They must be installed inside a standard window frame.
Do portable air conditioners work as good as window units.
Portable air conditioners are designed to be more flexible than window air conditioners which can only be carefully installed in standard sized windows.
Air conditioners are usually quite noisy though you can find quiet air conditioners.
Portable units are usually used in situations that a window unit won t work.
Portable air conditioner vs.
Since the main body of a portable air conditioner stays inside the room with you it has some inefficiencies when compared to windows units.
A portable air conditioner is an alternative but not.
Portable air conditioners are intended for homes in which window configurations or building regulations prevent installation of window units.
A 12 000 btu portable ac will cool roughly as much as a 6000 btu window ac.
Portable ac units hover around 70 db while window ac units tend to be near 50 db which is one eighth quieter.
Pacs need to vent the heat they remove through a hose and out the window.
While some of the newer and or pricier models remove the condensation through the vent exhaust many still rely on a drip pan which quickly fills up and must be manually emptied.
The window unit uses 6 2 amps and 708 watts in cool.
While portable air conditioners must still be vented to the outside their exhaust hoses are bendable and extend somewhere between five to seven feet meaning the unit can be moved as needed.
Condensation condensation is another issue associated with portable air conditioners.
I found this out the hard way.
Therefore portable ac units afford you the flexibility of cooling various rooms in your home without the hassle of doing lengthy and usually permanent structural installations.
The fact that a window air conditioner uses a compressor that is situated outside the room should in theory make them quieter.
If you can use a window unit do it.
You didn t mention that portable ac units are very inefficient at cooling compared to a window unit.
Thankfully the answer is no.
This is generally more important when considering a portable air conditioner as the ac is inside the room.
For the most part when it comes to portable ac vs window ac the window units win.
That s because window air conditioners are usually much quieter than portable air conditioners.
With window air conditioners you don t have those options.
Air conditioners are heat exchangers.