I live in Florida and have one of these (different model). We can die if we don’t have A/C so it’s important in case the whole-house one malfunctions.
Note that the ones with two pipes going outside is more efficient. This one with a single pipe will take your cool air and send it outside. The two pipe system will take outside air and cool it.
@cengland0 I’m really not convinced by that efficiency argument. The one-pipe is cooling cool air and sending hot air outside. If you’re shooting for 65 degrees, cooling 75 degree air to 65 is more efficient than taking in 110 degree outside air and cooling it to 65. SOMEWHERE, there has to be 110 degree air entering the system (through leaks in your house, etc. in a one pipe system) and so that eventually has to be pulled into the room you’re cooling. I’m not convinced that’s lower efficiency (or higher). The overall system may be more efficient if you’re, say, letting a more efficient central air pre-cool or if parts of your house (say the basement) have enough thermal mass (and so retained “cool”) to pre-cool the air naturally. There is the issue of how well your house is sealed. If it’s really tight then getting the replacement air will decrease the efficiency of the unit - it has to pull harder to get it. In that case, you need to really make sure that all your combustion appliances are direct-vent.
@ergomeh On the systems with the two pipes it just makes it behave more like a typical AC. It’s not taking inside air and pushing it outside, it’s taking outside air in on the hot side, across the very hot condenser coil and back outside. While at the same time on the cold side it brings in the indoor air across the evaporator coil and back into the room.
@ergomeh comfort is both temperature and humidity level.
The one pipe models suck unconditioned humid outside air into the home through leaks in the home.
The two pipe models isolate outside and inside air. They extract heat and humidity from the inside and dump it outside by sucking in outside air on one pipe and pushing that outside air thru the other pipe after running across the hot condenser.
Window A/C units, central air, and minisplits are inherently more efficient at making the house more comfortable because they locate all the hot stuff (heat dumping parts) outside.
A two pipe roller A/C approximates this separate parts thing by isolating the hot parts in an outside air stream. The hot parts are still inside the room but the system doesn’t suck humid air into the home.
@ergomeh Okay so I did misspeak on the operation of the two pipe system.
The two pipe system doesn’t cool the outside air (it actually will heat the outside air even more than it is).
But I stand by my comment about the one pipe system taking your nice cool air from inside the house and pushing it outside after heating it up. The air will get replaced by outside air through doors and other cracks throughout the house. That’s outside air coming inside. @RedOak does state it correctly but doesn’t clearly explain what air goes out in the pipe and that is the cool air inside your house and that is not very efficient.
@sykl0ps exactly correct! In a similar fashion, my heating system takes in outside air for combustion in the gas burner in order that I am not using preheated air in my house in order to burn the Natural Gas. Add you correctly stated, the two pipe system totally segregates the air used for the condensation and evaporation functions. You get the gold star on this one buddy!
@RedOak I have to say that I have both the 2 hose and the 1 hose. I actually believe that they both work the same as far as cooling. I have never used the 2nd hose because all it does it pull humidity outside of the house. Living in a state with high humidity I just don’t see why I need it. The humidity is mostly outside and if you don’t have anyone running in and out the door all day it doesn’t seem to matter. I’m happy with both of them and they are from two different manufacturers.
@hotwheels53 'not following that line of thinking. If you live in a high humidity state then the two hose model should do a much better job of keeping humidity out of the house.
A single hose model, since it only has hot air exhaust to the outside and no outside intake, will suck humid outside air into your home via cracks and leaks in the home. The make up air has to come from somewhere.
The two hose model will bring outside air in, blow it across hot condenser, and exhaust that even more humid air (since it removed humidity from the home) to the outside. The humid outside air is isolated from the inside of the home (other than conduction of heat in the hose back into the house thru the thin, typically uninsulated hose… a good reason to keep the hoses as short as possible on both single & two hose models… that might might even mean collapsing the accordian hose and wrapping tape around it to hold it short… I’ve even heard of folks wrapping their own insulation around the hose(s) to minimize heat conduction.) … How was that for a run on sentence!?
I have this in my garage and I have central AC. I think the best sales per capita will be a cross section of places extra AC is needed and money is available (CA, TX, NY, FL)
FIRST ISSUE REMOTE DID NOT WORK, FINALLY AFTER 2 EMAILS AND A PHONE CALL THEY ARE SHIPPING A REPLACEMENT.
FIRST HOT DAY IN NYC, UNIT DOES NOT GET COLD!!
BE VERY AWARE OF WARRANTY!!! IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CERTIFIED REPAIR LOCATION WITHIN 62 MILES OF YOUR HOME, YOU HAVE TO BRING THE ITEM OR SHIP IT TO THEM!!!
SO I SIT HERE SWEATING , NO A/C, NO REMOTE, NO SERVICE FROM DANBY
AVOID!!
TOOK 3 PHONE CALLS TO GET THRU TO CUSTOMER SERVICE
CALL 1-SAID CALL CANT BE COMPLETED
CALL 2-WRONG NUMBER
CALL 2-FINALLY GOT A HUMAN BEING
@yugrudfooz This seemed feasible till I got to the part at the end where they seem to be saying they called three times (or is that twice?) and got totally different results? I wish they continued this, I feel like it was about to get into some good conspiracy theories next.
Would reading conspiracy theories put you in a good enough mood to ensure that the next time t-shirts are sold that Meh has a color combination I want (if there are color options) in the size I want?
If so, I would GLADLY share a conspiracy theory with you every day.
@yugrudfooz I wonder what type of person really needs a remote for a room air conditioner. I guess the type of person that complains to Amazon about dialing a wrong number?
@dave the “wrong number” part is odd but vague. i have had things like this happen though - a few years ago i had a really ridiculous days long (and then, months long) ordeal with ikea customer service and their delivery company (ux logistics) and was calling several times a day. at the beginning, it was common to get different ‘responses’ out of the same number. “beep boop beep! your call cannot be completed.” “this number is no longer in service.” etc. (then wait on hold for ages where you “might” “accidentally” be disconnected.) i was using the call log on my mobile to redial so it’s not like i could have accidentally misdialed.
i vaguely remember similar things when i would have to call the unemployment line to get my checks ages ago, but i expect that kind of shittyness from any type of government infrastructure here.
