Portable units

[eam1956]

Hi guys, I am getting enquiries for portable units from customers reluctant to fit permanent kit. Problem is I cant' source any at a reasonable price to make it worth the hassle, does anyone know any specialist wholesalers? Cheers Eamonn.

[frank]

What do you consider a 'reasonable price' ??

There are lots of mobiles available but as with all walks of life - you get what you pay for.

Cheap doesn't always mean reliable.

[Latte]

Lots of places do them, it just depends where i the country you are. If you go anywhere near the A14 in Cambridge, Elliots of bar hill are normally reasonably priced

Regards

Raymond

[frank]

If you go anywhere near the A14 in Cambridge

Regards

Raymond

Hi Fatboy

My daughters just moved from St Ives to Fen Stanton. You never know but we just might meet up one day.

Frank

[momo]

It is always recommendable to explain the (dis)advantages of portables:
+low cost,
+simple instalation by buyer
+easy to transport
+low cost
-electrical overall efficiency
-they drag air in (=to hot air out in volume)
-not all have a system to remove water condensated: the better ones re-evaporate it, others fill an internal tank...to later empty!
-they are less efficient as a consequence in terms of cooling power to the room
-they are usually not heat pumps
-limited life... plastic

Wall split heat pumps (even cheapo ones) are better for cooling/heating than the above.
An alternative for ease of removal/instalation are (heat pump) window units, which with care can even be placed through a wall. For about the same price as a portable you get better results from recognized manufacturers. These tend to offer a wiser range of powers, are more robust and offer a better life than single pipe portables.
Some manufacturers are making two pipe through wall unit, better but noisy on the inside and usually not heat pumps.

[wd40]

Hi guys, I am getting enquiries for portable units from customers reluctant to fit permanent kit. Problem is I cant' source any at a reasonable price to make it worth the hassle, does anyone know any specialist wholesalers? Cheers Eamonn.

good price i can source for is £275 plus vat for 2.6kw

[Latte]

Hi Fatboy

My daughters just moved from St Ives to Fen Stanton. You never know but we just might meet up one day.

Frank

Frank,

We Might actually get to meet one day although our paths are not as likely to cross now i have escaped from the joys of a Daikin agent

tell youre daughter that most people move AWAY from the A14 not just up a couple of junctions although that can take most of the day to get that far.

Fatboy

[Pol]

Most portable airconditioning units are a big laugh.

one - portable; after carrying one 3,5 kw unit up two flights of stairs, you can't say 'portable airconditioner' without a sarcastic grin on your face.

two - cooling; most portable units on the market simply do not work. most of the cheap 'portable' units are monobloc type, using the (cooled) indoor air to cool their condenser. some manage to cool a little bit; mostly though the back of the unit radiates plenty of (condenser) heat. I tested several 3,5 kw units in a 20 m² home office (yes, second floor, no elevator at the time, see point one). None of them managed to cool the room more than 1°c below the outdoor temperature. That makes a very expensive fan, I suppose, bringing us to;

three - price; the few portable airconditioners that actually do work (split type, hence even less 'portable') won't be any cheaper than a decent wall mounted split unit.

Most users are better off (performance, noise level,...) with a fixed unit. There's a nice market though for 'portables' in temporary offices, server rooms, etc.

[electro]

I agree with Pol, I had one of those portable units for a short while one summer, 9000BTU, 1100w power usage, and it did absolutely nothing to this room apart from making it noisy.

Now I've got the 2.5kw Mitsubishi inverter split, still rated at 9000BTU I believe, it cools the room perfectly, and only consuming 750w when at capacity, it's just the way to go.