Portable air conditioners can be a godsend on sweltering days. When your conventional AC system is not cutting, having a mobile AC unit in the same room you are in can help keep you cool and comfortable. However, the question we will be answering today is, are portable air conditioners truly energy efficient?
In short, portable air conditioners are energy-efficient. However, this greatly depends on how you are using it. Using a portable air conditioner as a suitable replacement for your conventional AC unit that cools down your whole house can save you quite a bit of money. This does depend on if you are using it only to cool the room you are in.
As you continue to read this article, it will go much more in-depth about the actual costs of using a portable air conditioner and how much money it can save you, depending on how you use it. Let us get learning!
Are Portable Air Conditioners Energy-Efficient?
Portable air conditioner energy efficiency depends on how you use it and what you compare it to. A portable air conditioner will save you money on your electricity bill yearly compared to your central heating and cooling system. However, this also greatly depends on how you use it.
When comparing portable air conditioner units to other room cooling systems like window units or ductless air conditioner units, mobile air conditioner units are among the worst in terms of energy efficiency rating (EER).
The simple truth is that portable air conditioner units are one of the worst options for saving money on your electricity bill compared to all of the other options you would consider using for the same purpose.
However, using the portable air con unit smartly can save money compared to your central cooling system for your whole home.
How To Save Money With Portable Air Conditioner Units
Portable air conditioner units are an excellent way to save money. However, it would be best if you used it wisely for this to occur. If you plan to use one of these air conditioner units to cool your home, you are effectively wasting money.
It is cheaper to use your central cooling system at that point.
Below, we will discuss how you can use a portable air condition unit to cool your home while saving you money compared to your central cooling system.
1. New Units vs. Old Units
Here is a good reason to update your portable air conditioning unit. The age of your portable air conditioner can significantly determine how much money it can save you. When looking at a ten-year or older model vs. a unit you bought today, the amount of money a new model can save you can be pretty alarming.
Because new models are built with better technology, their energy consumption is vastly reduced compared to much older models. With the comparison given above, a unit you bought to replace your old model can save upwards of $170 per year.
2. Wisely Choosing Temperatures For Your Portable Air Conditioner
The simple thing is, the lower the temperature you set for any air conditioning unit, the more electricity it uses. With that in mind, the hotter the day, the more electricity you use on top of that. That is, if you keep it at a reasonably low temperature.
Keeping that in mind, it is wise to set your portable air conditioner to roughly 72 or 73 degrees Fahrenheit even on hot days. For each degree you put your portable air conditioner below, you can expect to use at least 5% more energy, even on the newest models.
3. Positioning Your Portable Air Conditioner Wisely
The most significant way you can expect to save money when using a portable air conditioning unit is to use your mobile AC unit to cool the rooms you are in. Using the portable air conditioner to cool down your whole house is not a viable option. One of these reasons is that you would use more electricity than your central cooling system.
Using your portable air conditioner to cool a single room in use and turning it off when you leave the room can save you upwards of $400 per year. That is a fantastic amount of money you can save just by cooling a single room in your home.
4. Use Ceiling Fans Instead Or In Conjunction With Your Portable AC
Using ceiling fans to cool your home or the room on hot but not unbearable days is an excellent alternative to using any AC unit.
Using your portable air conditioning unit in short bursts to cool the room and your ceiling fan to help circulate the now cooler air throughout the room is another exceptional way to save money on your central cooling system.
Both methods can save anywhere from $50 to $200 a year, depending on where you live.
5. Using Your Portable Air Conditioning Unit Less
Using your portable air conditioning unit in short bursts to cool your home is a great way to save money. Using your mobile air conditioning unit for only an hour or two at a time can significantly reduce your electricity bill.
6. Installing Ceiling Insulation
While this can be pretty expensive, installing or replacing old insulation in your ceiling will save you tons of money in the long run. The insulation will help keep heat out of your home while keeping the cool air inside for extended periods.
