Technology Connections
5 HN recommenders · recommended in 6 months, 2020–2026
16:39 · 10M views · Jun 15, 2019
Technology Connections explains why single-hose portable air conditioners are inefficient and often a poor choice compared with window units. It details how the single hose pulls in warm outside air and wastes energy.
The go-to recommendation to watch before buying a portable AC, cited in nearly every thread on cooling.
9 comments from Hacker News
If you are in the market for a portable AC I highly recommend you watch this video first: this video People seem to be catching on this and some brands now offer portable mini-splits ACs, I just bought this one (waiting for it to arrive though): [LINK] However they are still quite expensive.
not op but was in same situation for few years as in my region A/C is somehow luxury and a lot of landlords don't mount them. the issue with portable A/C is that most of the units needs to stay inside apartment, the cooling happens by compression/decompression of coolant, which produces heat and cold. so the A/C unit is producing additional heat that it needs to chill, which makes it inefficient. also these units are loud as fuck, most of them above 65dB. so if you are in need, look for units that have the ability to channel cold air to the house from outside. otherwise you should always avoid portable A/C as it is really inefficient. here's better explanation: this video
If anyone is considering buying a "portable" air conditioner - the kind that rolls around on wheels - know that they are pretty awful. If you must buy one, at least buy a "dual hose" version. Single hose versions suck air out of your house, causing fresh, but hot, air to be sucked in through all the vents, gaps, and cracks in your house. Window units or "split" systems are far more efficient and work much better, at the downside of cost and installation fees. Technology Connections has a very good video (with perhaps excessive detail, but it is very interesting) about them, here: this video
Portable air conditioners are bad. All the hot components are in the room with you and it takes air from the room and blows it outside. Technology Connections has a good video about this: this video
Very interesting video from Technology Connections < this video "Portable Air Conditioners - Why you shouldn't like them".