Portable vs Minisplit
#11
I am thinking off adding some air conditioning to an existing home.  I believe I would have to rip open walls and ceilings to run the plumbing for a mini-split.  Therefore I am thinking of using portable air conditioners.  Being in the north, I only need air conditioning a few days out of the year.  I put a window air conditioner in one bedroom.  I believe I will put in a couple of portable air conditioners, with "dryer" style vents to the outside.  I believe that looks better than something hanging out the window.  Besides, I put auxiliary heat in two rooms, and I could get a two combo units. 

I don't believe I will do the whole house, just the bedrooms and one room in the living area.
I tried not believing.  That did not work, so now I just believe
Reply
#12
With the kids long gone, we might go window units for a room or two- no need to cool the whole house for just one or two rooms. I'm going with a zoneline if possible. Build it into the wall and if it fails, you just slip the old one out of the case and slide the new one in.
I don't like the look of window units either, but when it gets hot and the elect bill triples, they don't seem so bad as long as they aren't where they can be seen from the front.
I think every home should have a backup unit should the main unit quit in the middle of the summer. A portable unit fits this situation fine.
I know several people who use the portables and they're happy with them.
Reply
#13
(03-09-2019, 07:28 AM)Cecil Wrote: I am thinking off adding some air conditioning to an existing home.  I believe I would have to rip open walls and ceilings to run the plumbing for a mini-split.  Therefore I am thinking of using portable air conditioners.  Being in the north, I only need air conditioning a few days out of the year.  I put a window air conditioner in one bedroom.  I believe I will put in a couple of portable air conditioners, with "dryer" style vents to the outside.  I believe that looks better than something hanging out the window.  Besides, I put auxiliary heat in two rooms, and I could get a two combo units. 

I don't believe I will do the whole house, just the bedrooms and one room in the living area.

My experience with a large portable AC unit was that it was an energy hog.  I could run $100 worth of electricity through it a month.  I run my whole house AC unit for less than that now.  I would choose an ugly window unit before using another portable.  I couldn't because my house has casement windows.  The other issue with portable units is many dump the condensate water into a bucket that you have to dump out, which is a pain, although some do duct the water outside.  All considered, window units are cheaper to buy, more efficient, do not consume floor space, and require no work after installation.  

I live in the North, too, but the need for AC has definitely increased in the past decade or so as our summers have gotten hotter and I've gotten older. Installing central air was one of the best decisions I've ever made with regards to home improvement. Quiet, no ugly window units, energy efficient. If you have forced air heat it would be a no brainer for me. I have radiators so it involved a lot more work, but it was still the right decision for us. I considered the mini split approach, but hate the look of those ugly units on the wall, so I went with a high velocity system. It was a lot of work to install but it looks and works great.

John
Reply
#14
(03-09-2019, 10:28 AM)jteneyck Wrote: My experience with a large portable AC unit was that it was an energy hog.  I could run $100 worth of electricity through it a month.  I run my whole house AC unit for less than that now.  I would choose an ugly window unit before using another portable.  I couldn't because my house has casement windows.  The other issue with portable units is many dump the condensate water into a bucket that you have to dump out, which is a pain, although some do duct the water outside.  All considered, window units are cheaper to buy, more efficient, do not consume floor space, and require no work after installation.  

I live in the North, too, but the need for AC has definitely increased in the past decade or so as our summers have gotten hotter and I've gotten older.  Installing central air was one of the best decisions I've ever made with regards to home improvement.  Quiet, no ugly window units, energy efficient.  If you have forced air heat it would be a no brainer for me.  I have radiators so it involved a lot more work, but it was still the right decision for us.  I considered the mini split approach, but hate the look of those ugly units on the wall, so I went with a high velocity system.  It was a lot of work to install but it looks and works great.    

John

Is there data on the difference between the efficiency of a window unit verses a portable.  I would be ducting the portable unit through the wall, buy installing a dryer like vent.  I understand the AC units require a 6" vent, and not a 4" vent.
I tried not believing.  That did not work, so now I just believe
Reply
#15
(03-09-2019, 12:41 PM)Cecil Wrote: Is there data on the difference between the efficiency of a window unit verses a portable.  I would be ducting the portable unit through the wall, buy installing a dryer like vent.  I understand the AC units require a 6" vent, and not a 4" vent.

Lots of reviews out there.  Here's one:  Link   You likely will find others that show higher SEER values for portables than window units.  It's rather confusing, but I think the tests must have been different.  My experience was that the hose brings in a lot of heat from the outside so that the effective BTU rating of the unit is substantially less than it's rated value, especially the single wall hose unit like I had (Frigidaire).  That reduces how much cooling they actually produce for the watts consumed.  

John
Reply
#16
If you go portable make sure you get a dual hose. Single hose is basically just a fan by the time you consider that the air being blown out the vent is being sucked into the house (hot) via the lack of a perfectly sealed envelope.

Dual hose is almost like a whole house a/c in the way it operates and keeps hot with hot and cold with cold
Reply
#17
I was really impressed at how well a portable in the middle of a room cooled a shop.  I know it doesn't on average, but apparently the hot air was going up and the cold air was down where I was.  12' ceilings definitely help in this regard.

The hole you need for a mini-split is fairly small, I don't think that's a good reason not to have them.  They are quite good nowadays.
Reply
#18
(03-10-2019, 11:13 AM)EricU Wrote: The hole you need for a mini-split is fairly small, I don't think that's a good reason not to have them.  They are quite good nowadays.

I am not concerned about the hole.  I would need hide the tubing.  This would mean tearing out some ceiling and walls, to run the tubing in.
I tried not believing.  That did not work, so now I just believe
Reply
#19
There are a number of efficiency tests on the portable units and all of them say the same thing and that is run away if you can. Consumer reports etc etc. I don't like window units however they are quite efficient these days and an easy replacement if they fail.

        You can go with a through wall unit or you can go with a PTAC aka hotel unit. A minisplit will be the most efficient and they are now available with the marine line sets that require no vacuum pump no flares etc. Basically plug and play. 

        There is also the option of a package unit. Basically it's like a portable but the whole unit is outside. You just run power and feed and return ducts to it. If I had it to do over again I would have done a package unit on our house vs the conventional split system. All in one box easier ducting solutions for pier and beam houses much quieter inside since you don't have a furnace and fan inside and associated noise from refrigerant going through the line set... Oh and repair is easier since it's all outside and replacement is cheaper and faster as in 30 minutes and you go from old broken to new and running. They are slightly less efficient than a split system but the advantages of a package unit outweigh a tiny bit of efficiency. 

      I agree with Daddo that having backup cooling is a really good idea. I am planning to put a minisplit in the master bedroom during the remodel. So I can keep it a comfortable 65* at night for sleeping without keeping the whole house cool and it's a backup/supplemental for the rest of the house. 


          All that said for just a couple days a year the portables would be fine but once you have AC you will run it more than those few days. Here in TX AC is required for 7 to 9 months of the year. (Oh I wish we could move up north as I hate summer)
Reply
#20
(03-10-2019, 12:27 PM)Cecil Wrote: I am not concerned about the hole.  I would need hide the tubing.  This would mean tearing out some ceiling and walls, to run the tubing in.

I was thinking about just having a minisplit on each end of the house to avoid this.  Or crown molding.  But that line would be awfully long from one end of the house.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.