I had a portable unit for a while. It was loud as hell, but it worked awesome. I ended up selling it to a guy at work for twice what I bought it for at an estate sale, and got a smaller window unit. Much quieter, cooled almost as good, and my landlord didn’t give me any crap for it.
Is anybody else able to buy this? I’m just getting a “Want another?” button at the top of the form with nothing above it. If I click "the “Just buy it” button, I get this error:
OOPS, SORRY. WE’RE UNABLE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER BECAUSE WE’RE NOT SURE WHICH ITEMS YOU’RE TRYING TO BUY.
Meh, you’re never going to make those Washington State sales if you don’t make these available for your customers in Seattle (who have exactly the problem you described).
We have a similar one in illannoy. Like cengland0 we have it for the times when the central A/C goes down, but also for power outages where a not too large generator can run the portable and keep at least the bedroom cool and comfy.
I have used it in the garage to cool off my work area in the summer but its just to blow cool air at me and the workbench (spot cooler); I tried multiple ways to get the HOA to allow me to put a vent to outside air in the garage that I could hook the A/C exhaust pipe to and they refused all of them, so no overall garage cooling.
tried multiple ways to get the HOA to allow me to put a vent to outside air in the garage that I could hook the A/C exhaust pipe to and they refused all of them…
you asked permission?
your HOA is that anal? That they’d go around checking for little vents on garages? Paint it the same color as the siding and plant a bush in front of it.
@djslack@redoak Two story townhouse, garage on the ground floor is fully covered by second story rooms. The back wall is against kitchen/bathroom/living room walls. One side matches the neighbors garage side wall, the other side matches our front door/hallway. The only place to put a vent (other than through the door) is about 12" wide fake brick covered exterior wall on either side of the door. No place for a shrubbery to cover it; its asphalt all the way. Thats right in the front of the unit and very visible. Or about 10" of fake brick covered wall above the garage door, again very visible. No soffets, no way to get to the roof or second story soffets (and in any case that would be too much pipe length for the exhaust).
The only way to vent anywhere without it being obvious would be to inside the house, which would be a bad idea for many reasons.
@duodec look closely at HOA rules for a loophole. Do they require garage door be closed at all times?
Could you fashion a narrow temporary strip of fuller just hole enough - perhaps only 1-2 inches high, to hook the hose to that strip and vent thru it? On the inside there could be a box that runs 1-2 feet wide and tall enough to connect the vent hose. Exterior venting would take some thinking but could be simply drilled holes across that 1-2 foot box.
Since the vent strip would only be in place when you wanted to work in the garage, it might be possible to get away with it.
If course the other option would be to search that back wall for supply and cold air returns and punch vents into it to use your central air to cool the garage. Would need high quality vents to close off when you didn’t need it.
@duodec My HOA doesn’t allow window air conditioner units but I do use this one with the pipe without asking permission. Nobody has ever said anything. It’s just a pipe and it does not stick out of the window – it’s flush with it. I also don’t leave it hooked up all the time and use it only during emergencies.
@cengland0 We got dinged for using a window A/C the week we moved in; the central air was nonfunctional for several days in July. Didn’t care, needed a cool room to sleep. The A/C was in a guest bedroom (due to window type) where we dragged our mattress into for those days. It did ok for a small unit that used to cool an apartment bedroom.
We’ve used the hose type portable several times the last few years but in a second floor bedroom; its not really visible from the ground, but I’m pretty sure there’s no issue with the HOA. They just don’t want the boxes hanging out the windows.
None of that helps cool the garage. No windows. Just walls, and the garage door with about 1 foot of wall above and to either side of it, and only the front wall / garage door faces outside; the other three walls and ceiling are all encompassed by other rooms or the neighbor’s garage. Believe that I have tried to work around this.
We have tried to run it with the garage door cracked, the hose fed into an old round to rectangle piece of ductwork to fit under the door when open about 2.5 inches. The A/C works but even with a couple pool noodles blocking the rest of the door bottom gap, once the door is up at all, there’s giant air leaks all around it. On a hot day the portable cannot keep up with all the leakage so it remains a ‘spot cooler’, not a garage cooler.
@duodec I had went to my daughters Dr.s office and the way they had theirs set up was very interesting. They had it sitting in the middle of the floor and had a small clear tube running from the unit into a bucket half filled with water. It seemed to be working very well that way. I don’t know where they got the information to set it up that way but you might look into it or call the manufacturer they might be able to help. That would solve your problem and the so called people on the board wouldn’t have nothing to say about it. Hope this helps you. Let me know what you find out. If I get to chance to go back by there I will let you know. Either way good luck with it.
@hotwheels53 Are you sure that was an A/C and not a dehumidifier dumping condensate into the bucket?
I know they (used to) make portables that would hook up to a garden hose or sink faucet. You turn on the cold water and it is circulated over the condenser instead of air. Then its drained back into the sink or the yard or whatever. Its not evaporative cooling; still air conditioning, just using water on the hot side. They ‘became unfavorable’ despite their higher efficiency (water carries heat off better than air) because it ‘wasted water’. Personally I think it was water well spent (especially if its then used to water the verge).
I would buy one but they are all higher end commercial units any more and too pricy (thousands). If I had one of those all I’d need to do is drain it out under the garage door into the yard and I’d have a cooled garage. I keep an eye on Craiglist but have not seen one show up yet.
@duodec yes I am sure because it was the identical to the one I use in the front part of my house. I remember those that used water to cool my grandmother had one of the first ones built back in the day. You know like the wringer washer that clothes had to be put through in order to wring them, it didn’t work to well for arms though.. Back to the AC the small hose that was attached to the back looked like it may have been there to drain off the condensation that builds up in the portable ones because they do have to be drained every so often. Hope that helps somewhat. Good luck and believe me I know about those housing associations that’s why I moved to the country.
Manual but with no mention of power consumption or efficiency.
But this is helpful, if you have the unit to look at… Information pertaining to watts and amps can be found on the rating plate located on the back of the unit.
@Superllama7 from CR: "Portable air conditioners are intended for homes in which window configurations or building regulations prevent installation of window units. The portable air conditioners in our tests range from 5,000 to 15,500 Btu. But don’t compare portable and window air conditioners by that measurement alone.
