Window AC vs Portable Air Conditioner

[def90]

OK, so I have a top floor unit in a townhouse complex that has four units on the ground level and 4 on the upper level roughly in the shape of a square. My unit is on the Northwest corner. Up to now I have placed a window fan in the bedroom window blowing in and a window fan in the living room blowing outward. This usually draws in cool air from the shaded north side of the building and circulates it out through the living room. This generally works well other than the 3 hour period from 4 to 7 when the sun is beating it's strongest on the west side of my unit which is the entry/kitchen. This room gets very hot in the late afternoon and nothing I do cools it down until the sun dips below the Flatirons.

Trying to decide if I should put either a small window AC unit in the west facing kitchen window (the window on the north is a greenhouse style window and will not work with any kind of window unit) or if I should just get one of those portable air conditioner units and exhaust it out the window. I would just be running it for a couple hours when I get home from work at the end of the day with the primary function that it just needs to cool the kitchen down enough to be able to enjoy a meal rather than go out to the Rio Grande and sit in the AC drinking margaritas every time it gets above 90 out. The whole townhouse cools down really nice at night with the windows open and stays fairly cool during the day until around 3-4 when the sun gets to that side.

A window unit would take up less room in the kitchen, just wondering if one would be more efficient than the other.

[Wulf202]

window units are more efficient. though the portable is easier to direct the airflow and control the condensation drain

[battlemidget]

Get a small window unit, easy to handle in/out and you can change the window if you want to try the kitchen/other window. The chart on the side of the box is designed to get you to purchase the largest unit you can justify in your head. Seal n Peel caulk is your friend for the summer and worth the pennies.

[eddiememphis]

I have a similar problem in my condo. Third floor, 16' vaulted ceilings, very poorly insulated.

Summertime temperatures are always in the mid 80s regardless what I do with the windows.

I have two portable units. One in the bedroom so I can sleep. It is ducted out the window. The other is in the living room ducted up the fireplace chimney. I have a huge volume of air so nothing is completely cool all 1500 ft.?. I like the portable unit because I can put it away in the winter. I can still use the windows, horizontal sliders, and it is much better at directing the air where I want it than the old 'through the wall' type did I still have installed but rarely use.

Another advantage is the HOA in my complex has regulations about how long you can have window units installed plus the size and color. My place will stay hot well past the time that I would have to remove a window unit.

The biggest disadvantage is having to drain the condensate tank occasionally. Window units drain right outside.

[NFATrustGuy]

I started with a portable unit from Costco. When it died about 3 days into its second season of use, I bought a small window unit. I ended up installing it as a through-the-wall. I’m only cooling one 13 x 26 room in a garden level basement, so this might not be big enough for your needs.

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