Condo Air Conditioner?

[teg_star]

We live and own in a older condo building with no ventilation, just windows. Has anyone installed a ductless mini-split AC system or used a portable AC unit with the hose going out the window? Which brand do you recommend?

Just looking what popular AC solutions are out there for condos

Thanks

[Mitsu3000gt]

I have two LG units (12,000 and 13,000 BTU), single hose, portable (9 ft ceilings and casement windows mean I can't use the normal kind). They have been flawless for 3-4 years now, and I use them all summer long. I also felt better buying from a major appliance brand rather than Danby or whatever. A huge selling point for me was they evaporate any condensation into the exhaust, and you never have to worry about water leaks, deal with overflows, or install a drainage hose - just plug in and go. They are also quiet (for an AC unit), so I can sleep while it's running. The 12,000 BTU unit cools my master bedroom extremely quickly to any temp I want, and the 13,000 BTU one cools my main living area down significantly (more than enough to be very comfortable) but I can't make it ice cold because the space is just too big.

For maximum efficiency in a sealed room (eg. bedroom, door shut), where it's presumably warmer in the adjoining living spaces, the 2-hose designs can be more efficient because they don't intake air from the room you're in (which creates a vacuum that sucks in more warm air from under the door), but rather pulls it in from outside. My single hose units work so well though that I highly doubt I would notice any difference at all between the two except for an extreme scenario, and having one hose to deal with is far less of an eye sore.

If I could install a window unit I would, there is less to worry about, but I can't in my situation. Also buy the most powerful one you can afford, don't just try and match up advertised cooling square footage with your room because chances are the scenario won't be nearly as ideal as what the manufacturer tests in. It's also nice to be able to cool down the space in a small amount of time so you aren't waiting around before it's cool enough to go to bed.

[n1zm0]

I have a Noma 9k BTU with single exhaust to window going on 5 years now with no issues. On a +30c day it will take 3 hours until the master bedroom(in a townhouse) is decently cold + ceiling fan going, have to set it on a timer because it gets that cold somewhere around 1-2am. One time we tried it in the living room, 6+ hours and it didn't do a whole lot, for that I would want a 2 hose A/C unit but not necessary.

Still it was one of the first things I bought because the upstairs is so gdamned hot in the summer.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by n1zm0
I have a Noma 9k BTU with single exhaust to window going on 5 years now with no issues. On a +30c day it will take 3 hours until the master bedroom(in a townhouse) is decently cold + ceiling fan going, have to set it on a timer because it gets that cold somewhere around 1-2am. One time we tried it in the living room, 6+ hours and it didn't do a whole lot, for that I would want a 2 hose A/C unit but not necessary.

Still it was one of the first things I bought because the upstairs is so gdamned hot in the summer.

Sounds like you may need a more powerful unit, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 mins or so to cool down a bedroom, assuming it isn't massive. Mine is probably 200ish square feet or so and on the really brutal days I can drop it from 27C to 20C in about a half hour.

The other thing you can do is make sure your hoses are as short and as direct as possible between the unit and the window, I see people all the time who have this huge snake of a hose going from the unit to the window haha. Furthermore you can insulate the hose with duct insulation, so they don't release extra heat back into the room.

You need to be careful with timers too, because if you just hard-cut the power to the AC unit it when the compressor is running, it can't get rid of the condensation inside before shutting down, but maybe I misunderstand what you're doing.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Sounds like you may need a more powerful unit, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 mins or so to cool down a bedroom, assuming it isn't massive. Mine is probably 200ish square feet or so and on the really brutal days I can drop it from 27C to 20C in about a half hour.
What size is your AC unit? Window exposure?

[revelations]

Before AC, you need to investigate:

- if sunny side, get some interior reflective window film (that isnt obvious from outside) , made a noticeable difference in my SE facing condo.

- circuit loading - if same as TV for eg. a big AC will overload the CB

- vent/door sealing (mentioned below) , my condo blew hot hallway air into the suite under the door. Sealing this also allowed me to run a humidifier in the winter and SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the dust levels in my unit

- air intake/exhaust - get a TWO HOSE unit as the one hose units will pull air in from INSIDE of the condo and you end up with a musty smell if the air comes in from the plumbing ventilation

[HiTempguy1]

Since we are talking about condo's (specifically)...

