# Best Portable Room Air Conditioner???



## Rockrz (Apr 22, 2014)

I have a standard size two car garage that I'd like to buy a Portable Room Air Conditioner for since I sometimes spend some time out there and in the summer it gets pretty hot in the garage.

I can cut a hole in the ceiling for the exhaust vent and rout it so the hot air flows out of the vent on the gable end of the house so that won't be hard to accomplish.

I just wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations on what is the best model / brand to be looking at.

Also, is it necessary to run a dedicated electrical circuit from the fuse box thru the attic out to where this unit will need to plug in at?  There is a standard 110v plug not far from where I'd like the unit to sit, so do they have Portable Room Air Conditioners that run on 110v or do they need 220v?

Any ideas/advice/experiences that would help me figure this out would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## tom_1smith (Apr 23, 2014)

When the system is serviced they draw out all of the gas using a vacuum pump to remove every last bit. Then, after they check for leaks, they replace with the correct gas and  the exact amount of lubricating oil as specified by the manufacturer.  There should be a label under the bonnet somewhere with the correct  details.Such methods if you have implemented on your Air Conditioner , you AC life  will be increased.


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## nealtw (Apr 23, 2014)

tom_1smith said:


> When the system is serviced they draw out all of the gas using a vacuum pump to remove every last bit. Then, after they check for leaks, they replace with the correct gas and  the exact amount of lubricating oil as specified by the manufacturer.  There should be a label under the bonnet somewhere with the correct  details.Such methods if you have implemented on your Air Conditioner , you AC life  will be increased.



Tom, a swamp cooler uses water to cool the air.


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## Rockrz (Apr 23, 2014)

I was looking to buy a new portable electric AC unit that you simply plug in to power and run the exhaust hose outside so the hot air can escape.

I'm not interested in a water cooling system, but a normal AC unit that uses freon and gets nice and cold.


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## nealtw (Apr 23, 2014)

I have only seen the ones that stand near the window that plug into 120 volt. The longer exhaust hose may be a problem.


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## Rockrz (Apr 23, 2014)

I can set it by the wall and the exhaust will go straight up, so it should not be a problem on that.

So, 120 volt is a standard wall plug right?


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## nealtw (Apr 23, 2014)

It might take most or all of the 15 amps at the regular plug so other plugs on the same circuits might not be usable when this thing is running.
I doubt if these portables would be big enough, there more like one bedroom size
If you find a chart on BTUs and square footage.  I know with the window type bigger rooms, you can get bigger units that run on 220 volts.


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## Rockrz (Apr 23, 2014)

I think these are the same way, you can get a standard 110 or a 220.

I may go with the 220 and hire an electrician to run a line from the fuse box thru the attic and down the wall so I can get the bigger unit (mo cooling power!) and it'll be on it's own circuit which I'd imagine would be safer.


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## nealtw (Apr 23, 2014)

That will require 2 spots in the panel for new breakers side by side.


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## Rockrz (Apr 23, 2014)

Yeah, I should probably have an entire new breaker box install with all new breakers considering the house is kinda old... this being a preventative measure and not due to having experienced any electrical issues at all.

Don't they have "smart breakers" now that sense heat build up which supposedly comes before a spike in amps when a circuit is overloading?

I've heard about some sort of breaker that is supposed to be new technology that's supposed to be safer in that it detects overloads quicker so it can shut down quicker.  Anybody heard of this?

One the other hand, I could always go with the 110 and install one of those wall plugs that has it's own built in breakers to shut down in the event the AC pulled too much juice


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## bud16415 (Apr 23, 2014)

I just put a 7000 BTU window unit in the work shop room on my garage. I&#8217;m adding a wall and that room will be about 16x16 and the walls and ceiling will have 6&#8221; foam insulation. The trouble with garages is they normally don&#8217;t have any insulation and heat loss will kill you. The bigger window units that run on 110V are around 10,000 BTU. That&#8217;s about the limit on a 15 amp circuit. They will cool a pretty large area we have one that does our whole first floor, but again we don&#8217;t live in Texas or Fla. I would suggest a window unit even if you have to cut a hole in the wall for it. Where I live I went with the smaller shop and insulation because of heating for winter and the bonus is air con in summer. 

The problem I see with sizing heat or AC for areas that only get used sometimes is the thermal mass problem. I used to have a wood stove in my old place in the garage and it worked great except it took 8 hours to get it warmed up in the winter. I would go out on a Saturday morning and fire it up and about the time I was done working for the day it was getting nice. The same is true for AC unless you want to run it all the time in a big area and that will cost a lot. With my smaller insulated workshop I have a place to work that&#8217;s cool or to go to cool off if working on something that requires the larger part of the building. Out there I will have fans only.


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## LloydLopez (Jan 20, 2015)

I select a new portable air conditioner from bestsellingreviews. I just selected one which match to my room area. This make sure that I will get the best portable AC for my room.


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