[SGVLUG] OT: portable air conditioners

[Mic Chow]

Claude,

Are you looking at something like these?
http://www.superair.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=27

What they are calling Ductless Mini split Air Conditioners are used all
over Hong Kong because of the lack of space.  They essentially are
window units on steroids.  They require permanent mounting, but they
work quite well and as far as the room side is concern, they are not
really visible.  I have seen the Portable Air Conditioners units at a
lot of the smaller mom & pop restaurant and they usually need a tube,
but according to the specs on this website several models have their own
evaporators and dehumidifier built in.  Since this is SoCal and there is
very little humidity anyway, it should work.

Hope this helps.

Mic
North Hollywood, CA
N34° 8'33.02"
W118° 21'39.62"

Claude Felizardo wrote:
> 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
> 
>