7. Installing Double-Glazed Windows
Double glazed windows are a great addition to any home and are excellent at reducing air conditioning costs. They mainly do this by reflecting 40% of the heat of ordinary glass, thus reducing the heat inside of your home, making it more bearable, and not requiring your ac to be on as long as usual.
How Much Will A Portable Air Conditioner Raise My Electric Bill?
As said many times before in this article, this greatly depends on a few things. Firstly, you will be asking yourself a few questions:
- What is the BTU of your portable air conditioner unit?
- Secondly, how often will you use it, at what temperature, and for how long each day?
- Most importantly, how are you going to use it?
These questions are all essential to understanding saving energy.
With all of these variables in mind, you can expect a brand new unit that has a BTU rating of 6,000 to 8,000, using it correctly to cool down a single room for an appropriate amount of time each day for an entire month, to roughly cost you $5 a month to run. This equates to approximately $60 a year from this appliance alone.
Keep in mind this cost can vary widely. All of the variables mentioned above consider how much it will cost to run one of these devices. The example we provided is the best possible conditions and usage possibilities.
Pros & Cons Of Portable Air Condition Units
While the portable air conditioner’s EER is lower than other room cooling units, they are still quite effective and can save you money. Below we will go over the brief pros and cons of these types of units.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Easy to use & few installation requirements | Tend to get noisy |
| It can easily be moved from room to room | Other AC units are cheaper to run |
| Units get cheaper each year due to technological advances | You need to regularly empty their drip trays |
| It can easily be stored & hidden out of view | Not suited to cool larger rooms |
Pros Of Using a Portable Air Conditioning Unit
1. Ease of Use & Very Little Installation Requirements
Being easy to use means you do not need to call any air conditioning services to help install this device. All you will need to do is plug it in and turn it on, and the room will start to get colder in minutes.
At most, you will need to open a window slightly, put a small air vent connected to your portable air conditioning unit in your window, and close it like you would for a window unit.
2. The Ability To Move It From One Room To Room Quite Easily
The best part about portable air conditioners is their portability. They tend to be reasonably lightweight, depending on the power of the appliance in question. Some even come with wheels for easier mobility from one room to another.
Take the vent out of the window (if your unit has one), and either lift or slide your unit to another room and reinstall the vent into the window and plug it in, and have instant cool air.
3. Portable Air Conditioning Units Are Getting Cheaper Everyday
As the title says, portable air conditioners are getting cheaper and cheaper. As technology improves, the requirements to make these devices get reduced; thus, the price matches the amount of work required.
Also, due to portable air conditioning units getting smaller and smaller, the amount of materials needed to make these appliances is reduced, reducing the cost of said appliances.
4. Portable Air Conditioners Can Be Easily Stored & Hidden Out Of View
Another advantage of these air conditioning units’ portability is that they can be easily stored in a closet when they are not needed, like during the winter season. Something else you can do is hide these devices while they are in use.
Portable air conditioners are sleek in design, but they can be an eyesore and ruin your view of your room. You can hide these devices in the corners of the room (as long as they do not need a vent that leads outside).
Like in the corner behind an end table, for instance. This allows the portable air conditioners to cool the room effectively while also being relatively out of sight.
Cons Of Using A Portable Air Conditioning Unit
1. Portable Air Conditioners Can Be Quite Noisy
Portable air conditioners, like all types of air conditioners, can produce quite a bit of noise.
That being said, if you are the type of person that can get easily irritated, but unwanted noise, portable air conditioning units or any air conditioner besides your central heating and cooling system might not be suitable.
2. Other Types of Air Conditioning Supplements Are Cheaper To Run
As stated above, portable air conditioners are cheaper to run than your central cooling system, depending on how you use them.
However, almost all other air conditioning supplements, like a window unit or a split air conditioning system, have a higher EER than a portable air conditioner. This is by far the worst drawback of portable air conditioners.
3. Portable Air Conditioners Require You to Empty Their Drip Trays Regularly
Many portable air conditioners on the marker have a drip tray located somewhere on the device.
