[meega]

Seeing as the heats back I searched back to last summer and could not find any info/advice on mobile air-cons so please forgive me if i`ve overlooked anything but has anyone any recommendations on this model (SIP 01389 Air Conditioner 12k BTU - £200 - http://www.barmey.co.uk/ssl/aspcart/...duct_id=100400 i found through the shopping search site links?,
I assume the obvious that quality counts but can anyone also offer a mobile air-con under £250 that performs well and is relatively quiet enough for a bedroom around 20 cubic mtrs preferably cooling at 12,000 btu`s or above? the usual quality Delonghi, Fedders, Bosch etc. are out of my price bracket so i`m forced into the more economic models, Amcor etc.
I split between the one in the link above and this one http://www.airandwatercentre.com/sto...uctdetails.htm - a 10k BTU with remote @ £200 apparently "on offer"
any remarks will be fully appreciated!

[rbartlett]

All portables are rubbish

Cheers

Richard

[Timmy C]

Originally Posted by rbartlett

All portables are rubbish

Cheers

Richard

Can you expand a lttle on this? I want to buy one for my mum and was thinking of a portable from Argos. Are they really not up to the job of cooling a bedroom for the night?

[rbartlett]

Originally Posted by Timmy C

Can you expand a lttle on this? I want to buy one for my mum and was thinking of a portable from Argos. Are they really not up to the job of cooling a bedroom for the night?

They are all noisy -a bedroom is relatively quiet and one of these droning away could be unsettling. Although I guess anyone tired enough would sleep through but personally having been in the a.c business for 25 years man and boy I wouldn't give one house room....
I would try to hear one or at least get the Db rating before I shelled out (not that I would of course;-))
However some people are naturally tight and you could always switch it on 2 hours before bedtime and then turn it off..but if I intended to live in my house for longer than a couple of years I would have a proper split put in by professionals -IE not fleebay crapola



Cheers

Richard

[Timmy C]

Thanks for that. So how much (roughly) do you think I would be looking at to get a basic system installed for my mums bedroom?

[Orson]

Hope you don't mind if I jump on this thread, but I'm just putting a conservatory in, and I was going to AC it. I'd had doubts about portables, seeing as the 2 I've seen in action have been pretty poor.

Obviously I don't mind looking around, but what are the specs I need to look at?

For example, one I'm looking at has a noise rating of 48-52 db inside, <56 db outside - in practice, how noisy is that going to be? And will my neighbours be complaining about the noise to them?
And is there a btu rating per cubic metre (or something like that) I could use to work out what I need?

Any help would be great

[rbartlett]

okay first things first. Air conditioning isn't equal. There is a lot of right old rubbish out there flooding the market.Think of it like car manufacturers.

Stick to a Japanese manufacturer -you will recognise most of the names.One you might not is Daikin (my personal favourite.)

We control temperature and noise,the cheaper kit is very noisy -48Db is loud. A Daikin for example is very quiet -35Db and the outdoor is exceptionally quiet too. I can pretty much G.tee you will not get any complaints inside or out with one of these.

Plus they are far more energy efficient most getting A ratings whilst the cheaper stuff is C ,D or worse..Again do your homework

Whilst there is an influx of poor kit there has been an equally large amount of shoddy workers. get references and actually check them out. Buyer beware!!
Now prices,

For an 'average' bedroom 2-3.5Kw-expect to pay approx £1200+ VAT (charged at 5% provided a heatpump is fitted).

A conservatory is a different matter, you will need something bigger 5-7+kw-depending upon aspect and if blinds are fitted etc @£1800+VAT as above

We only fit heat pumps as they are energy efficient and our customer has the chance to claim from the government (providing the manufacturers equipment is on the approved efficiency list-see above)


A quick guide is

rooms -80-100watts per M sq floor space
a conservatory 200-250


Cheers

Richard

[Timmy C]

Thanks for the info. Out of interest, how much of London do you cover?

[rbartlett]

Originally Posted by Timmy C

Thanks for the info. Out of interest, how much of London do you cover?

We cover the whole of the south of England plus the odd international job ;-)

Cheers

Richard

[kryten]

Well, I've got one of the 'cheap' ones (200 quid I think) and its certainly not 'rubbish' as it works nicely. However as has been pointed out its pretty noisy so there's now way you'd want it in a bedroom - that's the same as any of the other portables I've seen: all have been far too noisy for a bedroom.

Its in my office, which is full of computers and at this time of year can easily hit 40degrees C if left to its own devices!

I've got the exit pipe fitted to the wall, so the exhaust air is properly sent outside the house (this made a big difference from trailling it out of a window).

[meega]

Originally Posted by kryten

Well, I've got one of the 'cheap' ones (200 quid I think) and its certainly not 'rubbish' as it works nicely. However as has been pointed out its pretty noisy so there's now way you'd want it in a bedroom - that's the same as any of the other portables I've seen: all have been far too noisy for a bedroom.

Its in my office, which is full of computers and at this time of year can easily hit 40degrees C if left to its own devices!