“Our latest air conditioner tests found that portables aren’t as good at cooling as manufacturers claim. Plus, they’re pricey and use more energy than similarly sized window units. They tend to be noisier than window-mounted units. And while technically “portable,” their 50- to 80-pound weight can make them cumbersome and ungainly to roll across carpets or thresholds.”
They didn’t rate any Danby portables, but the best in the ratings are 50-55/100, costing $450-600
@Superllama7 For me it was a matter of security. I got my portable for the living room on those days during the summer when the evaporative cooler just can’t do the job. My living room windows are all huge, ground floor and visible from the street. For a window ac I’d have to have the window far enough open to pose a security risk all the time. With the portable the window only has to be open a few inches and I can put a rod in the channel to keep it from being opened. It takes about a minute to pull the vent out of the window and close and lock it. Also, if needed, the unit can be rolled to the bedroom at night. Lastly, for a window unit you have to remove the screen. I watched a scorpion crawl out of the vent in the second floor window unit I used to have in the bedroom. The portable unit mounts flush with the window and blows out through the screen. It’s far from perfect, it’s as loud as a jet engine and does only a modest job of cooling a large room. But it blows cold air at me, which is wonderful when it’s 90 in here. It’s 11 at night and 84.7 inside and out right now. I use the ac when it gets to 86. Haven’t turned on the main evaporative cooler yet.
@Blahbbs I think there are too many variables to say what the average power consumption would be… Maximum is certainly in the 1100-1300 range, but only during the cooling cycle
@Blahbbs I can tell you one thing about power consumption, I cannot turn on the A/C and the laser printer at the same time without blowing a circuit breaker.
My fellow North Dakotans might just troll you. I was at a local regional big box store, and a couple was wheeling a 12K BTU unit up to the register. It was hot out, apparently, at 72°. Having migrated up last year from the center of Georgia, and their high last year of 93° one summer day, I couldn’t stop snickering!
Sorry, Meh, this time I will pass. As you’ve noticed, it doesn’t get hot enough here to warrant a crazy expensive AC unit.
@mythereal sounds like my kind of people. anything over 60 at night and i have trouble sleeping, and that’s pushing it. (but i suppose this is also humidity-relative.) once summer hits in boston i basically go into hibernation. (was not impressed with the second earliest heat wave on record last week with temps nearly 100 degrees a few days in a row.)
I live in heat hell, TX, I have 2 portable air conditioners and I love them. I built and designed my own home which is very expensive so haven’t been able to get my inside unit yet. Got everything else just not the unit. Anyways I have never heard of the type that is selling on Meh. The two I bought over 5 -8 yrs ago and are still working great. People would come over and ask, what is that, and they had never seen them before. Still to this day I keep getting asked the same question and it’s kinda strange but they are not widely publicized. They go in and out the windows so easy. I usually just leave them in unless we have to really cold winter like back in the 1980’s. I would say most of all look into everything you can about them the pros and cons. I love the price on the one that’s selling here but going to check everything out and if I like you can bet I will be buying it. Stay cool and chill as much as you can. Peace out.
@Oneroundrobb My thoughts as well; I’m bracing for the “OMG, it’s so hot” avalanche on social media. When I moved here, I was shocked how few nice places had central air. I work from home, so it’s a requirement.
I used to work for an international company with a couple data centers in the US.
With the advent of more and higher density rack mounted servers crammed into the same space, one of the data center cooling systems was having trouble keeping up.
So they bought some roller A/C units to help cool the sever room… that didn’t help so they brought in some more…
But the room actually got hotter, not cooler!?!
… You guessed it - those clowns had no windows so they didn’t hook up the heat-output pipes! They were heating up the room rather than cooling it.
@cranky1950 no MBA in marketing would suffer the boredom (from their perspective) of managing a data center.
But I recall the facilities guys claiming the IT folks came up with the “solution” since they were desperate to keep the servers from shutting down… and that the facilities folks pointed out the folly when it didn’t work. (I originally learned of it from the real estate team.)
@RedOak this was the first thing i read in the email, which made me certain meh wasn’t selling rolling a/c units and i was curious to know what this story had to do with whatever they were selling.
@mehod yep - temporary and you gotta keep it in ice. I think those blocks of ice are something like 7 bucks each around us.
And if you’re paying to freeze your own ice that’s another issue since guess where your frig/freezer dumps the heat it extracts from that water to make the ice? #StandInFrontOfYourOpenFreezer
Might be helpful in hot dry climates like swamp coolers are… but wouldn’t do much to remove comfort-hating humidity in hot humid conditions.
@RiotDemon true if you are starting from scratch each time, but since melted ice water won’t be used for drinking, dump it out of the cooler back into a pan & refreeze. or as mentioned later in clip, use frozen gallon jugs of water, freeze them, use, when ice melts, set jugs back in freezer. & while not mentioned, “blue ice” may work or combination of.
forgot to mention earlier, whatever you do, "DON’T USE DRY ICE"
@Velocitychicken you don’t buy a roller A/C unit for efficiency. You buy it for convenience or for when a window A/C unit would be too ugly or non-compliant with the HOA rules.
That’s not “three things I would want individually that are conveniently packaged as one unit”. I wouldn’t buy a random-ass remote with no idea what it controlled.
This is a 2-in-1 air conditioner and dehumidifier unit which comes with a remote control.
My contribution to your Monday morning commute is a picture of my dinner tonight. Xiao long bao from Din Tai Fung (original location). Simply the best soup dumplings on Earth.
“All of that said, we wouldn’t put it past those North Dakotan trolls to buy a bunch just to prove us wrong.”
Believe it or not, we North Dakota trolls are highly educated (more often than not) and we prefer central air conditioners. We build our housing and businesses with the idea that it gets hot, and that it gets cold, and much like the Boy Scouts, we are “Always Prepared”.
