I just bought this for my office as a temporary fix until I can get an HVAC guy out here... It SUCKS. My office is just over 200 square feet and it barely cools the area around the desk. And it's ugly.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
My AC failed a couple weeks ago and when I was told it would be several days of Texas heat before it would be repaired so I went out and got this to tide us over.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hisen...nditioner/1000195223

It worked really well and I think will work for you better than a standard window unit. The unit sits on the floor and there is a vent like a dryer exhaust (but bigger diameter..may 10") that is in a frame that you put in the window and close the window to the frame size. The exhaust vent can be easily positioned vertically in your window.

Lowes has a pretty good variety of these in stock so get the one that fits the size room you need cooled.

Had the same situation last August and we got this portable same AC unit too.
In situations like this you don't have the luxury to shop around.
However, it worked fine while not able to completely cool a 2000 sf house it did get us by as intended.
Our central AC was shot and we were down for a week in the middle of August in Texas while we got a new one.
Couldn't have made it without the portable unit.
WELL worth the expense at Lowes.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
I just bought this for my office as a temporary fix until I can get an HVAC guy out here... It SUCKS. My office is just over 200 square feet and it barely cools the area around the desk. And it's ugly.

I tried to use one a few years ago to cool a small area, and this was my experience as well. It totally sucked and made no discernible difference in the temperature in the room.

I would absolutely go with the window unit if you want to cool the room.

My parents had one in their downsized house. There was central ac downstairs, but the loft with door master suite didn't get any ductwork.

I don't remember what brand they had, but my engineer uncle picked it out for them and it worked pretty well. But he sized the room and calculated the heat load and all that stuff. It might have been a Honeywell.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
I just bought this for my office as a temporary fix until I can get an HVAC guy out here... It SUCKS. My office is just over 200 square feet and it barely cools the area around the desk. And it's ugly.

I tried to use one a few years ago to cool a small area, and this was my experience as well. It totally sucked and made no discernible difference in the temperature in the room.

I would absolutely go with the window unit if you want to cool the room.

same here, we sold ours. it was expensive and barely made a difference.

We have used 2 LG units at our condo in the Sierra Nevada for several years and are happy with them. They are turned on in the August heat and keep the bedroom and living room cool. Park it close to the window and use the supplied hose. In a dry climate like CA they do not drip. Buy a larger unit than the guide says and use the supplied exhaust. These have rollers and are easy to store.

quote:

Originally posted by ScorpionBoy:

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
I just bought this for my office as a temporary fix until I can get an HVAC guy out here... It SUCKS. My office is just over 200 square feet and it barely cools the area around the desk. And it's ugly.

I tried to use one a few years ago to cool a small area, and this was my experience as well. It totally sucked and made no discernible difference in the temperature in the room.

I would absolutely go with the window unit if you want to cool the room.

same here, we sold ours. it was expensive and barely made a difference.

this one was like $300! I'd love to return it, but it does make a SLIGHT difference. I turned it on at 8:30, set to 60*, I bet it's still 75* 5 feet away from it

http://www.woot.com/category/h...f=w_cnt_cdet_home_13


I would go with a 10 or 12K unit

With the window open do you have enough width for a window unit??? If you do, buy the largest window unit that will fit, and cut a piece of plexiglass to fill in the rest of the window above it and hold it into place.

Price blown in insulation, if it's as cheap as a window unit it might be best for you to just pay to have it done......rather than buying a window unit and paying for the electricity to run it.

CMR, I found some LG's were better than others. I bought 3 of them for a yacht (that came out of Seattle but shipped to Fort Lauderdale and had no a/c and I had to run it 2 weeks to Texas). The 12,000 kicked butt, the 8,000 was good, and the 10000 btu one totally sucked. Honestly I think they only put out 1/2 the BTU's they claim.......take it back to where you bought it and tell them it doesn't work and get a 12,000 BTU, the 12,000 is only about $70 more than the 8,000

Before we installed central air we had one like this from Costco for the bedroom and it worked great. As long as you can open the window enough to install the tube, you'll be fine. Keeps a bedroom nice and cool. Turn on an hour before going to bed and keep the door closed.

https://www.costco.com/Danby-1...oduct.100342118.html

Whatever you decide, be wary of Home Depot and Lowes bought units. You'll find more than 50% of them are returns they've put back on the shelf. Many buy them when their hvac fails for temp use then return them the same week.

Have you looked at quality, ductless, Mini Split ac units? They're pretty impressive, though some of the better ones run upwards of $1000+.

Mini splits require installation, I'd doubt he wants to improve the rental property values..

For what you want a small 10K to 12K unit should do the trick, I need to get one for my home office.

 
My wife bought one, don't know the brand, but I can see the spec label on it (it's in the closet, now). 9,000 BTUH, and it draws 9amps @120volts. Very expensive to run, but it does cool down a small room. She usually had it positioned so it blew directly on her. She called it her menopause machine. I made the board thing to go into the sliding window, for the hose to exhaust out of. You do have to keep up with emptying the water (condensation) reservoir.
 
Since then, we have installed a series of mini-splits throughout the house, as the central AC units aged and needed replacing. We like the mini-splits a lot. You can cool down just an area where you are hanging out, or run them all to cool the entire house. They have variable speed compressors and are quite efficient with the electricity.
 

Might look into a Bedjet. I've no experience with this device but it's got great reviews on Amazon. Defiantly black out the windows to...helps a lot.

A nice suggestion, texassierra, but it specifically states the BedJet doesn't provide air conditioning. So when it's 90 degrees in my bedroom, it'll just blow 90 degree air into the bed.

Ahh, didn't catch that part.

Used a Delonghi? Whatever Lowes had for $350 a few years ago. As long as you have a slider window, vertical or horizontal the insert will adjust to fit.
It is loud, but worked great in our master bedroom. Keep the bedroom door closed.
No way it will cool more than a bedroom with the door closed though.

You can make a platform for the A/C to set on.



The outside window seal is measured so the platform will set level.



A strip is cut to fit in the window channel and the bottom of the window which will lock in place using the window channel. This way the A/C can not be pulled out of the window. If you use the side flaps, they can be fastened to the top piece.



Looks like this when finished.

I would get an A/C and fit it to the window seal and then add a top part to block the rest of the window opening. You could use 1/4 inch plywood with a center core of closed cell foam and another piece of 1/4 inch plywood.

If you have the measurements for the plywood, Home Depot or Lowes will cut it out for you on their plywood cutting vertical saw.

After all, you need a good nights sleep to be able to out run and out fox the dogs.

My side-sliding window is large enough to accommodate a regular window AC, so I built a "window" to replace the inboard sliding window. The "window" has a hole just large enough for the AC, without the AC's wings. In the summer, I remove the regular window and the screen, put in the fabricated "window", put in the AC, plug it in and turn it on. In the fall, it all pops out and goes in the closet. I've been using it for over a decade.

It's quicker to install and remove this and the AC than just the AC in a regular window, because I don't have to deal with the AC's wings nor any other paraphernalia.