A huge issue is the building's HVAC system/air recirc for all public/common areas. Usually there is a large gap (and I believe that this is code) between the floor and the entryway door to a condo unit. I can not even begin to count how many condo's I have been in that have a serious amount of air (usually always hot air) coming in through this gap.

Additionally, if there are HVAC setup problems like I described, as soon as you open a window in your condo, you just created a low pressure area that allows more air from the rest of the condo building to travel to.

Part of heat/temperature management will always be to try and control all of the variables affecting the temperature of your condo. There are items you can readily buy off of places like Amazon designed to block the gap so your condo is better sealed. As a bonus, it also helps mitigate noise.

Just a thought. I have no comment about A/C units as to me, an A/C unit is an A/C unit, biggest issue by far is noise from it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by jwslam

What size is your AC unit? Window exposure?

12,000 btu for my bedroom. 4 large floor-ceiling mostly south facing windows (two of them doors with mostly glass), as there is also a balcony off of it. I have curtains (not blackout) and some standard blinds, that's it.

[jwslam]

Hmm I have south windows too. About 200sqft. Cheaped out on a 5000btu window unit and it totally doesn't cut it lol.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by jwslam
Hmm I have south windows too. About 200sqft. Cheaped out on a 5000btu window unit and it totally doesn't cut it lol.

Yeah I think the 12,000 btu one says 400 or so sq ft for cooling, so I figure I'd be good if I'm about half that, and it works great. I also have the hose set up as short as possible (unit is almost right up against the window) with only one very minor curve in it simply because the hose comes vertically off the unit.

I imagine like anything the ratings are in extremely ideal conditions that nobody actually experiences, never mind any compromises you may need to make for installation, so you will definitely want a bigger unit than normal IMO.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Sounds like you may need a more powerful unit, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 mins or so to cool down a bedroom, assuming it isn't massive. Mine is probably 200ish square feet or so and on the really brutal days I can drop it from 27C to 20C in about a half hour.

The other thing you can do is make sure your hoses are as short and as direct as possible between the unit and the window, I see people all the time who have this huge snake of a hose going from the unit to the window haha. Furthermore you can insulate the hose with duct insulation, so they don't release extra heat back into the room.

You need to be careful with timers too, because if you just hard-cut the power to the AC unit it when the compressor is running, it can't get rid of the condensation inside before shutting down, but maybe I misunderstand what you're doing.

Maybe being 5 years old and the average rating of 9k BTU has taken its toll, but the master bedroom is messed up for summer, it retains insane amounts of heat for some reason (maybe because it's west facing idk).

I would like to have a shorter exhaust though since it's basically on the bottom of the unit and reaches all the way up to the window but there's no way to mount this thing on a higher level, don't have anything high enough and it's 50lbs or so, maybe sacrifice one of the knee height Ikea coffee tables to reduce the hose length this time. The insulating wrap might be a good idea for the accordion exhaust though I might try that.

The timer is the OEM one built in, it has an hourly countdown timer.

It does the job for sleeping though, the rest of the house we don't need it to be A/C'd, just deal with it. But I do miss having central A/C when I lived with my parents and a proper below ground basement to hang out in until bedtime, luxury life will have to wait until we get a proper house.

[dandia89]

hows the utilities bill pre/post A/C unit. Considering getting one for my unit

[jwslam]

Originally posted by dandia89
hows the utilities bill pre/post A/C unit. Considering getting one for my unit
About 10BTU/watt.
So a 5000 BTU unit = 500 watts = about 4 cents / hour using $0.08/kwh

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by dandia89
hows the utilities bill pre/post A/C unit. Considering getting one for my unit

Running my 13K BTU unit most of the day and the 12K unit most of the night adds about $10-12/mo to my energy bill, completely insignificant, especially considering how uncomfortable the alternative would be haha.

[BavarianBeast]

I've got a 14,000BTU LG stand up I use in our condo bedroom. We've got another smaller 10,000 one for the living area.

Our windows don't slide open (crank open), so I had to jimmy rig the exhaust hose and window opening with some plexiglass.