Looking for a Portable Air Conditioner? BTU Makes a Difference in Decorating on April 14, 2010 by Staff Writer Portable air conditioner BTUs make all the difference between whether you’ll have a unit that cools your room well or one that works poorly. You might be tempted to go with the cheapest unit that you can find at the store. Let’s face it, these units can be expensive and cost more than what many renters can afford. However, you can make up the costs later in the savings you get from using less energy than a heat, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, central air conditioning and some window units. If you get a unit with insufficient BTUs though, you won’t enjoy any savings in your electricity bill. British thermal units (BTUs) indicate how fast an air conditioner can cool a room. It measures the amount of heat (how many BTUs) that the air conditioner removes from the air. Portable conditioners with BTUs that are too low for a room’s size won’t cool all of the room, because it can’t.

The higher the BTUs, the larger the room size it can cool. If you purchase a portable air conditioner that has too many BTUs for the room, then you’ll be using much more power than you need, which results in higher bills from your electric company. Your goal when shopping around for a unit is to find the air conditioner with the right number of BTUs for the room size. Each air conditioner lists the BTUs in its product description online or on the box, which corresponds to a maximum room size. 5,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner Expect a portable air conditioner with 5,000 BTUs to cool a room that’s no more than 175 square feet. Try to find one with a dual hose to cool the room even faster. Variation in temperature control settings is also key, and you should make sure that the portable air conditioner that you’re considering has one. If you want to cool a room that’s 200 square feet, then you’ll need a portable air conditioner with 8,000 BTUs. If you have enough money to buy one with a self-evaporative system, that’s even better.

You won’t have to worry about emptying out trays every day, which is the case with non-evaporative units. Living room areas or large bedrooms that are around 300 square feet will need a portable air conditioner with 10,000 BTUs. Some units include a built-in shut on/shut off thermostat to help you conserve energy. You can also set it to come on minutes before you come home from school or work. A portable air conditioner with 12,000 BTUs can cool a room up to 400 square feet. If you need to heat your room as well, consider a 2-in-1 air conditioner and heater combination. However, if you experience severe winter temperatures, it’s not the best option for heating your apartment. 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner A portable air conditioner with 14,000 BTUs is capable of cooling a room up to 450 square feet. Some units come with a remote control that makes them convenient to use. You can also buy one with a built-in dehumidifier. A portable air conditioner with BTUs to match your room size can be the best solution for cooling any apartment you rent.

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So it's an air conditioner, right? Technically, yes -- it conditions the air by cooling it, but it works much differently than what we commonly think of as an air conditioner. Standard AC units work by passing air over a set of coils filled with a refrigerant like Freon (a trade name for a variety of chemical blends), which heats and cools as it's compressed and expands. The air is cooled by the coils, sent into your house, and then re-circulated over and over through the machine, venting hot air generated in the process to the outside. (For more about standard air conditioners, see How Air Conditioners Work). It's a closed process -- leaving a window or door open allows the cool air to escape and makes the air conditioner work harder to supply cold air. Swamp coolers are an open system. They rely on the flow of air through the building to direct the cool air, and since they always need hot, dry air to evaporate the water, it needs to displace the air already in the house.

Both systems can use either a large central unit or small window units, but air from the swamp cooler needs a way out. Opening and closing windows and doors controls the air flow from the swamp cooler to different parts of the house, while central air conditioners use ducts to direct the flow. Swamp coolers can also use ducts in some cases, but they need to be larger than traditional air conditioner ducts to account for a greater flow of air from the swamp cooler. Standard air conditioners also dry the air, condensing water vapor from the cooled room as it passes over the cold coils. The water drains outside -- that's the distinctive drip you'll feel if you stand under a window air conditioning unit long enough. The result is a dryer room, and in humid climates, that can be a good thing. Too much humidity can prevent perspiration, which is how we cool ourselves naturally. Since swamp coolers work by putting water into the dry air, they act as humidifiers. This is great in dryer climates, because humidity can also be too low for comfort.