Like President Teddy Roosevelt once said of North Dakota: “…its toughness and hardy endurance fitted it to contend with purely natural forces…to resist cold and wintry blasts or the heat of the thirsty summer, to wander away to new pastures, to plunge over the broken ground, and to plow its way through snow drifts or quagmires.”
used to have one of these types of a/cs in a previous apartment. essentially lived in my bedroom, where there were bars on the windows so no window a/cs possible. boston so it’s hot AF in summer and - maybe the larger factor - humid.
did it cool the room? yes. well? ehhh… portable? not really since getting the exhuast tube to stay in place was a major pain and moreover, this thing leaked water so much that my then-boyfriend had to rig up this setup involving a cookie sheet and a large bucket which the thing sat upon 24/7 so it wouldn’t ruin the floors and flood everything.
it was such a cool idea in theory - window units are a pain and the ones i’ve been able to afford over the years are loud and not even that great, not to mention that they obviously take up a window, and you’re more limited to where you can put them. but in practice they just fail miserably.
…i do have a danby microwave i got a few years back that i love though!
@phendrick i mean, i’m sure they’re both kicking around somewhere, but my relationship with each ended pretty much simultaneously when i left that apartment over a decade ago. (i must have mis-worded something in my comment to give you a different idea. funny, though!)
Here’s the link from the Danby site to download the User’s Guide/Care manual for this PA/C.
Most significant thing I noted from the manual was that several functions are accomplished only with the remote control – so don’t lose it. [Moving the air flow louver direction; setting the C/F temp display choice.]
Well I’m the 1st sucker in North Carolina to buy one of these (legible-foolish-chocolate) a year ago I upgraded it had all my vents put in the ceiling (new air handler) for about 3 grand out the door. My dad gave me an older unit(1 and a half ton) that he got somewhere, (new old stock) it uses the old-style Freon so I guess I’m okay with the 3K investment and if the heat pump/condenser unit outside goes bad. I can just upgrade and put a unit in the takes the new type Freon because the air handler can take both types of Freon in it. This will come in handy when I finish closing in the carport/ garage or if my current system goes on the fritz. It’s pretty hot and muggy all summer long here in Eastern North Carolina.
Just got back from Costco where they were selling a Danby cube fridge real cheap.
If you’re clever with duct tape and have the right sized window it seems that cube fridge could be fashioned into a downright sweet trailer park window A/C unit!
Hang the back end out the window so the parts that get hot are outside. Seal with copious amounts of duct tape. Then plug it in and open its door.
You could regulate the cold by opening or closing the door different amounts.
Add one or two of those cute little USB fans sold by Meh and you have circulation!
Bonus: who can boast they store beer in their A/C unit?
I don’t see an energy efficiency rating (eer or seer), so I’m assuming its not good. I happened to research these things lately, and would recommend this eer 11.2 whynter unit of you plan to use it often. the energy efficiency should cover the price difference quickly (60$ for a vmp with prime)
This showed up today in the worst possible shape imaginable. Parts were falling out of the box as the UPS man struggled to get it out if his truck.
I was apprehensive given the condition. Got it unpacked and installed, no major damage or missing pieces. Fired it up and it blows cold air like a champ.
At least for the time being, very satisfied. We’ll see how it holds up as the temperatures rise and it ages.
Got his hooked up in my small NYC apartment and it’s about the same as not having an air conditioner.
It has cold air coming out where it should, and the exhaust tube feels pretty hot to the touch… so it’s technically working.
But after hours of continuous use the room is not cool. In fact it’s still hot. 12000 BTUs should make this space freezing cold.
Oh well, I guess this is how we learn. Tomorrow I’m off to buy a real air conditioner.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
1x Air Conditioner
1x Exhaust hose
1x Remote
Pictures
AC
Front
Remote
Thing
???
Price Comparison
$345.99 at Amazon
Warranty
1 Year Danby
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Friday, July 17th
I live in Florida and have one of these (different model). We can die if we don’t have A/C so it’s important in case the whole-house one malfunctions.
Note that the ones with two pipes going outside is more efficient. This one with a single pipe will take your cool air and send it outside. The two pipe system will take outside air and cool it.
@cengland0 I’m really not convinced by that efficiency argument. The one-pipe is cooling cool air and sending hot air outside. If you’re shooting for 65 degrees, cooling 75 degree air to 65 is more efficient than taking in 110 degree outside air and cooling it to 65. SOMEWHERE, there has to be 110 degree air entering the system (through leaks in your house, etc. in a one pipe system) and so that eventually has to be pulled into the room you’re cooling. I’m not convinced that’s lower efficiency (or higher). The overall system may be more efficient if you’re, say, letting a more efficient central air pre-cool or if parts of your house (say the basement) have enough thermal mass (and so retained “cool”) to pre-cool the air naturally. There is the issue of how well your house is sealed. If it’s really tight then getting the replacement air will decrease the efficiency of the unit - it has to pull harder to get it. In that case, you need to really make sure that all your combustion appliances are direct-vent.
@ergomeh On the systems with the two pipes it just makes it behave more like a typical AC. It’s not taking inside air and pushing it outside, it’s taking outside air in on the hot side, across the very hot condenser coil and back outside. While at the same time on the cold side it brings in the indoor air across the evaporator coil and back into the room.
@ergomeh comfort is both temperature and humidity level.
The one pipe models suck unconditioned humid outside air into the home through leaks in the home.
The two pipe models isolate outside and inside air. They extract heat and humidity from the inside and dump it outside by sucking in outside air on one pipe and pushing that outside air thru the other pipe after running across the hot condenser.
Window A/C units, central air, and minisplits are inherently more efficient at making the house more comfortable because they locate all the hot stuff (heat dumping parts) outside.
A two pipe roller A/C approximates this separate parts thing by isolating the hot parts in an outside air stream. The hot parts are still inside the room but the system doesn’t suck humid air into the home.
@sykl0ps hah! Beat me to the post by a couple minutes!
I found a nice video that explains this with a good illustration here: http://www.sylvane.com/portable-ac-faq.html?wvideo=xyfb2k7p06
it’s the 2nd video on the page, about venting the portable AC systems.
@ergomeh Okay so I did misspeak on the operation of the two pipe system.
The two pipe system doesn’t cool the outside air (it actually will heat the outside air even more than it is).
But I stand by my comment about the one pipe system taking your nice cool air from inside the house and pushing it outside after heating it up. The air will get replaced by outside air through doors and other cracks throughout the house. That’s outside air coming inside. @RedOak does state it correctly but doesn’t clearly explain what air goes out in the pipe and that is the cool air inside your house and that is not very efficient.