I've got the exit pipe fitted to the wall, so the exhaust air is properly sent outside the house (this made a big difference from trailling it out of a window).

Dont get me wrong a fedders 2.5kw split system @ 27db would be ideal but if i can sound-proof (lol) a cheap and nasty portable unit to exhaust through the cavity vent then hey presto! : at a budget rate for those of us in the lower income bracket, "try before you buy" would be good in these circumstances, point of note is the big chains have little stock of these due to recent temps so it would be interesting to see how many people have to stuff the cotton wool in their ears at night or not? but the world cup and subsequent beer intake for the next few week should aleviate any excess noise they make?
Its purely just another case of "you gets what you pays" but,,,,,,?

[rags]

I got one of these Delonghi's from this seller. Noisy as per most portables but cheap for what it offers. Call them and they throw in the delivery for free - £280 all in.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELONGHI-12-00...QQcmdZViewItem

[evolution400]

I searched the web cheapest I have found is www.homebase.co.uk
9000BTU 170
12000BTU 200

I bought the 12000BTU because I ound it to be the best value. I need it for my top floor office during the day then bedroom for the evening.
Cools very well even with the hose draped out the window.
Now for the cons.
1) portable my ass......you have to be pretty strong for that to be considered portable !
2) it sounds like a 747 taking off when on high setting but I am confident I could sleep the\rough an A380 taking off s 747 is fine for me
On a different note has anyone experience of the air condensers, purification. The units refered to as "air coolling" .....I think home base do a version for 40.
Just thinking of geting one for the smaller room if they are any good.

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by evolution400

On a different note has anyone experience of the air condensers, purification. The units refered to as "air coolling" .....I think home base do a version for 40.
Just thinking of geting one for the smaller room if they are any good.

I bought an evaporative cooler from Homebase a couple of years ago if that's the thing you're referring to. No ioniser, just a water tank with a fibre belt that feeds up behind the fan after passing through the tank. Came with a couple of bottles to put in the freezer to cool the reservoir.

It's completely useless. The fan is a cylinder type like a fan heater & is extremely noisy & inefficient. The casing is poorly manufactured & rattles to increase the noise level further. Finally, there is absolutely no difference between running it wet or dry. A complete waste of money.

[rssteve]

my portable is fine, we have also installed some split units for a customer, they simple plugged together, pre gassed, very quiet and tidy, she paid £1000for 2 of them, not sure where from tho. We just took a seperate supply from the dis-board to each unit.

also air cooler use water to dampen the air, you need to have plenty of air flowing through for them to work and are cheap to run.

[rbartlett]

Originally Posted by rssteve

my portable is fine, we have also installed some split units for a customer, they simple plugged together, pre gassed, very quiet and tidy, she paid £1000for 2 of them, not sure where from tho. We just took a seperate supply from the dis-board to each unit.

when was this and was it in a house or an office..?

cheers

richard

[meega]

For the interested: Spotted 2 static wall mounted units in an unmentioned DIY store for around £350 to £450 the cheaper with external housing, I wont entertain them as the large store is managed by morons (particularly the Rotherham-SYorks store) selling faulty and poorly built goods! Apologies for the rant.

[rssteve]

was in a house mate, one in the bedroom and one in the living room.

[rbartlett]

Originally Posted by rssteve

was in a house mate, one in the bedroom and one in the living room.

hope you're part P then.. ;-)

cheers

Richard

[IronGiant]

Originally Posted by crocodile

I bought an evaporative cooler from Homebase a couple of years ago if that's the thing you're referring to. No ioniser, just a water tank with a fibre belt that feeds up behind the fan after passing through the tank. Came with a couple of bottles to put in the freezer to cool the reservoir.

It's completely useless. The fan is a cylinder type like a fan heater & is extremely noisy & inefficient. The casing is poorly manufactured & rattles to increase the noise level further. Finally, there is absolutely no difference between running it wet or dry. A complete waste of money.

I agree that as far as cooling the room down goes, they have little to no effect. I suspect most of the evapourative cooling effect is actually to the water in the reservoir in the unit. If you sit right in front of it the air blowing at you is colder than from a fan alone, but I would think this is offset by the disadvantage of increasing humidity. Coupled with the fact that, unless you run it until the fibre belt is completely dry, it will stink of mildew the next time you use, you're better off investing in good quality quiet fans.

[blicky_1]

Hi all,

I purchased a cheapy 9000BTU unit from Homebase this week for £150, luckly I had £45 worth of vouchers from them!! also it is 'B' energy rated.

The unit works great in my Living Room and gets very cold quickly (installed the pipe through the wall) I agree with what some say on here that they are noisy on full but I can put up with that to be cool! as the unit will probably end up in the cupboard for the winter or in the study!

Overall i'm very happy with my purchase for £105, I just could not justify £1200 + VAT for a professional system (per room) as we only need it here in the UK for a couple of weeks per year!! Don't get me wrong i'm sure the pro systems are better and more reliable in the long run.

Typical after buying my unit the weather has turned cooler and it has not been on for the last couple of days