The UK's Premiere Online Air Conditioner Supplier

You can use this web site to buy your portable and mobile room air conditioner in the UK.

Some points to consider when choosing a portable/mobile air conditioner

• Cooling Capacity
• Venting/exhaust
• Size/gadgetry

Cooling Capacity

It is important that you choose a mobile air conditioner that is powerful enough for your room size. All units come with a BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating which is a measure of the units cooling capacity. The VERY ROUGH ESTIMATE is that you need around 30 BTU's per square foot.

Please note-
- Add BTU by 10% for sunny areas
- Add BTU by 10% for second story (or higher) rooms
- Add 4,000 BTU if area to be cooled is in the kitchen
- Add 600 BTU for each additional person (using room) over 2 persons

What's The Big Deal About BTU Sizing?

BTU Size Too Large
An air conditioner that has a higher BTU rating than the room size requires will tend to cycle off too quickly. The unit will not properly remove the moisture from the air.

BTU Size Too Small
An air conditioner that has a lower BTU rating than the room size requires will run continuously. The unit will not adequately cool the room.

Air Conditioner Types

Window Air Conditioners- Are for windows that slide up and down.

Casement Air Conditioners- Are for windows that swing out to the left or right (usually with a hand crank).

Wall Air Conditioners- Goes through the wall of a building and requires a sleeve. Sleeves are sold separately and can be found in the air conditioner accessories category

Portable Air Conditioners- Great for a no window office or room, these are relatively new to the market. They are portable so they can be taken anywhere.
These units must be ventilated.... the exhaust must go somewhere outside of the room.

For a better estimate go to

http://www.consumerreports.org/ and click on appliances, there is a super chart that helps you work out what cooling capacity you will need.

Cooling capacity is reflected very much in price. A small 7500 BTU unit can cost as little as £300 but a 12000 BTU unit will rarely come in under £650.

Venting/exhaust

The truly portable or monoblock air conditioner has to get rid of the condensation created by cooling humid air and also has to vent out the heat. Some units have a drip tray or tank/bucket that the condensate runs in to and this has to be emptied fairly regularly, but many vent out the hot air and evaporate the condensed water through an exhaust hose. Alternatively, other units have a drain pipe which can be drained through a nearby window or hole in the wall. If you don't want to be emptying a bucket, check the specifications of the aircon unit that you are interested in before purchasing.

Size/gadgetry

Most people like portable air conditioning units because of their small size. Do check the dimensions and be sure that it is going to fit in to the space that you have planned for it!!

Many modern portable air conditioners now come as a multi-functional air conditioner, heater, multi-speed cooler fan and dehumidifier, with remote control, timers, sleep function Check specifications; because if you don't want all of these functions, there is no point in paying for them.

For a more detailed account of what to look for when buying an air conditioning unit, go to: http://www.consumerreports.org and look under appliances

For a super account of how air conditioners work visit the following website:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm

The Different Types of Portable Air conditioning Unit 

There are two types Portable air conditioner units.

Air to Air: Warm air from the room passes over the evaporator which will then release cold air. The captured heat is given to more air passing over the condenser and is expelled outside the room via a mobile air conditioner hose. Most air to air air conditioners do not need any intervention from the user, nor do they have scaling problems, or stagnant water problems.

2 Air to Water: The air is chilled by passing directly over the evaporator, but instead of using only air to transport the captured heat from the condenser, water is also used to cool the condenser. The use of this product is limited as the water tank needs to be filled The operating time is reduced to between 4 and 6 hours.

