How Do Portable Air Conditioners Work?

Portable air conditioners are the ideal solution for cooling down smaller rooms and spaces.

They do not need to be installed by a professional and they don’t ‘waste’ cold air as they only cool down the one room that you want it to. Many people use them in their living room, bedroom or home office.

How Portable Air Conditioners Work

Portable air conditioners work by pulling in the warm air in a room, conditioning it to your set temperature and releasing the cool air back into the room. They are made up from three basic components:

Refrigerant – The cooled refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air.

Compressor – This compresses the refrigerant for the condensation process.

Fan  – The fan pulls in the warm air from the room in.

The fan pulls in hot and humid air from inside a room and brings it inside the portable air conditioner. This hot and humid air is then cooled down by internal coils with the cool air being blown back into the room.

The heat produced by compressing the refrigerant (as well as the extracted humidity in the warm air) is then vented outside via the exhaust hose.

Some portable air conditioners remove the moisture collected from the humid air via a gravity drain (which is pumped out via a hose) or an internal bucket (however, this is mainly on older AC units). Most new models use the self-evaporation process which removes the moisture through the exhaust hose with the warm air.

All air conditioning units work in the same way. The main difference between portable models vs other types is that a portable air conditioner combines all of the components into one standalone unit. They usually come with handles and wheels for easier movability.

For a detailed guide on how to install your portable air conditioner, click here. 

Venting

Some portable AC units come are ‘dual hose’. As their name suggests, these models have two hoses. One hose is used to bring in air from outside to cool down the compressor and coils inside the unit, the other hose is used to extract the warm air outside.

Other models, including those to purchase on AllAir, are ‘single hose’. Single hose models take the warm air from the room and cool it down (through use of the condenser and coils inside the unit) before blowing the cool air back into the room.

People often wonder if they can extend their exhaust hose on their AC unit. Technically, yes, the exhaust hose can be extended. However, it is not recommended as it will reduce the efficiency of the air conditioner and, in some cases, can even cause the unit to overheat which will void the manufacturer’s warranty. For more advice on how to increase the efficiency of your portable air conditioner, check out this blogpost. 

The most popular way to extract the hot air from the exhaust hose is through a window. A window seal kit can help you reduce the chance of the extracted warm air to enter back into the room. If you don’t have a window seal kit, or the window seal kit is too small for your window, you can create your own by filling the empty void with plywood or Styrofoam. Simply explained, you are trying to get the exhaust hose/window connection as airtight as possible.

If you don’t have access to a window, it is possible to vent the warm air through a wall, door or roof. Just remember that the warm air must be extracted somewhere outside the room otherwise you will end up heating up the room you are trying to cool down.

It is important to keep your portable air conditioner clean and well maintained to ensure you get the most out of its lifespan out of it. This includes cleaning the air filters and the exterior casing, ensuring any excess water is drained from the machine and also storing it well when not using it. You can find more details on our cleaning and maintenance blogpost.