Summer is literally killing us with all this heat around. I don’t say we didn’t have hot summers before, but this time it seems like more persistent and more devastating. So what could we possibly do in such cases? It isn’t always possible to go the mountain and enjoy some cool air. Also, it’s not always possible to go to the beach, especially while working. Nowadays a lot of people are working from home since they realized it’s more efficient and effective (the comfort of your own home boosts your energy and performance while working, since the little 10 minute pauses count a lot more than office pauses). This is where the problems come: not everyone has an air conditioner at home.

Some people would rather avoid the complications of installing a central air conditioning system so they need temporary but effective solutions. A portable air conditioner is all you need to cool your room down and make it comfortable to stay at home while outside you’d get fried!

What do we need to know about portable air conditioners?

First of all, you should be aware of the price differences. One would think that the prices are the same, whether the air conditioning system is portable or not, but that’s not true. A portable air conditioner is always more expensive than a permanently installed central air conditioner. Why is that? Making an air conditioner work while being portable is a lot harder and techniques used – even if similar – are harder.

As efficiency, there are two types of portable air conditioners. There is the single hose and the dual hose version. The differences are: the size of the room that could be cooled down and the speed/efficiency of cooling. Since the dual hose portable air conditioner has an air intake hose and an exhaust hose, it’s a lot better. That is because the air flow is significantly higher than the single hose version.

Nowadays, you only need to clean your portable air conditioner’s air filter. There is almost no need to handle the water tank as it once was.

Before purchasing any portable air conditioner, make sure you completely understand what you need. If you’d need air conditioning in your rooms all the time, it’s better to go for the traditional, non-portable version. If you truly want a portable air conditioner, not only costs should be considered. The size of your air conditioner also matters. You can easily tell that a unit which would be too large for your room would only make the room too cold, forcing you to stop and re-start the system a lot of times every day, which is annoying. On the other hand if the size is too small compared to the size of the room, you will suffer from not feeling any changes with your portable air conditioner. The best option is to consult a specialist and ask for his/her opinion.

Another important factor is the EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio). Since it is well-known that air conditioning would eventually increase your electricity bills, you might want to consider efficiency and save some money in time.