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Geez. Why don't you just get central air conditioning installed. If you don't have duct work there is a system using high velocity air thru a 3 inch round duct.
Thanks for all the info.. I will probably end up putting in a window ac in the kitchen and a portable one in the Dining room to cool off the rest.. as for getting central air.. i don't have an extra 10k laying around to do it.. thanks anyway
Those "portable" units with "the hose out the window" are water-cooled and require a water supply and a drain. I've used them in institutional settings in small telephone equipment rooms and such but they do use a lot of water.
Those "portable" units with "the hose out the window" are water-cooled and require a water supply and a drain. I've used them in institutional settings in small telephone equipment rooms and such but they do use a lot of water.
you're talking about another type, possibly water mist coolers. Don't ever use those in humid areas (including summers in the NE) as that just adds more humidity to your house when it's already 80% + during the hot days.
OP is probably taking about ones that REMOVES water - as de-humidification is a natural process of the cooling. Some have a catch bucket built-in that requires dumping out the water that condenses into the bucket. Other type has a way to spray the water back into the hot air stream and let it get out from the hose, no water in bucket issue.
Geez. Why don't you just get central air conditioning installed. If you don't have duct work there is a system using high velocity air thru a 3 inch round duct.
If everyone wins the next big lotto, we'll all install a $5K plus system and be done with it.
Is it possible to cool a 1400 sq ft ranch with a 14000 BTU windowless air conditioner? Living in the Northeast the summers aren't that long so I wanted to see if I could get away with not getting central air conditioning.
I had a 8,000 BTU Unit and a 6,000 Unit for my 820 sq ft house, it cooled both bedrooms great with the bedroom doors closed, but really couldn't cool the rest of the house with 90 degree weather outside. 14k isn't going to be enough when the temperature climbs into the 80 and 90's, I'd say your going to need at least two 14,000 BTU unit's, one on each end of the house.
You might be better off with multiple smaller window units than the portable floor unit, methinks. Or one larger window unit with a fan or two to help it along at the edges of its effective area. When I was a kid we had a large unit mounted through the wall (about 12-14k BTU I think) that cooled a fairly substantial area like you're talking about, plus there was a ceiling fan or two in the mix. But if your config would allow you to put two smaller window units in fairly distant ends from each other, I actually think that would work better than one larger unit.
I had a rolling 1400 btu style portable. My house is a shotgun style 720 sf box. By necessity, the AC had to go in the largest room in the front.
If you were staying in that room, it was nice and cool. If you went in the side bedroom a small amount of cooling occured. It did little for the rest. The window connectors broke easily, and it needed at minimum one to blow out the exhaust. Unless you recirculated the air in the room, you have two flimsey plastic streatch vents that cant be pulled on, so it takes a big swath of space. The other problem was the condensation of water vapor. This was in a small collector at the bottom with a little plastic plug. It gushed out when you pulled it all over the floor. The clearance was miniscule. before I gave up on it, I put a plastic tube out a hole drilled througe the wall before it destroyed the flooring.
The last big problem was that when the weather was humid, which here is frequently, excess moisture would build up inside the poorly vented unit and it would shut off until it evaporated and nothing would hurry that up. So its sticky humid and hot and you have no ac until it decides its ready to come back.
I gave it to a neighbor as useless who apparently gave it to his dad who liked it.
What I use now is an 800 btu unit in the front room, to be moved up and installed in the wall where it will blow the cold air at the ceiling fan so it will distrubute better, and a 500btu unit in the back bedroom which can be used at night alone or to cool that room and the kitchen. Several smaller units will do a lot better job with a lot fewer problems.
If the air from the smaller units doesn't meet properly, the small airflow fans (which do not rotate and blow harder) would improve distribution.
you're talking about another type, possibly water mist coolers. Don't ever use those in humid areas (including summers in the NE) as that just adds more humidity to your house when it's already 80% + during the hot days.
OP is probably taking about ones that REMOVES water - as de-humidification is a natural process of the cooling. Some have a catch bucket built-in that requires dumping out the water that condenses into the bucket. Other type has a way to spray the water back into the hot air stream and let it get out from the hose, no water in bucket issue.
No, what I'm talking about is a direct expansion system with a water-cooled condenser.
Hi there Bravo Delta I think this company: ST East Coast Ac and Refrig can solve you problem but they are situated at Fort Lauderdale, FL. At least they can calculate the amount of air that need to be cooled and can give you quick answer about how you can solve, or is it possible to solve the problem alone. Here is their phone: 9548854007. I don not remember the name of the owner, but he is a nice man and I think he can help you with this.
We went through a series of those "portable" AC boxes. First we used one in our carrige house office. It is 18 x 36 so 648 s.f. It is extremely well insulated with ICYNENE foam. What we found was:
1. These things do not last long. One or two season and they break and cannot be repaired.
2. They weigh around 100 pounds so they are not really very portable.
3. The generate a lot of condesation. (They are not water cooled, the water comes from condensation). We put a 5 gallon bucket next to it and used the water to water plants. After we got tired of the bucket overflowing when we forgot to emtpy it each day, we ran the hose outside.
4. Too keep the office cool, we needed to start the AC unit and the go elsehwere for about an hour. It took a while to cool the office.
5. When it got really hot, we woudl lug it upstairs to our bedroom. Then we used fans in the doorways to blow the cool air into other rooms.
6. The units generate an immense amount of heat. THe heat gets blown out the window through the hose. the hose is not insulated so the unit ends up fighting against itself to cool the room. the longer and more stretched out the hose is, the worse the problem is. If the unit is sitting right next to the window, it works much much better.
7. The plastic parts that come with it to seal the window aroun the hose tend to break. They are not replacable. You will have to make something out of wood for each window. If the hose breaks, it is hard to find a correct size replacement. It cannot function without the hose because it will blow out as much hot air as cold.
8. You will notice a differnec eon your electric bill. They are very inefficient.
9. We finally got sick of these things breaking and bought a couple of window units. The window units are cheaper and work a lot better. The window units also cost less to operate, probably becuase the heat they generate is generated and remains outside. They just look awful.
Eventaully, we will spring for the $6000 for the high velocity central AC unit (we already have the ducting in).
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