@sykl0ps exactly correct! In a similar fashion, my heating system takes in outside air for combustion in the gas burner in order that I am not using preheated air in my house in order to burn the Natural Gas. Add you correctly stated, the two pipe system totally segregates the air used for the condensation and evaporation functions. You get the gold star on this one buddy!
@doubltap But on the other hand any airconditioning is better than no airconitioning.
@sykl0ps Thanks for the link. There is some great information there in that and some of their other videos.
@cranky1950 that’s right - especially if the alternative is dieing!
@RedOak I have to say that I have both the 2 hose and the 1 hose. I actually believe that they both work the same as far as cooling. I have never used the 2nd hose because all it does it pull humidity outside of the house. Living in a state with high humidity I just don’t see why I need it. The humidity is mostly outside and if you don’t have anyone running in and out the door all day it doesn’t seem to matter. I’m happy with both of them and they are from two different manufacturers.
@hotwheels53 'not following that line of thinking. If you live in a high humidity state then the two hose model should do a much better job of keeping humidity out of the house.
A single hose model, since it only has hot air exhaust to the outside and no outside intake, will suck humid outside air into your home via cracks and leaks in the home. The make up air has to come from somewhere.
The two hose model will bring outside air in, blow it across hot condenser, and exhaust that even more humid air (since it removed humidity from the home) to the outside. The humid outside air is isolated from the inside of the home (other than conduction of heat in the hose back into the house thru the thin, typically uninsulated hose… a good reason to keep the hoses as short as possible on both single & two hose models… that might might even mean collapsing the accordian hose and wrapping tape around it to hold it short… I’ve even heard of folks wrapping their own insulation around the hose(s) to minimize heat conduction.) … How was that for a run on sentence!?
I’m gonna look down. Don’t tell me what to do Meh.
Lukewarm reviews on amazon.
I have this in my garage and I have central AC. I think the best sales per capita will be a cross section of places extra AC is needed and money is available (CA, TX, NY, FL)
FIRST ISSUE REMOTE DID NOT WORK, FINALLY AFTER 2 EMAILS AND A PHONE CALL THEY ARE SHIPPING A REPLACEMENT.
FIRST HOT DAY IN NYC, UNIT DOES NOT GET COLD!!
BE VERY AWARE OF WARRANTY!!! IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CERTIFIED REPAIR LOCATION WITHIN 62 MILES OF YOUR HOME, YOU HAVE TO BRING THE ITEM OR SHIP IT TO THEM!!!
SO I SIT HERE SWEATING , NO A/C, NO REMOTE, NO SERVICE FROM DANBY
AVOID!!
TOOK 3 PHONE CALLS TO GET THRU TO CUSTOMER SERVICE
CALL 1-SAID CALL CANT BE COMPLETED
CALL 2-WRONG NUMBER
CALL 2-FINALLY GOT A HUMAN BEING
wow what a angry review
@yugrudfooz WHO STOLE MY COT DAMMED CAPS LOCK KEY? MEHTHER FOCKER!
@dave DAVE? Dave’s not here!
@Craven_A
How about @shawn?
@yugrudfooz This seemed feasible till I got to the part at the end where they seem to be saying they called three times (or is that twice?) and got totally different results? I wish they continued this, I feel like it was about to get into some good conspiracy theories next.
(Oops, accidentally deleted my post earlier.)
@dave
Would reading conspiracy theories put you in a good enough mood to ensure that the next time t-shirts are sold that Meh has a color combination I want (if there are color options) in the size I want?
If so, I would GLADLY share a conspiracy theory with you every day.
@dave A recreation of them dialing
@SkippyKJ The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.
@yugrudfooz I wonder what type of person really needs a remote for a room air conditioner. I guess the type of person that complains to Amazon about dialing a wrong number?
@dave the “wrong number” part is odd but vague. i have had things like this happen though - a few years ago i had a really ridiculous days long (and then, months long) ordeal with ikea customer service and their delivery company (ux logistics) and was calling several times a day. at the beginning, it was common to get different ‘responses’ out of the same number. “beep boop beep! your call cannot be completed.” “this number is no longer in service.” etc. (then wait on hold for ages where you “might” “accidentally” be disconnected.) i was using the call log on my mobile to redial so it’s not like i could have accidentally misdialed.
i vaguely remember similar things when i would have to call the unemployment line to get my checks ages ago, but i expect that kind of shittyness from any type of government infrastructure here.
@sammydog01 a disabled person, perhaps.
@dave Do you know the definition of insanity? Albert does well.
@jerk_nugget their main phone number directs you to a local office based on a bunch of diffrent things, so this is totally possible.
Not such a hot deal. Cool, Meh. Living up to the name.
I had a portable unit for a while. It was loud as hell, but it worked awesome. I ended up selling it to a guy at work for twice what I bought it for at an estate sale, and got a smaller window unit. Much quieter, cooled almost as good, and my landlord didn’t give me any crap for it.
@fuzzmanmatt Typically what kind of crap can be expected from landlords?
Is anybody else able to buy this? I’m just getting a “Want another?” button at the top of the form with nothing above it. If I click "the “Just buy it” button, I get this error:
Meh, you’re never going to make those Washington State sales if you don’t make these available for your customers in Seattle (who have exactly the problem you described).
Warnings in console:
@stuartpb Sorry about that, it should work in a couple minutes here.
@dave great to hear, Dave. I need one as well. Have to NY represent.
@dave Thanks - just ordered it.
/giphy cheap-quality-leech
@dave Will there be an OHSHIT report for this?
Cool deal
We have a similar one in illannoy. Like cengland0 we have it for the times when the central A/C goes down, but also for power outages where a not too large generator can run the portable and keep at least the bedroom cool and comfy.
I have used it in the garage to cool off my work area in the summer but its just to blow cool air at me and the workbench (spot cooler); I tried multiple ways to get the HOA to allow me to put a vent to outside air in the garage that I could hook the A/C exhaust pipe to and they refused all of them, so no overall garage cooling.
@duodec what?
@duodec mount a soffit vent without asking anyone at your HOA. No one will see it and be the wiser.
