we will be in the market for a air conditioner later this year , and was wondering about a mobile one that you can but at Bunnings, its for the van only, what size and are they worth buying , its for SA summer weather
Also in the market for a generator to run one
Whenarewethere said
09:45 AM Aug 18, 2021
I have a portable Dimplex reverse cycle air conditioner at home. It has been a temporary solution for well over a decade.
They only work if you plumb in an in-take & out-take to cool the condenser. If you leave the air conditioning as is to pinch air from the room it is a waste of time.
I have have also added air filters on the internal & external sides of the air conditioner to keep dust out of it. It is amazing how dirty the filters get. I can wash them in the shower.
I would have liked to use the condensed water out of the air to help cool the condenser as it is designed to do, it does help with increased cooling capacity, but in my situation it was easier to permanently drain the air conditioner to minimise mould smells.
They are very heavy, from memory mine is 26kg, so make sure you have the payload & you tie it down properly while moving.
erad said
10:44 AM Aug 18, 2021
The units you are referring to are very good for what they are - a small air cooler. There are 2 types of air conditioner - evaporative and refrigerant types. The evaporative types are the cheapies - about $100 or so, and work well in areas with low humidity. In high humidity, such as coastal areas, they are a waste of time and will generate mould as well. The refrigerant types are a mini version of the window rattler units ie a compact one piece unit.
Refrigerant Air Conditioner units work by extracting heat from an area and dumping that heat elsewhere. ie they cool a room and transfer the heat to somewhere else. The small portable units get rid of the excess heat through a hose which is poked out a window or a door. Because they are extracting air from a room, you need some access for more air to come into the room as well. No big deal - just leave a door ajar and that will be enough area to do the job. Air holds an amazing amount of moisture in suspension. A typical room can easily hold 5 or more litres of water in suspension. When you cool the air, some of that moisture comes out of suspension. In a fixed air conditioner installation, the moisture (condensate) drips out and is usually routed into a drain pipe. With a portable A/C, you don't have the luxury of being able to drain the condensate away. Some of it can be evaporated in the discharge air going outside, but the rest will be collected in a bottle inside the unit. You have to empty the bottle periodically.
Years ago, we were in Sydney on Christmas Day. Traditional hot dinner. 12 people in a small room, our poor A/C going flat out. Suddenly it stopped! The temperature soared. people panicked. Luckily I realised what had gone wrong, and emptied the bottle. It had only taken about 90 minutes to completely fill a 1.5 L bottle. This is way way abnormal operation for one of these units, but it did a magnificent job that day. It served my Mother-in-law for months whilst she battled cancer, it has served our neighbour who was an emergency dept nurse trying to sleep during the day (She was on nightshift),it has served friends in Sydney through the last HOT summer (they had no A/C), and one of them was very sick. Oddly enough, we have never had the need to use it for ourselves.
Units such as these have limited cooling capacity. They will normally cool an average sized room to a comfortable level, but obviously the room size and aspect will have a huge bearing on how well it will work in your particular case. We did consider when we bought our new caravan in 2000 to use this A/C as a cooler, but we opted to have a split system installed in the van instead. The concept of using a portable A/C in a caravan has been used by others and it works well, but like all things, it is a compromise. Even the portable A/C in the home is a compromise, but it will comfortably get you over the coming summer, as long as your room size and aspect are within its capability (12 people in a small dining room on a 40 Deg C day was well beyond our unit's capability, although it did a sterling job that day). They are great for what they are - a small, cheap A/C unit.
-- Edited by erad on Wednesday 18th of August 2021 10:48:14 AM
we will be in the market for a air conditioner later this year , and was wondering about a mobile one that you can but at Bunnings, its for the van only, what size and are they worth buying , its for SA summer weather
Also in the market for a generator to run one
I have a portable Dimplex reverse cycle air conditioner at home. It has been a temporary solution for well over a decade.
They only work if you plumb in an in-take & out-take to cool the condenser. If you leave the air conditioning as is to pinch air from the room it is a waste of time.
I have have also added air filters on the internal & external sides of the air conditioner to keep dust out of it. It is amazing how dirty the filters get. I can wash them in the shower.
I would have liked to use the condensed water out of the air to help cool the condenser as it is designed to do, it does help with increased cooling capacity, but in my situation it was easier to permanently drain the air conditioner to minimise mould smells.
They are very heavy, from memory mine is 26kg, so make sure you have the payload & you tie it down properly while moving.
The units you are referring to are very good for what they are - a small air cooler. There are 2 types of air conditioner - evaporative and refrigerant types. The evaporative types are the cheapies - about $100 or so, and work well in areas with low humidity. In high humidity, such as coastal areas, they are a waste of time and will generate mould as well. The refrigerant types are a mini version of the window rattler units ie a compact one piece unit.
Refrigerant Air Conditioner units work by extracting heat from an area and dumping that heat elsewhere. ie they cool a room and transfer the heat to somewhere else. The small portable units get rid of the excess heat through a hose which is poked out a window or a door. Because they are extracting air from a room, you need some access for more air to come into the room as well. No big deal - just leave a door ajar and that will be enough area to do the job. Air holds an amazing amount of moisture in suspension. A typical room can easily hold 5 or more litres of water in suspension. When you cool the air, some of that moisture comes out of suspension. In a fixed air conditioner installation, the moisture (condensate) drips out and is usually routed into a drain pipe. With a portable A/C, you don't have the luxury of being able to drain the condensate away. Some of it can be evaporated in the discharge air going outside, but the rest will be collected in a bottle inside the unit. You have to empty the bottle periodically.
Years ago, we were in Sydney on Christmas Day. Traditional hot dinner. 12 people in a small room, our poor A/C going flat out. Suddenly it stopped! The temperature soared. people panicked. Luckily I realised what had gone wrong, and emptied the bottle. It had only taken about 90 minutes to completely fill a 1.5 L bottle. This is way way abnormal operation for one of these units, but it did a magnificent job that day. It served my Mother-in-law for months whilst she battled cancer, it has served our neighbour who was an emergency dept nurse trying to sleep during the day (She was on nightshift),it has served friends in Sydney through the last HOT summer (they had no A/C), and one of them was very sick. Oddly enough, we have never had the need to use it for ourselves.
Units such as these have limited cooling capacity. They will normally cool an average sized room to a comfortable level, but obviously the room size and aspect will have a huge bearing on how well it will work in your particular case. We did consider when we bought our new caravan in 2000 to use this A/C as a cooler, but we opted to have a split system installed in the van instead. The concept of using a portable A/C in a caravan has been used by others and it works well, but like all things, it is a compromise. Even the portable A/C in the home is a compromise, but it will comfortably get you over the coming summer, as long as your room size and aspect are within its capability (12 people in a small dining room on a 40 Deg C day was well beyond our unit's capability, although it did a sterling job that day). They are great for what they are - a small, cheap A/C unit.
-- Edited by erad on Wednesday 18th of August 2021 10:48:14 AM