I have seen 'standalone' air conditioning units advertised for sale at approx $800. They are not evaporative units but are small refrigerative air coolers. There is no instalation required and I do not know if they are reverse cycle. Split systems are getting cheaper now but instalation can be quite expensive! At first glance these 'standalone' units appear ideal for small IPs and I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with this type of thing?
Stand Alone Air Conditioning Units
- Thread starter plumtree
- Start date
plumtree said:
I have one. They are ok for a small room - but you need to vent the hot air from the unit out a window, a door, or some other opening to the outside.
You also need to empty the water out of it (opposite to an evaporative!) occasionally (more if it is humid) as they duhumidify.
We found the venting bit most difficult, as obviously if you open the windot to vent the hot air out, hot air from outside come IN (as the window openings are bigger than the vent hose.
I've seen people use a fireplace to vent the hot air up the chimney....
Cheers,
The Y-man
The Y-man said:I've seen people use a fireplace to vent the hot air up the chimney....
Cheers,
The Y-man
Now theres an idea if your place already has a chimney
Hi PLumbtree,
we bought one in winter of '05 off ebay for $400 new. Cools the bedroom down a treat, venting isn't a problem as it came with a bracket fitting for our existing sliding glass windows.
Our's is reverse cycle and came with a remote, love it to death and best thing is we can drag it from room to room.
Only downside (as y'man mentioned) is that we need to empty to the water chamber out approximately every four or so hours.
If it's going to be a permanent fixture in your IP you might be better going for an installed box model, we were quoted $400 for the unit and $200 for installation.
Cheers, e x
we bought one in winter of '05 off ebay for $400 new. Cools the bedroom down a treat, venting isn't a problem as it came with a bracket fitting for our existing sliding glass windows.
Our's is reverse cycle and came with a remote, love it to death and best thing is we can drag it from room to room.
Only downside (as y'man mentioned) is that we need to empty to the water chamber out approximately every four or so hours.
If it's going to be a permanent fixture in your IP you might be better going for an installed box model, we were quoted $400 for the unit and $200 for installation.
Cheers, e x
Plumtree,
imho,
The Y man is spot on,myself i would spend the extra $500.oo,on a 1..25.or 1.50
size split system thery are wall mounted ,the unit is outside the building
and it stays in place for the new tenants,once the old ones move out.Also
if you rent to a family with small children and they start to play with the
mobile unit and as kids play games what happens when the unit is pushed
over and falls on your tenants children, i know this happens from time to time
with those mobile systems,but thats only me i always look at the downside first
and try to cover all the risks with rental properties..
good luck
willair..
imho,
The Y man is spot on,myself i would spend the extra $500.oo,on a 1..25.or 1.50
size split system thery are wall mounted ,the unit is outside the building
and it stays in place for the new tenants,once the old ones move out.Also
if you rent to a family with small children and they start to play with the
mobile unit and as kids play games what happens when the unit is pushed
over and falls on your tenants children, i know this happens from time to time
with those mobile systems,but thats only me i always look at the downside first
and try to cover all the risks with rental properties..
good luck
willair..
Many thanks for the replies. I think the problem of emptying the water periodically is too fraught with danger. The split systems are becoming much less expensive but instalation still seems on the high side. It sounds like the best bet because once it is done you may actually add some value to the property. The portable unit really has no effect on property value!