Cooling a big room in a rental?

[itsangus]

Hi All,

I'm moving into a share house room that's about 6 x 4 metres that has no aircon. Would a portable aircon be enough to cover the whole room comfortably? Especially in the summer.

Should I get a portable aircon and a cooler fan?

Cheers!

[MitchellMc]

@itsangus,

What a portable air conditioner will do is make the temperature in the room bearable. It will not bring the temperature down to 16-degrees celsius on a hot day. I would also not expect a portable unit to cool the room to the same extent as a built-in split system unit. I've recently installed a 1.0KW window box air-conditioner after many years of using portable units. It far exceeds the performance of any previous units I have had. The main issue is the unit and motor are in the same room you are trying to cool. Not only is the unit trying to cool the room, but also combat the heat it itself is generating. 

I would strongly suggest you invest in a unit that has the largest BTU for your budget. If I was to purchase one from our range, it would be the Mistral 16000BTU Portable Air Conditioner. 

A pedestal fan is always a cheap and effective way of personal cooling. A fan in combination with a portable air conditioner would be an excellent choice.

Please let me know if you need further help or had questions.

Mitchell

[JDE]

Itsangus

I have to agree with Mitchell.  My experience with portable aircons is they are no where near as affective as a in the window type. When My daughter rented a house without aircon recently we tried a portable with little sucess so I fitted a box in the window type using a clamped frame so when she left it could be removed without any damage. It was way more effective. JDE

[itsangus]

Hi JDE,

Thanks so much for that! Could you give a little more detail as to the window type one and how you did it?

Cheers!

[MitchellMc]

@itsangus,

I'd be interested to hear how @JDE went about that project as well.

Some windows are easier to do this modification with than others. In my situation, I first removed the window, which was on hinges. I then created a platform to bear the weight of the air-con, which I braced against the wall. A piece of polycarbonate sheeting was cut to size and inserted into the window frame above the unit. Last, I used timber to box the unit in and applied a bitumen backed tape to weatherproof it.

I've included a photo below, so you get an idea of the setup. As a renter, this was the best option I could come up with.

Mitchell

[JDE]

Itsangus

I have done both but for daughter I was fitting to a sliding window. I used some 50x70 on the bottom of the unit to sit on the window sill and take the wieght on inside the window and a piece of 10x 38 just outside the window so it could not move. To attach these you remove the aircon unit from its casing most are held in with a couple of clips/screws at the front and a couple of screws at back and just slide out, the unit is separate to the housing. I then put screws from the inside through into the wood on the outside. You determine where to put the 50x75 so the unit is fairly balanced but still more outside. On the top of the unit casing I put a piece of 20x20mm aluminum angle held with 2 small bolts and silicone to weather proof  (nuts on the outside and locking nut so they cant vibrate lose) this is lined up to support and bolt to the polycarbonate that will be cut the width of the unit plus some to go into the window frame where window went when shut. On the sides of the unit casing i also put angle one side to match window frame  to allow window to slide in front and angle the other side infront of the window frame . You probably dont need these and could just use a doorseal tape (Bunnings).  To fill the gap above  I used polycarbonate cut long enough to slide into the top of the window frame when sitting on the unit and wide enough to sit in the window frame when lined up with edge of the unit. You will need to find some packing to stop it rattling. On the unsupported side I used a strip of 10x 48 inside and out with 3 bolt through it and continued the angle up on the sliding window side. When the window is shut against the unit the angle slides in front of it. Outside I attached 2 large angle brackets to the bottom of the unit to take the wieght on the house side these were screwed to a piece of timber which rested against the wall to avoid damage. Tip the unit needs to be fitted so the outside is just slight only a couple of mm lower so water from condensor drains (maybe only an issue with old ones) . We then just slid the window up against the unit and cut a piece of curtain rod to keep it shut. One issue you may find is bigger units require a 15amp plug so be aware when buying if you are tempted legally you will need a sparky to change the face plate on a powerpoint and while a double powerpoint allows 20amp draw not all sparkys will put on a 15amp face plate on without running a new circuit. Putting a unit in a double hung window is much the same except easier as gap on side smaller and instead of using polycarbonate I have just used painted 3mm ply.  Sorry for long reply. JDE