Ever since my husband and I have moved into our new house, we have been having issues with our central air conditioning system. At this point, we don’t really have the money that would be necessary to purchase a completely new central air conditioning unit. Since it’s the end of summer and the weather around here will hopefully be cooling off soon, we have decided to look into a more cost effective option for now. This is a temporary fix for us, since we will probably be able to repair or replace our central A/C next year before the summer starts. I went to Home Depot today to start shopping for a small, portable air conditioner that we can move from room to room until we save up enough money for our central A/C repairs.
The first A/C unit that I came across is a unit called an LG 8,000 BTU 115V White Portable Air Conditioner LP0817WSR Portable Air Conditioners at ABT. This portable air conditioner is good for moving from room to room within your house. If you happen to need a portable air conditioner in another situation, like at work or at another house or an event, this unit would be perfect for that. This is a free-standing unit that will blend right in with any room decor. Since it’s small, it would also be easy to conceal behind a screen or a piece of furniture if that becomes necessary. This portable air conditioning unit has something called “auto-swing air vent technology.” This means that the cool air circulates very efficiently and you will be cooling your room with ease in no time at all. This unit cools up to 200 square feet easily, so knowing the size of the area you want to cool off is important before you make a decision. This particular A/C unit comes with a remote, so you can adjust the temperature from across the room or even from the other side of the house. I did read some reviews on this unit, and many people stated that the A/C is fairly loud when it’s running. On the plus side, though, this unit is great at removing the humidity from your room. If the quietness factor of a portable air conditioner is important to you, then you may want to try another brand. The day that I was looking at Home Depot, this model was priced at $298.
The other type of air conditioning unit that we wanted to check out was a regular old window unit air conditioner. I wanted to look at one that was comparable in cooling ability to the portable unit, so I checked out the LG LW8016ER 8,000 BTU Window Air Conditioner – 12.1 EER – White. Of course, there are pros and cons to getting a window unit instead of a true portable air conditioner, the obvious one being that a window unit A/C isn’t easily moved or transported the way that a portable unit is. Other than that, each of these units is pretty comparable in ability and in price. This particular window unit is able to cool a room that’s up to 340 square feet in size. This is a plus, since it cools a lot more space than the portable unit. This unit also offers an energy saver function and a 24 hour on and on timer. It also has a remote so that you can start cooling yourself down without even having to get up from your seat. It does come with an included installation kit so hypothetically, you could install this window unit yourself. This model of air conditioner was priced at $272.49, which was a little bit cheaper than the portable unit.
Depending on what you’re looking for, the window unit might end up being your best bet. For instance, if the room that you’re trying to cool is larger in size, then this one would definitely work better for you. I like the whole idea of the energy saving function and the 24 hour on and on timer, too. And of course, saving $20 or so is a plus. However, for our purposes, I think we might be better off going with the portable air conditioning unit instead. This is simply because I know that in a year or so we will want to get our central air conditioning fixed or possibly even completely replaced. For us, having a portable A/C unit or a window unit is simply a temporary fix so that we can last through the end of the summer without a giant HVAC repair bill. Buying the portable unit makes more sense because we can move it around easily to different places once we are done with the upgrades to our central A/C system. I can let friends or neighbors borrow it or I can even take it to the office to help keep things cooler in the warehouse.
However, if you’re not in our type of situation and you’re looking for a unit to last you for a long time, you may want to go with the window unit instead of the portable unit. After all, it cools more space and it will save you money on your cooling bills. If you’re not worried about transporting it from place to place, then the portability factor isn’t much of an issue. I will say that in my research, I came to the conclusion that with either type of unit I looked at, I would prefer to have the assistance of an HVAC technician when installing it. Neither my husband nor I know very much about heating or cooling at all, and when you’re messing around with electrical loads and things of that nature in your home, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. My next order of business is to purchase the LG 8,000 BTU 115V White Portable Air Conditioner LP0817WSR Portable Air Conditioners at ABT. Right after that, I plan to call my local heating and cooling company to schedule a time for an HVAC professional to come and help us install it for the first time.