Mobile  air conditioning units also come in two styles

1 Monoblocs air conditioner: This is a one piece unit working on an air to air principle. Warm air from the room passes over the evaporator and is chilled before being blown back into the room. More air passing over the condenser absorbs the captured heat and it is expelled outside the room via a hose. This hose must be vented through an outside wall or window using the socket provided. As a temporary instant solution, a flattened adaptor is included so that the hose can be fitted through a partially opened window or door. Extra exhaust sockets can be installed, so that your air conditioner can be moved between rooms.	2 Split air conditioning units: Here the condenser and the evaporator are split into two units and work on an air to air principle. Warm air is drawn into the unit and cooled by being passed directly over the evaporator before being blown back into the room. The mobile split air conditioner unit has a greater efficiency because the captured heat is circulated through the condenser situated outside.The separate external (condenser) box is connected to the main inside unit by means of refrigerant lines. These lines can be disconnected, so they can be passed through a hole in the wall, about the size of half a brick before reconnecting. The external box can be placed either on the ground outside, a window sill or balcony, or be hooked on straps over the edge of a window frame or attached to the outside wall on the bracket supplied. However, the unit is less mobile and has to be near a window or other outside opening.

Choosing the right unit portable air conditioning unit

Measuring the performance...

There are two ways of measuring the cooling performance of air conditioners BTU and Watts. All air conditioners also have a dehumidification function which is measured by the number of litres of water per hour that can be extracted from the air by the portable air conditioner unit.

Room Sizing...

For example:

Imperial Height 8 feet Therefore room size is 8 x 16 x 12 1536 cubic feet. 1536 x 4 =6144BTU Length 16 feet Width 12 feet

Metric Height 2.5m Therefore room size is 2.5 x 5.0 x 3.7 - 46.25 cubic metres 46.25 x 40 =1850Watts Length 5.0m Width 3.7m

These measurements account for a room with three or four people, a PC and a photocopier. For each extra person or PC add 120 Watts.

As a sirnple guide to your requirements just calculate the square footage of your room and refer to the portable air conditioning units on the front page.

Windows

Windows make installation of a portable air conditioner unit much easier and are essential if you wish to have a Split unit.

On Monoblocs, the maximum hose length is 3 metres but the recommended length is just 1 5 metres. In the absence of a window, you may duct the hose into a suspended ceiling providing you have at least a 4m void with ventilation for the waste heat to escape.

Split units generally have a maximum umbilical cord length of 2 to 3m. The external condenser unit will either sit on a window !edge or hang outside on the supplied hook however, the window has to have an opening wide enough so that the condenser unit can be passed through the opening.

Electrical supply for portable air conditioning units

All of our mobile air conditioning units work from a standard 240 V, 13 amp socket.

Installation of any of our portable air conditioner units is very simple. Just place the hose for a Monobloc or the condenser for a Split unit, outside the room and then switch on. If you are ducting to a suspended ceiling, then simply push the hose into the void. For maximum efficiency, avoid siting your portable air conditioner in areas of direct sunshine, or near a heat source.

Types of portable air conditioner units 

Frequently asked questions 

Where can I use a mobile?

Mobiles are perfect for the home and office. They need no major installation and connect into a normal 13 amp socket.

How do I work out which air conditioner I need?

Cooling power of portable air conditioners is measured in Btus orWatts. As a rough guide, Multiply L x W x H of the room. If in feet x 4= Btu/h required. If in metres x 40 = watts required. Allow for extra heat gain. See room sizing guide.

How cold can I make a room?

There are limits to how cold the room temperature can be made. On most machines this is around 21°C.

How much does an air conditioner cost to run?

Most mobile single unit air conditioners have an input power of below I kw per hour, therefore the cost to run on full power would be about 6 pence per hour. Split systems have inputs around 1.3kw per hour so would cost in the region of 9 pence per hour to run on full power.

Where does the heat go?

Portable air conditioning units actually take heat from the room and expel it to the outside. Single mobile conditioner units do this by means of the I metre flexible hose. Split units discharge the heat via the external condenser unit

What if l buy an air conditioner smaller than is needed?

When the heat load in a room is greater than the unit's cooling capacity an air conditioner will be acting as a comfort cooler or spot cooler, taking heat out of the room but not actually reducing temperature.

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