Portable Room A/C

Posted by John on April 25, 2008, 1:40 pm

I live in Southern California, and the summers here are pretty hot. I
have an aging Central A/C unit. I will be replacing this system at
some point, but now I'm looking for a temp solution.

I am considering putting a portable a/c unit in an upstairs office to
keep this room cooler on all but the very hot days when I'll run the
central air. The office is app. 20 x 20 feet with a vaulted ceiling.
There is a ceiling fan in the room also. The portable feature would
also allow me to move the unit to the master bedroom at night.

My question is how good a job do these portable units do? I'm looking
at a 12,000 btu Royal Air system, currently on sale at Costco for
$350. This is less than one month's a/c bill during the peak summer
months. Running it during the "off" peak summer days would probably
pay for it, but I don't want to buy it if it doesn't really work.

Any thoughts on how well this could work on a room that can typically
reach the upper 90's during very hot days?

Thanks for your input.

Posted by big_dgreen on April 25, 2008, 6:19 am

big_dgreen had written this in response to
http://www.www.thestuccocompany.com/hvac/Portable-Room-A-C-31783-.htm :
Do they not have an well 1 ton, which is what your looking at may take the
edge off. But with a portable ac I wouldn't expect anything magnificient
and it's not that it doesn't have the capacity with for 400sq/ft it just
doesn't have the means to deliver all that air to the room. It's not
really a bad investment, seeings how you can slide it into different
rooms, but remember you have to run a seperate duct that comes with the
device out a window or somewhere where it won't just blow the heat right
back into the room. Which also leaves you with infiltration from whatever
hole in the wall you stick that duct into.

Everything has it's ups and downs but you have to do what you need to do
to get by. It's just like a window unit on wheels. I wouldn't imagine it's
very efficient either, so running it for a long period of time might be
costly as it probably won't pull your office down to a temperature low
enough to satisfy the thermostat in the machine so you'll probably have to
turn it on and off manually. Could be wrong but I just assume that without
having seen it or the room.

Hope I added some info you didn't already have!

-------------------------------------
John wrote:

> I live in Southern California, and the summers here are pretty hot. I
> have an aging Central A/C unit. I will be replacing this system at
> some point, but now I'm looking for a temp solution.

> I am considering putting a portable a/c unit in an upstairs office to
> keep this room cooler on all but the very hot days when I'll run the
> central air. The office is app. 20 x 20 feet with a vaulted ceiling.
> There is a ceiling fan in the room also. The portable feature would
> also allow me to move the unit to the master bedroom at night.

> My question is how good a job do these portable units do? I'm looking
> at a 12,000 btu Royal Air system, currently on sale at Costco for
> $350. This is less than one month's a/c bill during the peak summer
> months. Running it during the "off" peak summer days would
> probably
> pay for it, but I don't want to buy it if it doesn't really work.

> Any thoughts on how well this could work on a room that can typically
> reach the upper 90's during very hot days?

> Thanks for your input.

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Posted by John on April 25, 2008, 2:57 pm

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:45:03 -0400, .p.jm@see_my_sig_for_address.com
wrote:

> So read the SEER / EER number on the box before you buy it.

>>-------------------------------------
>>John wrote:

>>> I live in Southern California, and the summers here are pretty hot. I
>>> have an aging Central A/C unit. I will be replacing this system at
>>> some point, but now I'm looking for a temp solution.
>>> I am considering putting a portable a/c unit in an upstairs office to
>>> keep this room cooler on all but the very hot days when I'll run the
>>> central air. The office is app. 20 x 20 feet with a vaulted ceiling.
>>> There is a ceiling fan in the room also. The portable feature would
>>> also allow me to move the unit to the master bedroom at night.
>>> My question is how good a job do these portable units do? I'm looking
>>> at a 12,000 btu Royal Air system, currently on sale at Costco for
>>> $350. This is less than one month's a/c bill during the peak summer
>>> months. Running it during the "off" peak summer days would
>>> probably
>>> pay for it, but I don't want to buy it if it doesn't really work.
>>> Any thoughts on how well this could work on a room that can typically
>>> reach the upper 90's during very hot days?
>>> Thanks for your input.

