Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Opinion on new portable air conditioners

I have a 1 1/2 story home. Like most of them, the 2nd floor is warmer than the first floor, even with A/C running at 72 degrees. Barring spending thousands on a 2nd A/C and duct work, I just started seeing portable air conditioners come on the market. By the way, I have casement windows or I'd put a regular air conditioner in the window. Would rather not cut a hole in side of house for standard air conditioner that would be next to the casement window.

When I got to the store, the advertisements conveniently left out the part that the portable unit still had to be vented outside. Although they provide a vent hook up apparatus for a standard window, it won't work with casements.

Question: can these stand-along units be vented into an attic space? Also, if you have any experience with these units and how they cool as compared with a window unit, that information would be helpful.

Thanks, Charlie

Charlie:

I personally don't like these units.
As you have found out the mfr's don't tell you everything out front.
What they also fail to tell you is that when you put that single vent out a window, you are exhaustng a good portion of your airconditioned air.

You would do much better if you would have an opening cut and mount a wall unit permanently.

If you look back through previous posts, inadequate cooling to second stories is a very common problem. Maybe a solution can be found to yours.

Thanks, Greg. You've given me something to think about. Probably cutting the hole is best option. Window units are really cheap now, compared to earlier years.

Thanks again! Charlie

Charlie:

If you do decide to go with a wall mount make sure the fins on the side of the unit aren't blocked by the thickness of the wall.
There are ways of making the opening in the wall to allow for this.