TCL 9000BTU Portable Air Conditioner with 2 Year Warranty £229 at Sonic Direct

Once the room is cooled in 20 minutes, how long until it warms up again and you need to switch this back on?

In theory, that is the best method but it’s not as big a difference as many people think.

Although using the cold air from the room to cool the condenser seems inefficient it’s important to remember if you use hotter outside air to do this job then the AC system loses efficiency (as the difference between the condenser temp and air cooling it is less)

in absolute terms it is more efficient to do what you suggest but in practical terms for mobile units it’s often offset by poorly insulated pipe work through windows / doors and 2 sets of pipes mean 2 seals that might be poor.

Also a poorly set up dual pipe system can suck in the hot exhaust air into the cooling pipe.

Quite a lot of tests out there show single pipe portable AC units are as good as dual pipe in practice and much easier to install properly.

Yeh but this _isn't_ a homcom one

You can pick a window kit from screwfix for ones that swing open £14.99

If it helps, I can give you exactly what we paid last year to have 4 rooms fitted with a multi-split (think that was the term, so 4 internal units to 1 external). That was comprised of 3 x 2.5KW LG units and 1 x 3.5kw unit for the largest room. Came to £4,569.75. I've checked our electricity stats and even when we use them through the night, there's very little impact to our bill, it's hard to distinguish the exact cost, but in a good way.

Assuming it is still the same, but the system was VAT free due to it being included in the government scheme for energy efficient heating. When I had this fitted I wasn't thinking about the heating at all, we live in a fairly new build and the summer months are unbearable at times. After we had our little one, that was the turning point to make us get the air con.

The heating I just thought a gimmick, I had no idea how useful and cheap it would be. I used it almost exclusively for heating during the winter, and just used it as needed because it gets the room warm so much faster than a radiator does. This is where the new build came into its own, as it never gets too cold, just needs a heat top up now and again, which makes this type of 'the room you're using' heating ideal.

Final note, don't forget to consider the visual impact of the the external unit(s) and possible trunking needed depending on setup. For us, it's on the side of the house not visible from the street, it doesn't bother us, but depending on where you want it situated this could be a factor. (edited)

Link?

Send me your next batch of Homcom air con to my place please. I'll help you out with the 'disposal'. lol

Around 30p per hour they're not cheap to run but a great luxury to keep for the hottest days only, i only put mine on if its like 28 upwards

I had this a couple weeks ago, it does come with the remote pictured above and is supposed to have WiFi connectivity via the app, but either my unit was bad or the app no longer is compatible as I couldn’t for the life of me get the Wi-Fi to work. I wouldn’t buy this if Wi-Fi function is important. I ended up returning it and getting a different unit instead as I had no faith the Wi-Fi would work even with a replacement unit.

I disagree. I've been using my Daikin AC every night for 2 hours each day for the past 20 days and it's used 5.6kwh of energy in total. That's roughly £2.50 - so not bad at all imo

I would recommend using contraception

If you Google “btu calculator” you can find precisely how strong you need

I don't know about that specific homcom model but no complaints here with this TCL. Compared to my old homcom I think this is worth the extra just for the smaller footprint and warranty. I also think its a little quieter (but still quite loud).

Does it make a loud sort of booming noise when in AC mode? That is when the ac kicks in

Does this unit go to 11?

I liked the HomCom one when it was working, but the company doesn't respond so if it stops working after your 30 days eBay money back guarantee ends then you basically have to throw it away and eat the cost. It would probably cost more to get someone f-gas certified out to try and repair it than buy a new one.

Some proper retailers (like Robert Dyas) seem to sell the homcom ones so they'd probably take returns if you got it that way. Wish I'd used a credit card as a section 75 claim probably would've been the best bet (though that's not always successful if PayPal is involved).

Try adding a 7kw electric car charging at the same time!

Freezers are cheaper to run if they're full too

A system like that probably costs a fortune.

Why do you say the TCL is junk?

And you can't get a silvercrest, nowhere has stock!

Looks alright (HomCom, TCL and the screwfix/CPC ones are all cheap imports after all) - let us know what it's like if you go for it.

Make your own window kit easily from cardboard.

All those portable ACs are noisy...even when they are "silent"

Yes, this could be created out of Perspex to retain the purpose of the window. If you're good with measurements (and the windows have been made straight so big if lol) then you could make the Perspex slot in between the upvc frame channel (sitting between the two window seals). This could be friction fitted if you get the sizing exact, or if you have a big window profile then use some foam to shim a seal in place if you feel any wind coming through.

Or you could just stick velcro on the internal part of the window opening and then the other side of the perspex and affix. This would be simpler, although not as pretty.

tcl.com/uk/…ion