Sylvane - Solutions for a Healthy Indoor Environment

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Portable Air Conditioners Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

See Portable Air Conditioner Comparison / Rating Information

What is a portable air conditioner?

A portable air conditioner is a self-contained unit that typically sits inside the space that needs to be cooled - providing traditional air conditioned cool air. Unlike traditional window-based units, a portable air conditioner does not sit in the window - but typically is on the floor.

What is required to set a unit up? Are there any air hoses?

Requirements will vary based upon the model. However, all portable air conditioner units exhaust hot air as part of their cooling process. This hot air is typically directed out of the space being cooled through a hot air discharge hose. This air hose is often vented out of a window, into a drop ceiling, or through a wall to an adjacent space. Depending on the unit chosen, window kits and drop ceiling panel / kits may be available or included.

Will I need to empty water? Will water collect in the unit?

When air is cooled water is removed from the air. As such - all portable air conditioners remove water from the air while they are cooling. There are many different ways that various models deal with this condensate water. The simplest units have buckets that needed to be emptied regularly (as frequently as every 8 hours to as infrequently as once a week depending on your conditions). More sophisticated units can evaporate a great a deal of moisture into their hot air discharge and hence there is either less or even no water to empty. All units support a water drain hose being connected to allow for water to continuously drain out via gravity if desired. Condensate pumps are also available to help pump this drained water through a hose that can move in an upwards direction if needed. This hose can be directed outside or to an inside drain point.

What size air conditioner (BTU) do I need?

In contrast to traditional window air conditioners, portable air conditioners are slightly less powerful at the same listed BTU. This is due to various reasons from manufacturers inflating their listed BTU amounts to the body of the air conditioner units being inside the space being cooled (and giving off heat). As such - we recommend customers be conservative and buy slightly more AC than they think that they might need. A general rule of thumb is that 9,000 BTU will cool a 200 square foot space and 12,000 BTU will cool a 400 square foot space. However, this is only a rule of thumb and does not take into account ceiling height (cubic space), insulation type (building construction), area of the country (ambient temperature), heat load in the space (people, electronics), windows, etc. As such, please call us for a detailed consultation.

Can I lengthen the exhaust / hot air discharge hose?

In general, you cannot lengthen the exhaust hose of units. Depending on the manufacturer, this may void your warranty and potentially cause your air conditioner to overheat.

Can I discharge the hot air out of a sliding glass door or sliding glass window.

Although most units come with window kits for traditional double hung windows - only selected units will work with sliding glass doors and sliding glass windows. In some cases this may require the purchase of additional accessories. Please see the product descriptions and / or contact us for details.

What should I use for a server room?

Portable air conditioners are oftentimes used for supplemental cooling for computer server rooms or as primary cooling during the weekends when building air conditioning may be shutoff. However most server rooms do not have easy window access and may be in an interior room. As such, customers oftentimes direct the hot air discharge hose into a drop ceiling space (please call to determine if possible) or through a hole in the wall to an adjacent room. Our most sophisticated commercial units have complete kits that allow you to easily discharge hot air into a drop ceiling while allowing the unit to remain at floor level. Less expensive residential units may also be used but must be elevated towards the ceiling to allow their hot air discharge hoses to reach ceiling height.

I have a casement / crank out window, will this work?

There are no portable air conditioner units with a window kit that will work for a casement window. Some customers have fashioned a solution using plexiglas to cover their entire window area and then have a small hole cut into the plexiglas for the hot air discharge hose. No solution is provided "out of the box" but some customers have fashioned their own.

What type of electrical requirements? Energy consumption?

Most units use typical household 115 volt power and require no special wiring or outlets. Of course, as air conditioners can draw a significant amount of energy, caution must be taken not to overload a circuit with multiple high energy consumption devices (e.g. refrigerator or dehumidifier on the same circuit). Some of the higher BTU (14,000 BTU or higher) or commercial grade units may or may not require special outlets / wiring, please see product descriptions for more information. Energy consumption will vary depending on the model and your environmental conditions.

Will a portable air conditioner work for multiple rooms?

It depends. Similar to a window-based air conditioner portable air conditioners are good at cooling their immediate area. However the cold air will not travel down the hall or through narrow doorways. If a space has very large openings from one room to another then it is possible that adjacent spaces may see some beneficial effect. Fans can also be used to help circulate air.

What is the difference between a single hose design and a dual hose design?

Some portable air conditioners have one air exhaust hose and some have two air hoses, one for air intake and one for air exhaust. A single hose unit will take air from the room that it is in and return most of that air back into the room as cold conditioned air. However, a small amount of that air will be used to cool the unit and be blown out of the air conditioner's exhaust hose. This results in a slight negative pressure in the room being cooled as a small amount of air is constantly being removed from the room. If this negative pressure is adjusted for by drawing unconditioned air into the room from adjacent spaces then the cooling efficiency is slightly affected. A dual hose unit works by taking in air from the outside through one of its hoses and using that air to cool the unit - and then that hot air is expelled through the exhaust hose. As such, it does not create negative pressure inside the room being cooled. However dual hose units use warmer unconditioned air to cool their compressors which results in slightly less efficiency and also use two fans internally which results in slightly higher energy usage.At this time, we have not seen conclusive evidence that either solution, single vs. dual hose, is better than the other when all factors are considered.

Do I have to remove my screen from the window?

The answer to this question may vary based upon your particular window and screen. However, most of our customers find that they can leave the screen in the window and that the exhaust hose of the AC does not extend out from the window.

See Portable Air Conditioner Comparison / Rating Information

Disclaimer: Sylvane, Inc. makes this FAQ information available to you without prior official review - but instead with information obtained from discussions, other customers, emails, vendor literature, general industry consensus, and other sources. As such - some of the information on this page may be from subjective sources or may be inaccurate. This information may contain errors and omissions. Use at your own discretion. Sylvane, Inc. assumes no liability for any damage that may occur due to your use of the information herein.

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