Because of how air conditioners work by taking in air and cooling it inside the device, the water vapor naturally in the air that we breathe will condense and form liquid water that air conditioners can not release back into the air.
That being said, portable air conditioners need their drip trays to be emptied regularly to prevent the device from malfunctioning.
4. Typical Portable Air Conditioners Are Not Suited To Cool Large Rooms
The most standard portable ac units have a BTU rating of 6,000 to 8,000, and they can only cool a space of 350 square feet reliably. While there are portable air conditioners with a much higher BTU rating, they are MUCH bigger and much more expensive.
Suppose your portable air conditioning unit fails to cool your entire room. In that case, it may be wiser to switch to a different unit like a window unit, which uses less electricity but can put out much more cold air than the portable units.
The Most Energy Efficient Portable Air Conditioning Units
If you wish to find a good AC unit that you want, these are some highly recommended ones!
The Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner provides powerful cooling over large areas. It is designed to operate in temperatures between 68 degrees and 104 degrees.
The unit features a dual hose design for increased flexibility, remote control with LCD display, and an easy-to-use electronic control panel for simple operation.
This portable air conditioner has an auto evaporation system that automatically monitors the tank's water level and shuts off when full to prevent overflow. It also includes smart drain technology that prevents water from being trapped inside.
Featuring a dual hose system that allows you to direct cool air where it's most needed. This unit can be used as an air conditioner, dehumidifier, fan, or heater. With its sleek design and quiet operation of fewer than 56 decibels, this unit will keep your home cool and comfortable all year round.
It's perfect for cooling down a 500-square-foot space. With four operational modes and a dehumidifying capacity of 71 pints per day, this portable air conditioner is perfect for any environment. The self-evaporating system fully exhausts all condensate automatically in most environments, and the 1300-watt power consumption makes it eco-friendly.
With four operational modes, three fan speeds, and an Eco-friendly CFC-free Green R-32 refrigerant, this air conditioner is perfect for any environment.
This unit includes an adjustable louvered venting system that can be set to exhaust the hot air outside or in the room. The ARC-14S features two separate hose connections: one for intake and one for exhaust. The intake hose is designed to connect directly to your window, while the exhaust hose can extend up to 60 inches away from the unit (with included extender) so you can easily direct airflow where it's needed most.
This Whynter portable ac model is hands down one of the best on the market. If you have been looking for the most cost-saving portable AC models, you have run into this model at least once. Being one of the top 3 mobile air conditioning units on the market, this model boasts the highest EER out of any commercial model.
This model had a dual hose that needs to be led outside through your window. Double hose units tend to have the best EER out of all portable ac units while also producing tremendous amounts of cold air into your home.
The ARC-14S has 14,000 BTU and can effectively cool an area of 500 square feet in a matter of minutes. Letting you cool down your living room on a hot day as soon as you get home so you can start relaxing immediately.
The LG LP1419IVSM portable air conditioner is difficult not to like. Simply looking at the specifications will reveal that it is the quietest, most energy-efficient, and capable of chilling bigger rooms while lowering humidity to unprecedented levels.
No portable air conditioner will have a decibel level lower than 50. In general, all portable air conditioners are much louder. LG used their Lo-Decibel technology in this model to provide the quietest portable air conditioner on the market.
The name Lo-Decibel indicates that LG employed a quiet BLDC motor and a Dual Inverter Compressor in the LP1419IVSM model.
All of this and this LG model provide the best dehumidification on the market. While many portable air conditioning units have a dehumidifier, none of them are quite close to the level of this LG model.
This portable air conditioner eliminates 6.7 quarts of moisture from the interior air each hour. No other portable air conditioner can handle more than 5 quarts per hour, for example.
Final Thoughts
Portable air conditioners are not the most cost-effective form of cooling down essential rooms in your home. While it can be cheaper than your central air system depending on how you use them, more than anything, just about every other type of air conditioner can save you more money on your monthly electricity bill.