@djslack @redoak Two story townhouse, garage on the ground floor is fully covered by second story rooms. The back wall is against kitchen/bathroom/living room walls. One side matches the neighbors garage side wall, the other side matches our front door/hallway. The only place to put a vent (other than through the door) is about 12" wide fake brick covered exterior wall on either side of the door. No place for a shrubbery to cover it; its asphalt all the way. Thats right in the front of the unit and very visible. Or about 10" of fake brick covered wall above the garage door, again very visible. No soffets, no way to get to the roof or second story soffets (and in any case that would be too much pipe length for the exhaust).
The only way to vent anywhere without it being obvious would be to inside the house, which would be a bad idea for many reasons.
Yes, they are that anal.
@duodec look closely at HOA rules for a loophole. Do they require garage door be closed at all times?
Could you fashion a narrow temporary strip of fuller just hole enough - perhaps only 1-2 inches high, to hook the hose to that strip and vent thru it? On the inside there could be a box that runs 1-2 feet wide and tall enough to connect the vent hose. Exterior venting would take some thinking but could be simply drilled holes across that 1-2 foot box.
Since the vent strip would only be in place when you wanted to work in the garage, it might be possible to get away with it.
If course the other option would be to search that back wall for supply and cold air returns and punch vents into it to use your central air to cool the garage. Would need high quality vents to close off when you didn’t need it.
@duodec My HOA doesn’t allow window air conditioner units but I do use this one with the pipe without asking permission. Nobody has ever said anything. It’s just a pipe and it does not stick out of the window – it’s flush with it. I also don’t leave it hooked up all the time and use it only during emergencies.
@djslack Now there’s a good idea! Good Noodle Star for you!
@cengland0 We got dinged for using a window A/C the week we moved in; the central air was nonfunctional for several days in July. Didn’t care, needed a cool room to sleep. The A/C was in a guest bedroom (due to window type) where we dragged our mattress into for those days. It did ok for a small unit that used to cool an apartment bedroom.
We’ve used the hose type portable several times the last few years but in a second floor bedroom; its not really visible from the ground, but I’m pretty sure there’s no issue with the HOA. They just don’t want the boxes hanging out the windows.
None of that helps cool the garage. No windows. Just walls, and the garage door with about 1 foot of wall above and to either side of it, and only the front wall / garage door faces outside; the other three walls and ceiling are all encompassed by other rooms or the neighbor’s garage. Believe that I have tried to work around this.
We have tried to run it with the garage door cracked, the hose fed into an old round to rectangle piece of ductwork to fit under the door when open about 2.5 inches. The A/C works but even with a couple pool noodles blocking the rest of the door bottom gap, once the door is up at all, there’s giant air leaks all around it. On a hot day the portable cannot keep up with all the leakage so it remains a ‘spot cooler’, not a garage cooler.
@duodec I had went to my daughters Dr.s office and the way they had theirs set up was very interesting. They had it sitting in the middle of the floor and had a small clear tube running from the unit into a bucket half filled with water. It seemed to be working very well that way. I don’t know where they got the information to set it up that way but you might look into it or call the manufacturer they might be able to help. That would solve your problem and the so called people on the board wouldn’t have nothing to say about it. Hope this helps you. Let me know what you find out. If I get to chance to go back by there I will let you know. Either way good luck with it.
@hotwheels53 Are you sure that was an A/C and not a dehumidifier dumping condensate into the bucket?
I know they (used to) make portables that would hook up to a garden hose or sink faucet. You turn on the cold water and it is circulated over the condenser instead of air. Then its drained back into the sink or the yard or whatever. Its not evaporative cooling; still air conditioning, just using water on the hot side. They ‘became unfavorable’ despite their higher efficiency (water carries heat off better than air) because it ‘wasted water’. Personally I think it was water well spent (especially if its then used to water the verge).
I would buy one but they are all higher end commercial units any more and too pricy (thousands). If I had one of those all I’d need to do is drain it out under the garage door into the yard and I’d have a cooled garage. I keep an eye on Craiglist but have not seen one show up yet.
@duodec yes I am sure because it was the identical to the one I use in the front part of my house. I remember those that used water to cool my grandmother had one of the first ones built back in the day. You know like the wringer washer that clothes had to be put through in order to wring them, it didn’t work to well for arms though.
. Back to the AC the small hose that was attached to the back looked like it may have been there to drain off the condensation that builds up in the portable ones because they do have to be drained every so often. Hope that helps somewhat. Good luck and believe me I know about those housing associations that’s why I moved to the country.
Awww c’mon, credit where credit’s due…
https://xkcd.com/1138/
@corpse For real. Not linking and hotlinking the image? For shame, meh.
@corpse [edit] self-hosted, with credit & a link now
@dave Shame withdrawn, but this Seattleite via St. Louis still ain’t buyin’
@mz i thought xkcd allowed hot-linking.
Manual but with no mention of power consumption or efficiency.
But this is helpful, if you have the unit to look at…
Information pertaining to watts and amps can be found on the rating plate located on the back of the unit.
@rjquillin 1160W 8.8A or so it would appear from here: https://www.sylvane.com/danby-dpa120e1-portable-air-conditioners.html
@ergomeh well done sir!
Consumer Reports says portable air conditioners are only useful as a last resort (paraphrasing).
However, I’m North Dakota Adjacent and logged a high of (supposedly) 50 today, so I’m sorely tempted…
@Superllama7 from CR: "Portable air conditioners are intended for homes in which window configurations or building regulations prevent installation of window units. The portable air conditioners in our tests range from 5,000 to 15,500 Btu. But don’t compare portable and window air conditioners by that measurement alone.
“Our latest air conditioner tests found that portables aren’t as good at cooling as manufacturers claim. Plus, they’re pricey and use more energy than similarly sized window units. They tend to be noisier than window-mounted units. And while technically “portable,” their 50- to 80-pound weight can make them cumbersome and ungainly to roll across carpets or thresholds.”
