Round up of the Best/Coolest Air Conditioner & Fan deals this Summer 2023 (Megathread)

I’d advise against this, in the USA we called them “swamp fans” because they cool the air by putting huge amounts of slightly colder water into the air.

A healthy humidity level indoors is 35 to 60%. Although 50% is generally considered the gold standard. When you start going up the humidity scale you create an indoor environment that’s perfect for bacteria, viruses, fungi, dust mites, asthma formation and worsening of existing, chemical interactions and ozone production. Outdoor humidity right now, where I am, is 56%. My indoor humidity is 60%. If I start up one of those fans, I’m going to be rocking 80% humidity in no time. That’s high enough to make wood start to warp (eg laminate flooring), and it will make drywall start to become damp internally. All of this will create toxic black mould, either within the cavity, or visibly over the walls.

Mosquitos LOVE a moist room, so they’ll find a way in. Then they’ll lay eggs. Hurray! Woodlice, enjoy feasting on engineered wood and luxury vinyl planks, it’s a bit of a treat for them. Dust mites, love pillows when they’ve soaked up humidity.

The only place these coolers make sense is in places such as Las Vegas, and Arizona in the USA where, the desert climate means humidity can be literally less than 10%.

Air conditioners generally dry the air out, which is a problem in a desert. Running a standard ac, means humidity gets so low that wood cracks, you get dry eyes, whenever you touch things you get electric shocks. Hence it’s common play in those locations nowadays to add a humidity appliance fixture to the ac system which humidifies the air. When people don’t have that luxury, they use these “coolers” you mention, as the swampish humidity counteracts the ac drying out the air.

However, in the UK, most homes have humidity that’s, at various points, borderline too high to be healthy. Especially when users don’t turn on the oven extractor, or the extractor doesn’t actually have a vent to the outside world (which I will never understand completely - ok it can help with smells). Hence in the UK an air conditioner is the only thing that makes sense for cooling.

That being said, if your home is too humid normally which is super common in the UK. Running the ac will lower the humidity to around 50% (generally where these portables seem to stop extracting humidity I have found). This actually makes it very hard for existing toxic mould to thrive, as well as dust mites etc. For a period of time this can actually make the mould increasingly air Bourne, and you can have reactions to dead mites. This can mean you feel like you have a bad throat, or you’re coughing, or your voice is a bit hazy. This always occurs to an extent when you go from an overly humid home to an acceptable humidity level.

You hear so many people in the UK saying “I don’t like AC” and “it makes me feel bad.” All they’re really revealing is that they’re homes, generally, thriving with humidity, moisture and likely all kinds of toxic moulds, and dust mites that they’ve accustomed to.

Hence, give it chance.

I must also add, any device that moves air creates variances in air pressure. This means that (especially with singe hose), air gets sucked in. Ensure you don’t have an enormous hole where pipes run into the cavity. The last thing you want is negative pressures to be sucking in the dirty, scratchy, air from the fibreglass insulated cavity wall. When I lived in the US, I called it checking the work of the last lazy builder. They seem to love leaving gaping holes where you can’t immediately see.

I hope this helps. I really don’t want you to spend a bunch of money and then get sick. It’s really hard to identity why we’re sick, as it it relates to “sick building syndrome.” I also don’t want you to be wondering in a year why your lovely wood floors are bulging and in need of replacement. I’ve known people with swamp coolers to hire contractors to “find the leak” as they’re floorings so saturated they’re convinced a pipe must have burst.

EDIT: A NORMAL FAN WILL NEVER WORK! JUST DO IT, GET AN AC. Honestly the noise becomes quite nice, it’s constant white noise, and blocks out traffic, sirens, and screaming kids. Initially you’ll hate it then, there comes a time you’ll not even think about it. When you turn it off, you’ll miss it.

(edited)

Thanks for posting this - I just replied to another post above saying i've got a 3.5kw mitsubishi split system being installed in my louinge soon but was having doubts as to whether to go through with it. Your post is reassuring it's worth doing.

