long heat waves.  I keep toying with the idea of a DIY zoning
system, there are plenty of website on this.  I already have a bunch
of temperature sensors around the house connected to my weather
station so it would be trivial to add a few more.  It's the mechanical
aspect (redoing the plenum box, installing dampers, etc) that's been
holding me back and the cost of a zone controller.   Or maybe I could
run it on a NSLU2?  But it would still require lots of work in the
attic and I just spent all day Sunday on a little rewiring project
that should have only taken a few hours.

So this is the time of year my wife and I start having discussions
about what to do about keeping the family room cool.  It's actually
rectangular with most of the computers at the far end with no window
to prevent glare on the monitors.  I want to install a wall unit by
the computers but my wife wants a portable unit we roll out as needed
and route the hose(s) out a window.  Her concern is a wall unit would
make the room look like a hotel room.  The wall unit would have to go
rather high so it would be very visible and the existing furniture
might block the view of a floor unit.  The room is open to the kitchen
and dining room and would only be used to supplement the central air
on hot days.  And yes we have plenty of fans in the house - two in the
family room, one in the dining room and one each in the bedrooms.  And
no, none can be turned on via X10.

claude