They didn’t rate any Danby portables, but the best in the ratings are 50-55/100, costing $450-600
@Superllama7 For me it was a matter of security. I got my portable for the living room on those days during the summer when the evaporative cooler just can’t do the job. My living room windows are all huge, ground floor and visible from the street. For a window ac I’d have to have the window far enough open to pose a security risk all the time. With the portable the window only has to be open a few inches and I can put a rod in the channel to keep it from being opened. It takes about a minute to pull the vent out of the window and close and lock it. Also, if needed, the unit can be rolled to the bedroom at night. Lastly, for a window unit you have to remove the screen. I watched a scorpion crawl out of the vent in the second floor window unit I used to have in the bedroom. The portable unit mounts flush with the window and blows out through the screen. It’s far from perfect, it’s as loud as a jet engine and does only a modest job of cooling a large room. But it blows cold air at me, which is wonderful when it’s 90 in here. It’s 11 at night and 84.7 inside and out right now. I use the ac when it gets to 86. Haven’t turned on the main evaporative cooler yet.
Anyone have one of these plugged into a Kill-A-Watt? I’m curious how many watts these things use.
@Blahbbs I think there are too many variables to say what the average power consumption would be… Maximum is certainly in the 1100-1300 range, but only during the cooling cycle
@Blahbbs I can tell you one thing about power consumption, I cannot turn on the A/C and the laser printer at the same time without blowing a circuit breaker.
My fellow North Dakotans might just troll you. I was at a local regional big box store, and a couple was wheeling a 12K BTU unit up to the register. It was hot out, apparently, at 72°. Having migrated up last year from the center of Georgia, and their high last year of 93° one summer day, I couldn’t stop snickering!
Sorry, Meh, this time I will pass. As you’ve noticed, it doesn’t get hot enough here to warrant a crazy expensive AC unit.
@mythereal 93°? Heck, we’ve already had a 92° degree day this year in upstate NY.
@mythereal sounds like my kind of people. anything over 60 at night and i have trouble sleeping, and that’s pushing it. (but i suppose this is also humidity-relative.) once summer hits in boston i basically go into hibernation. (was not impressed with the second earliest heat wave on record last week with temps nearly 100 degrees a few days in a row.)
Cool, but already have a similar unit in my home office. (best birthday present ever! I like data centers for a reason.)
I live in heat hell, TX, I have 2 portable air conditioners and I love them. I built and designed my own home which is very expensive so haven’t been able to get my inside unit yet. Got everything else just not the unit. Anyways I have never heard of the type that is selling on Meh. The two I bought over 5 -8 yrs ago and are still working great. People would come over and ask, what is that, and they had never seen them before. Still to this day I keep getting asked the same question and it’s kinda strange but they are not widely publicized. They go in and out the windows so easy. I usually just leave them in unless we have to really cold winter like back in the 1980’s. I would say most of all look into everything you can about them the pros and cons. I love the price on the one that’s selling here but going to check everything out and if I like you can bet I will be buying it. Stay cool
and chill as much as you can. Peace out.
Washington is a good bet, but it’s supposed to be 90° in Portland. And for $2k/month you’d think those brand new studio apartments would have ac, but…
Also. Meh.
@Oneroundrobb My thoughts as well; I’m bracing for the “OMG, it’s so hot” avalanche on social media. When I moved here, I was shocked how few nice places had central air. I work from home, so it’s a requirement.
I 'm not warming to this deal tonight … sorry Team Meh !!
i need another dehumidifier, not an A/C unit. is this the deal i am looking for?
@Yoda_Daenerys mechanically, they’re pretty much the same thing except dehumidifiers make no path to dump the hot air from their compressors outside.
In fact, some rollers are advertised as both A/C and dehumidifier.
If all you want is dehumidification and the heat they create is not a problem then getting a dedicated dehumidifier is going to be less expensive.
True story about roller A/C units…
I used to work for an international company with a couple data centers in the US.
With the advent of more and higher density rack mounted servers crammed into the same space, one of the data center cooling systems was having trouble keeping up.
So they bought some roller A/C units to help cool the sever room… that didn’t help so they brought in some more…
But the room actually got hotter, not cooler!?!
… You guessed it - those clowns had no windows so they didn’t hook up the heat-output pipes! They were heating up the room rather than cooling it.
/giphy clowns
@RedOak Did the IT manger have an MBA in marketing?
@cranky1950 no MBA in marketing would suffer the boredom (from their perspective) of managing a data center.
But I recall the facilities guys claiming the IT folks came up with the “solution” since they were desperate to keep the servers from shutting down… and that the facilities folks pointed out the folly when it didn’t work. (I originally learned of it from the real estate team.)
@RedOak this was the first thing i read in the email, which made me certain meh wasn’t selling rolling a/c units and i was curious to know what this story had to do with whatever they were selling.
gg meh, gg.
@jerk_nugget hah! So it was a Meh double fake.
I would have bought the hell out of these 2 or 1 year ago. but no longer need
also that photo of using it with a slide door would look uber classy in any dwelling
for $40ish
for $20ish
solar panel optional & if you have a cig connector take it on the road
@mehod ice melts though. This might be a good temporary solution, but in the long run, ice would get expensive.
@mehod yep - temporary and you gotta keep it in ice. I think those blocks of ice are something like 7 bucks each around us.
And if you’re paying to freeze your own ice that’s another issue since guess where your frig/freezer dumps the heat it extracts from that water to make the ice? #StandInFrontOfYourOpenFreezer
Might be helpful in hot dry climates like swamp coolers are… but wouldn’t do much to remove comfort-hating humidity in hot humid conditions.
@RiotDemon true if you are starting from scratch each time, but since melted ice water won’t be used for drinking, dump it out of the cooler back into a pan & refreeze. or as mentioned later in clip, use frozen gallon jugs of water, freeze them, use, when ice melts, set jugs back in freezer. & while not mentioned, “blue ice” may work or combination of.
forgot to mention earlier, whatever you do, "DON’T USE DRY ICE"
@Velocitychicken you don’t buy a roller A/C unit for efficiency. You buy it for convenience or for when a window A/C unit would be too ugly or non-compliant with the HOA rules.
I don’t think the EPA even certifies them.
@RedOak
Thats probably why they still work reasonably ok.
@duodec I mispoke - it is the similarly burdensome and useless agency, DOE, that grants “ENERGY STAR” ratings.
I only need the dehumidifier. Has Meh ever sold one?
