How Portable Air Conditioners Work

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How Portable Air Conditioners Work

Portable air conditioners may be the ideal inexpensive solution for beating the summer heat in your home. Apartment and condo dwellers may not be able to install an outdoor chilling unit. There are some windows not suitable for window air conditioners or which require modifications in order to fit. This is where a portable air conditioner may be the answer.

How Portable Air Conditioners Work
The warm air is drawn into the unit, then chilled and blown back into the room. The warm air is exhausted through a tube placed in the window. Most portable air conditioners act as a dehumidifier and remove the dampness. The water extracted through the dehumidification process is collected in a drip tray or in some models; it is heated back into vapor then exhausted out the window through a second tube.

Air conditioner units are rated in BTU (British Thermal Units). The compact models (7500 to 9000 BTU) can cool rooms up to 200 sq. ft and the more powerful models (10,000 to 12,000 BTU) can work up to 500 sq. ft.

Advantages of Portable Air Conditioners

Compared to a window air conditioner, a portable AC unit can fit windows that slide from side to side and crank windows.


The unit is easy to install. There are one or two tubes (depending on the model) which fit into a spacer bar supplied with the unit and are placed in the window. If the bar is too short or narrow for your window, you can insert a piece of wood, rubber, foam or insulation in the gap. You can leave the screen in your window.


You may need help in carrying the unit from your car to your home (they weigh 50 to 80 pounds) but once inside, it is easily moved on mounted casters and you will not need help again.


For storage, the hoses can be easily removed from the window and the unit wheeled into a closet.

Disadvantages of Portable Air Conditioners

A portable air conditioner usually costs more than a window unit, especially when looking at high end models.


There must be sufficient floor space in your room for the unit. Most portable cooling units take up a 12-inch to 18-inch of floor space and are about 30-inches tall.


Some people would rather see the grill face of a window air conditioner, as opposed to large tube(s) in the window and a unit situated amongst the furniture.


Unless you buy a no-drip model, you will need to empty the drip tray where the water is collected through the dehumidification process. Some models allow you to install a drainage hose. When the drip tray is full, the unit shuts off.


Portable air conditioning units require more BTU than window units for cooling a room of comparable size.

Choosing a Portable Air Conditioner Model
To get the most from your portable air conditioner, look at the models that are no-drip and have air purifiers. Buy according to the room space. If the unit does not have the capacity for the room, it will run constantly and never effectively cool the room. Units that are too powerful will continually cycle off and on. This is bad for the compressor and does not allow proper dehumidification.

Other desirable features are multi-speed fans, directional louvers and heating functionality if you live in a temperate climate. If used as a heater, no window vents are necessary. To determine what BTU you need, you have to factor in room size, how much sun it gets and the general use of the room.

If you have a window, you can have a portable air conditioner!

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