Here are the specs on the unit I'm considering. It has an EER rating
of 9.2.
___________________________________________________________
The Royal Sovereign ARP-1200EX is a portable single-room air
conditioner capable of providing 12,000 BTU cooling from its compact,
portable chassis. The dual exhaust hose vents warm air and condensate
water through an outside window.

Two Hose Benefits:

* One hose intakes outside air to cool the condenser and the other
hose expels this warmed air outside, so that fresh air circulates
better inside the room
* Cools room air quicker
* Lowers energy usage - more efficient design reduces continuous
compressor operation

Features:

* 12,000 BTU/Hr cooling
* Dual Hose design
* Energy Efficiency Rating (EER): 9.2
* Room size: Up to 400 sq. ft.
* Three speed fan
* Digital LED display and full-featured remote control
* Self-evaporative system automatically exhausts collected
moisture under normal conditions. For those extremely humid periods,
the emergency holding tank collects excess moisture, preventing
potential water damage.
* Dehumidifies as it cools, removing up to 4.2 pints of water per
hour
* Portable design on casters for ease of mobility
* Easy to clean, washable filter collects large dust particles and
prevents bacteria build up
* Automatic timer allows 1-12 hour shut off
* Includes ventilation hose. Unit must be vented through outside
window for proper operation.
* Power consumption: 1,300 watts/11.5A
* Power supply: 115VAC/60Hz / 1 phase
* Rotary compressor
* Refrigerant: R22
* Thermostat: 64?F - 90?F
* Dimensions: 18.5" W x 16.1" D x 34.3" H
* Weight: 77.2 lbs.

One year limited warranty parts and labor with a 5-year compressor
warranty.__________________________________________________________________

Thanks for the comments.

Posted by on April 25, 2008, 3:09 pm

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:45:03 -0400, .p.jm@see_my_sig_for_address.com
wrote:

>On 25 Apr 2008 10:19:30 GMT, dustin_at_greencountryrefrigerati@foo.com
>(big_dgreen) wrote:

>>big_dgreen had written this in response to
>>http://www.www.thestuccocompany.com/hvac/Portable-Room-A-C-31783-.htm :
>>Do they not have an well 1 ton, which is what your looking at may take the
>>edge off. But with a portable ac I wouldn't expect anything magnificient
>>and it's not that it doesn't have the capacity with for 400sq/ft it just
>>doesn't have the means to deliver all that air to the room.

> Bullshit. It has the ability to remove whatever BTUH ( IOW
>HEAT ) it's rated at, that is all that matters.

Part of which will be in the form of humidity, I should have
added.

And many window / portable units can do a much better job with
that than single-speed central units, because they can drop the fan
speed ( more humidity removal ), which will make a much higher
temperature 'comfortable' as well. That adds to the efficiency
equation.

--
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www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'
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Posted by Stormin Mormon on April 25, 2008, 4:16 pm

I presume you know that such a window unit weighs well over 100 pounds?

Should help, a lot. What also helps, is cleaning and PM for the central AC
you have. I've seen some good results (lower energy bill) with a thorough
cleaning.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

I live in Southern California, and the summers here are pretty hot. I
have an aging Central A/C unit. I will be replacing this system at
some point, but now I'm looking for a temp solution.

I am considering putting a portable a/c unit in an upstairs office to
keep this room cooler on all but the very hot days when I'll run the
central air. The office is app. 20 x 20 feet with a vaulted ceiling.
There is a ceiling fan in the room also. The portable feature would
also allow me to move the unit to the master bedroom at night.

My question is how good a job do these portable units do? I'm looking
at a 12,000 btu Royal Air system, currently on sale at Costco for
$350. This is less than one month's a/c bill during the peak summer
months. Running it during the "off" peak summer days would probably
pay for it, but I don't want to buy it if it doesn't really work.

Any thoughts on how well this could work on a room that can typically
reach the upper 90's during very hot days?

Thanks for your input.

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