Portable ACs are the perfect portable cooling solution for areas where installing standard air conditioning systems may be cost-prohibitive, impractical, or impossible. This is especially true in settings such as apartment buildings or server rooms located within an interior of a building. Moreover, portable air conditioners are compact, easy to maneuver, do not require permanent installation, and because they're most often used to cool specific areas as opposed to entire homes or buildings, they are quite energy-efficient as well. With regards to design, portable air conditioners are simple cooling devices. The box-like housing of the unit holds the cold and hot sides of the air conditioner in one while an exhaust hose expels heat. Water is condensed out of the air which is then collected in an internal drain bucket or through a drain hose. Furthermore, some portable ACs even utilize advanced evaporative technology and thus produce very little or no water at all. In addition to the above benefits, portable air conditioners are also multi-functional and offer more than just cooling.

The refrigeration cycle utilized by these portable coolers dehumidify moisture from the air, and some units even come with built-in heaters and air purifiers. Nonetheless, when it comes to choosing a portable AC , one of the most common mistakes consumers make is incorrectly sizing their unit. Portable air conditioners are sized according to BTUs, which stands for British Thermal Units. A BTU is a unit of energy that is commonly used in the power, steam generation, and heating and air conditioning industries. 255 85r16 Tires CooperGenerally speaking, a portable air conditioner's BTU rating describes its power and cooling capacity. Super Swamper Tires EbayNaturally, the higher the BTUs, the stronger the portable AC. Portable air conditioners have cooling capacities that usually range from 5,000 BTUs to as high as 30,000 BTUs, and the size needed to cool a room will depend on the area being cooled.  Moen Shower Faucet Rebuild

Thus, an incorrectly sized portable AC with insufficient or excess BTUs will result in inefficient cooling. After these have been verified, it is then time to determine your BTU requirements. Simply look to the chart below: Portable Air Conditioner Sizing ChartSquare FootageRequired BTUs Recommended Air Conditioner100 - 200 7,000 - 8,000 American Comfort ACW200C150 - 250 8,000 - 10,000 NewAir AC-10100H250 - 350 10,000 - 11,000 NewAir AC-12100E350 - 525 12,000 -16,000 Soleus LX-14020' x 20' = 400 square feet  400 square feet = at least 12,000 BTUs As such, if your room measures 400 square feet, you will need a portable air conditioner that offers 12,000 BTUs of cooling. However, please note that the figures in the chart above are estimates based on average room conditions in a moderate climate. Some exceptions may also apply, and these are listed below: For second story homes or especially sunny areas, add the BTU amount by 10% For shaded areas, reduce the BTUs by 10% For each additional person over two persons in a room, add 600 BTUsTo cool a kitchen, add 4,000 BTUs

Featured, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) Air Conditioning, the Energy Efficient WayFirst the tulips come out, then the songbirds, and soon after, the window air-conditioners. Anyone who plans to add or replace a unit this year can save money on the purchase price and operating costs by doing a little homework beforehand. Get a pencil, paper and pocket calculator. You will also need the area in square feet (length times width) of each room to be cooled. Shoppers will discover that the output of air-conditioners is stated in British thermal units, or B.T.U.'s. That is the amount of energy needed to lower the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. The capacity required for a given room varies according to climate. The Consolidated Edison Company, which serves New York City and Westchester County, estimates that in this area a room of 100 square feet requires a unit with a capacity of 4,550 B.T.U.'s. That is for buildings with masonry walls over eight inches thick, or buildings of insulated frame construction.

For a room of 200 square feet, an air-conditioner with a capacity of 6,650 B.T.U.'s is needed; for 300 square feet, 8,300 B.T.U.'s and for 400 square feet, 9,700 B.T.U.'s. The capacity requirement does not rise in direct proportion to the size of the room, according to engineers, because the surface-to-volume ratio of rooms changes as they get larger. An air-conditioner that is too small will run continuously without cooling the room enough, but a unit that is too large will also perform badly. It will cool the room more quickly but then will shut off before it has removed enough moisture to lower the humidity to a comfortable level. More capacity, therefore, may mean less comfort, as well as a higher price tag. To the figures given above, apply these correction factors: * If the walls are uninsulated frame, or masonry eight inches thick or less, the capacity of the machine should be 5,300 B.T.U.'s for a 100-square-foot room, 8,100 for 200 square feet, 10,400 for 300 square feet and 12,400 for a 400 square feet.

* The B.T.U. figures are for a room that has its longest wall facing south. If the longest wall faces west, add 10 percent to the capacity above; east, subtract 5 percent, and north, subtract 10 percent. * If the ceiling height is more than 10 feet, add 10 percent. * If the area to be cooled includes a kitchen, add 4,000 B.T.U.'s. * If the room has heavily shaded windows, has an occupied room above it or is to be cooled mainly at night, subtract 20 percent. After cooling ability, the other big question in choosing an air-conditioner is its energy efficiency rating, or E.E.R., which is listed on the tag at the store. If you are curious about the rating of your old air-conditioner, divide the B.T.U. capacity by the number of watts it uses; the wattage figure is usually found on the nameplate, where the model number is listed. The most efficient new air-conditioners have an energy efficiency rating of about 12; a model bought about 10 years ago could have an rating of 6.

This means that the new machine would do the same work as the old using half the electricity. But the more efficient machines are more expensive, generally because they contain more copper and aluminum, primarily to dissipate heat better. How to determine whether the lower annual operating cost of a more efficient air-conditioner will justify the higher purchase price? First, consider how many years the new machine is likely to last. The major component is the compressor, and it should last more than 10 years, according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. How soon the higher purchase price is recouped by the consumer depends on the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour. A 9,000 B.T.U. air-conditioner with an energy efficiency rating of 11 would use about 411 kilowatt-hours if it ran for 500 hours over the course of a summer. The same capacity machine with a rating of 8.5 - the lowest efficiency permissible in New York State for a machine of that size -would use about 532 kilowatt-hours.

The difference in consumption, 121 kilowatt-hours, would cost the owner of the less efficient machine about $17 in Con Edison's service territory, but less on Long Island or in New Jersey, where rates are lower. A consumer's saving will depend on how hot the summer is, the number of hours the machine is on and the setting. When comparing two machines of the same capacity and different energy efficiency ratings, however, the ratio of kilowatt-hour usage will be the same as the ratio of their efficiency ratings. For example, a 9,000 B.T.U. machine with an E.E.R. of 11 will cost 77 percent as much to run as the same capacity machine with an E.E.R. of 8.5, because 8.5 is 77 percent of 11. Any air-conditioner, however, can be made more efficient by following some low-cost steps. Avoid putting the machine where it will be in direct sunlight, because the sun will heat the metal parts that are trying to dissipate the room's heat. Clean or replace the filter monthly, to prevent running up your electric bill simply to push air through spaces clogged with dust, soot and pollen.