3-in-1:
That’s not “three things I would want individually that are conveniently packaged as one unit”. I wouldn’t buy a random-ass remote with no idea what it controlled.
This is a 2-in-1 air conditioner and dehumidifier unit which comes with a remote control.
@kungfuqua 3-in-1 refers to Air Conditioner, Fan and Dehumidifier
My contribution to your Monday morning commute is a picture of my dinner tonight. Xiao long bao from Din Tai Fung (original location). Simply the best soup dumplings on Earth.
@huja Din Tai Yum!
Washington definitely putting in a good show, but you didn’t count on those Vermont trolls.
Well played, Vermont.
@themutilator Looks like the Brattleboro, VT area is the per-capita leader. And the current forecast doesn’t show a temperature over 70 all week. They must be crazy like foxes up there. https://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:05301.1.99999
Love the XKCD picture. ‘Consumers of Furry Pornography’. Yay, we’re mainstream!
North Dakota has both extremes. It can get up to 100 in the summer very easily and -30 in the winter.
@boinks but they’ve got cows.
“All of that said, we wouldn’t put it past those North Dakotan trolls to buy a bunch just to prove us wrong.”
Believe it or not, we North Dakota trolls are highly educated (more often than not) and we prefer central air conditioners. We build our housing and businesses with the idea that it gets hot, and that it gets cold, and much like the Boy Scouts, we are “Always Prepared”.
Like President Teddy Roosevelt once said of North Dakota: “…its toughness and hardy endurance fitted it to contend with purely natural forces…to resist cold and wintry blasts or the heat of the thirsty summer, to wander away to new pastures, to plunge over the broken ground, and to plow its way through snow drifts or quagmires.”
used to have one of these types of a/cs in a previous apartment. essentially lived in my bedroom, where there were bars on the windows so no window a/cs possible. boston so it’s hot AF in summer and - maybe the larger factor - humid.
did it cool the room? yes. well? ehhh… portable? not really since getting the exhuast tube to stay in place was a major pain and moreover, this thing leaked water so much that my then-boyfriend had to rig up this setup involving a cookie sheet and a large bucket which the thing sat upon 24/7 so it wouldn’t ruin the floors and flood everything.
it was such a cool idea in theory - window units are a pain and the ones i’ve been able to afford over the years are loud and not even that great, not to mention that they obviously take up a window, and you’re more limited to where you can put them. but in practice they just fail miserably.
…i do have a danby microwave i got a few years back that i love though!
@jerk_nugget Nice to know the PA/C outlasted the “then-boyfriend”. That’s engineering.
@phendrick i mean, i’m sure they’re both kicking around somewhere, but my relationship with each ended pretty much simultaneously when i left that apartment over a decade ago. (i must have mis-worded something in my comment to give you a different idea. funny, though!)
Here’s the link from the Danby site to download the User’s Guide/Care manual for this PA/C.
Most significant thing I noted from the manual was that several functions are accomplished only with the remote control – so don’t lose it. [Moving the air flow louver direction; setting the C/F temp display choice.]
??
I’ve got to drain the blueberries? That’s bodacious!
For my previously-purchased PA/C (a DeLonghi, which has been very good), I never even had to drain water, and this is fairly humid central Texas.
Well I’m the 1st sucker in North Carolina to buy one of these (legible-foolish-chocolate) a year ago I upgraded it had all my vents put in the ceiling (new air handler) for about 3 grand out the door. My dad gave me an older unit(1 and a half ton) that he got somewhere, (new old stock) it uses the old-style Freon so I guess I’m okay with the 3K investment and if the heat pump/condenser unit outside goes bad. I can just upgrade and put a unit in the takes the new type Freon because the air handler can take both types of Freon in it. This will come in handy when I finish closing in the carport/ garage or if my current system goes on the fritz. It’s pretty hot and muggy all summer long here in Eastern North Carolina.
@bigtom67 the question is, how “old new stock”?
Central A/C efficiency has dramatically improved over the past 10 years.
The difference in operating cost can be dramatic between an old unit and a new one. (Same thing with Refrigerators.)
Of course the down side to any new appliance is horrible longevity vs 20+ year old appliances.
At least that’s how I rationalized just buying this.
Poor Man’s Window A/C
Just got back from Costco where they were selling a Danby cube fridge real cheap.
If you’re clever with duct tape and have the right sized window it seems that cube fridge could be fashioned into a downright sweet trailer park window A/C unit!
Hang the back end out the window so the parts that get hot are outside. Seal with copious amounts of duct tape. Then plug it in and open its door.
You could regulate the cold by opening or closing the door different amounts.
Add one or two of those cute little USB fans sold by Meh and you have circulation!
Bonus: who can boast they store beer in their A/C unit?
I don’t see an energy efficiency rating (eer or seer), so I’m assuming its not good. I happened to research these things lately, and would recommend this eer 11.2 whynter unit of you plan to use it often. the energy efficiency should cover the price difference quickly (60$ for a vmp with prime)
https://www.amazon.com/Whynter-ARC-10WB-000-Portable-Conditioner/dp/B0058OIOYM/
of course, if you use it often you’re much better off with a window unit as addressed above.
I’ve been looking at this since 7 am EST. I just drank a double of raspberry of Vodka and pulled the trigger…wish me luck?
@ooosadface
There’s been a lot of talk in the forums today about blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. So you really had no choice.
This showed up today in the worst possible shape imaginable. Parts were falling out of the box as the UPS man struggled to get it out if his truck.
I was apprehensive given the condition. Got it unpacked and installed, no major damage or missing pieces. Fired it up and it blows cold air like a champ.
At least for the time being, very satisfied. We’ll see how it holds up as the temperatures rise and it ages.
@tracergod that was a bit of a rollercoaster ride! I’m glad that it’s working, despite some shipping goblin’s best efforts.
Got his hooked up in my small NYC apartment and it’s about the same as not having an air conditioner.
It has cold air coming out where it should, and the exhaust tube feels pretty hot to the touch… so it’s technically working.
But after hours of continuous use the room is not cool. In fact it’s still hot. 12000 BTUs should make this space freezing cold.
Oh well, I guess this is how we learn. Tomorrow I’m off to buy a real air conditioner.