Floor unit/portable ACs?

[koshkabegemot]

First of all, thanks so much to whoever gave me the Lestoil suggestion in the last post. It worked perfectly! Before I put the shirt in, half of it was all darkened from the oil I spilt on it which I thought I had no hope of getting out. Poured a little of the Lestoil on it and rubbed it in, let it sit for a few minutes before turning on the

Comments

[susandennis]

I live in a 1,300 square foot loft with only two windows (that don't open) and a sliding glass door. I've always had a portable a/c unit on wheels and it has saved my sweaty ass annually. I have electrical issues so I have to stick to those that use the least amount of electricity. My only vent option is out the sliding glass door so I use a pet door insert. I've always steered away from two hose units and units that need draining (I'm lazy). I look for the most quiet (but most aren't and none are after about 5 years).

I replaced my 10 year old Sharp one this year with a new model I picked up at Costco. It's a DeLonghi. It's great. I love it.

Here's the one I replaced (showing the setup):

http://susandennis.livejournal.com/4155953.html

Here's the new one:

http://susandennis.livejournal.com/4157177.html

[koshkabegemot]

Yeah, my only worry is our windows for the exhaust pipe thing. Our windows here are like this (minus my cats, obvs):

[susandennis]

they all come with kits for windows. just make sure the one you buy has the right kit for your window.

[koshkabegemot]

Ah, awesome. and my electrical system is a bit odd, too. The building I live in was built circa 1930, so it still had the two-prong plug outlets and an actual fuse box (not the kind with the switches; like actual fuses. lol) I haven't had any issues with it running all the crap I normally run, but I really don't want to run the risk of blowing a fuse (literally).

[wildflower399]

I looove the heat so your temperature and humidity actually sound awesome to me :) and I have no suggestions for air conditioning, sorry, but I wanted to say that a dehumidifier makes things feel cooler because dry heat is less oppressive than humidity. So whatever a/c solution you end up trying, maybe you could also hook up a dehumidifier. My parents have an ancient (30+ year old) floor model that sucks more than 10 liters of water out of the air every day and I'm sure modern models are even more efficient.

[koshkabegemot]

I have 3 cats in my apartment that I have to consider, so I figure if I'm sweating my skinny ass off, they're probably worse off than I am. :/

I had a dehumidifier in my last apartment (tbh should get one for this one, too). It took the humidity out of the air (I'm not even gonna lie; it got to the point where I just had to hook up a hose and have it drain into my bathtub because I was having to empty the bucket like 3 or 4 times a day, so I was just like, "Fuck it.")

There seem to be a lot of portable ACs that also double as dehumidifiers.

Also, lived in AZ for 20 years. The heat out there is NOTHING compared to the heat in Cleveland. Jesus. It's fucking oppressive out here in the middle of July/Aug.

[wildflower399]

Oh dear yes, cats are definitely a concern then. They can't take their fur coats off like we can. I have 4 of my own, long-haired ones at that!, and so far they all love the heat even more than I do, but cats, like people, are all different. Definitely keep a cool spot for yours. Fans are better than nothing until you find a permanent solution!

Technically, all a/c units are dehumidifiers to an extent. I think the main difference is that dehumidifiers just collect the water (as you know!) whereas a/c units evaporate a great deal of it before the excess runs down the outside of the house and leaves those ugly stains that your landlord is probably also worried about. Portable units would collect the water rather than evaporate it, since evaporation would partly defeat their purpose.

Hmm - we have a washer/dryer that vents out a window very much like the one in your picture. The vent kit was adjustable for different window sizes. I would think something like it would be available for a portable a/c too.

[koshkabegemot]

The cool spot right now is my bedroom since it doesn't really get a whole lot of direct sun. One of my cats has taken to sleeping in the bathtub (with the water off, of course. XD) The bathroom seems to be like 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house, and I keep all my closets open for them (they're dark and cool).

My giant black cat doesn't mind the heat. But he's weird.

[koshkabegemot]

Sweet, my countertop diswasher is also a Danby and the last dehumidifier I had was a Danby. They're a pretty reliable brand.

As far as those go--do you know if the vents or whatever--do you have to remove the screen on the window, or do they just fit 'behind' the screen?

[tanz]

http://www.thegoodsurvivalist.com/how-to-make-a-454-homemade-air-conditioner-for-about-15-this-is-totally-awesome-and-so-easy-to-make/

[koshkabegemot]

Oh my God, that's fucking brilliant. I need to get some power tools anyway.

[alice_bunnie]

I thought about suggesting this as well, but didn't because I thought about it adding to the humidity. Though, for $15 bucks and some ice, it's definitely worth trying rather than spending big bucks on a real air conditioner.

[koshkabegemot]

I dunno if it would really add to the humidity since it looks like you just freeze a gallon of water in a gallon jug. Maybe the condensation would add to the humidity? Idk.

[_nicolai_]

I have a unit similar to this one. The hose end fits into a sash window and there is a blanking kit available to blank off the bottom of the window gap next to the hose end. Or you can improvise with a suitable size piece of plywood. This is an air-to-air heat exchanger so it takes some room air and blows it over the hot side of the refrigeration unit and then out of the window, and more air over the cold side and back into the room.

I've had two units of this sort over the years and I always found the self evaporating feature to work fine. I expect it simply drains condenstation water from the cold side into an open pan on the hot side so it evaporates and goes outside with the hot exhaust air. I would never get one that needs draining.

[koshkabegemot]

Huh. I didn't know those windows actually had a specific name. XD The ones we have are the original ones that were built with the building, so they have to be over 80 years old. They stick a loooooooot (silicone lubricant works wonders).

It's looking like the evaporative ones would probably work better for me since I don't want to empty out a bucket every day. Meh.

[drama_]

Even the evaporative ones are going to get overwhelmed by that kind of humidity, FYI.