There are, however they sell out almost immediately and they’re sporadically in stores, and often not online. There doesn’t seem to be bulk volumes of them in the UK. They are basically more expensive and the UK consumer is poorly educated on ac and refrigerant management. Hence, a mass market consumer thinks “why would I want TWO ungodly hoses when I can have one? OH it’s cheaper too.”

Models that I’ve seen in use, in data centres when their main AC is down, and also ones I’ve spotted over the years mainly in Homebase (at the start of the summer only, probably late spring).

Amcor:
PLVM18000INV

PLVM16000E - this was actually one of the most popular AC models sold in the UK that year and they had a LOT of them in box retailers and aircondirect etc.

Honeywell sold a model in Homebase too: Honeywell AMH-12000E

Homebase own brand has often included dual hose models. The most popular one sold which they brought to market between like 2010 and 2019 (the years are an estimate off the top of my head) was model 275937. I think they stopped as it started looking kinda dated, and due to the way dual hose works the energy ratings are often lower under the EU labels (as arguably, if it sucks in nice cooled indoor air, it works less hard - the logic ignores the negative pressure issue).

Anyway, I would guess there are thousands of those Homebase 275937 units in operation given the time period they sold them. The model number may have changed as the years went by, but the unit itself was the same I’m pretty sure.

Homebase also have a 9000 btu dual hose own brand model that was its cheaper family member but I’m not sure of the model. It was sold in black also (kind of made it feel more modern if that’s possible haha).

I doubt you will find a new dual hose at this stage in the summer, and it’s a bit of a chance landing on a model anyway. Homebase seems to be where I see them mostly. Even then, stock seems variable by store. I’m not sure if this will continue as Homebase has gone through a bunch of mergers and take overs etc.

If you’re ok with used, a search on all good marketplace sites for “Homebase portable air conditioner unit” is a good place to start. Also can try “Amcor inverter air conditioner” “Amcor 16000btu” “Amcor 18000btu” air conditioner. (edited)

Actually I got this one a few months back around £18 I think that one is decent too for the price.

I haven’t got as far as researching yet, as I’m probably more than a year away from moving house. I lived in the Middle East for 10 years, so all I know is that there’s a big difference in quality between brands - LG and Samsung seemed to have the best reputation. Internal noise will be minimal, as it’s essentially just a fan (they’re called split ACs as the compressor is split from the internal unit and it’s the compressor that makes the noise). You’re nicer than me - I hadn’t even considered the noise from the compressor bothering the neighbours!

Spot on!

99% of them no matter the brand are very loud

My friend has solar panels and a battery which he uses to offset his carbon emissions and AC costs, and feeds back into the grid. Not everyone can afford that though, unless the government steps in.

Is there a better/more powerful fan you'd recommend if you don't care about the quiet/noise factor?

Second this. I’ve got a 10k and it’s like the noise level of a ps4 that’s 10 years old and never been taken apart and then given the fan from a Land Rover V8. However stick it on a few hours before bed turn off just before sleep and boom peaceful nights sleep. (edited)

Interesting, is it as powerful as the meaco in terms of the effect you feel? Not so bothered by noise levels.

Which one would you buy again if you had to choose out of interest?

Oh, no! yeah, the weather is crazy nowadays...

This is cool to see. I've always found it odd pc fan manufacturers don't release standalone desk / tower fans.

Would love it if Noctua announced a disgustingly brown desk fan.

Totally agree. Bought the meaco 10” last year and by far the best fan we’ve ever had.

Yep:
hotukdeals.com/com…263

Also £5 off if bought on the app

Not sure how you can attach this, but it's been on site and has a low price again
  amazon.co.uk/dp/…G7K

I agree, they are well-built and powerful but noisy. I have two of their pedestal fans for the last 5 years.

Probably the delonghi pinguinos

What make is this please?

I’ll find the ones I bought which were actually off HUKD for 85 quid with a remote. The only thing I’d say is when it gets really very hot like the warmest room in my house then that needs an AC unit.

True. Quite incredible how many people keep their windows open all day on a hot sunny day and then complain about the heat. (edited)