When the weather is very hot, fans and closed curtains are not enough
Author: Duncan Bell last updated 2021-07-21T10:04:17.153Z
In this country (T3 is based in the UK), we rarely talk about it, but it has become very hot. In fact, in most parts of the northern hemisphere, you can feel the temperature rising. As you can see from our reader data, many of you are rushing to buy fans, but in the past two years there has been a new development: British people are buying air conditioners. In fact, I bought a portable air conditioner seven years ago. Of course, it didn't get much use in the first few years-and it was still useless in the winter months. However, in the summer, I can't live without it.
I am a big fan of fans. I used almost all Dyson fans and a bunch of Meaco fans-I didn't buy them, I just accumulated them by doing this work. Fans like the good weather that people traditionally think of as "very warm" in the UK. Low temperature of more than 20 degrees: very suitable for watching cricket matches, drinking Pimm's or visiting Margate, but still keeps the upper lip stiff.
However, in recent years, we have been seeing high temperatures rising to lows in their 20s or even 30s-this even happened in Northern Ireland last week, like hell, uh, frozen. If you are old-fashioned or American, it is about 90ºF. This is very popular for capital H.
At these temperatures, the fan will not cut it off. They just move hot air. There is nothing more effective than a portable air conditioner. We have a guide for keeping your house cool in the summer. Although it is full of clever tricks, I have a better suggestion: buy a portable air conditioner. Believe me, this is better than closing the blinds or sleeping in the socks you put in the refrigerator.
Especially if you live in an apartment—especially in a fairly modern building—air conditioning is more important than necessities. This is why buildings in many parts of the world have built-in air conditioners. However, in Britain—and even in many warmer regions of Europe—they don't. We put air conditioning in the office, but not at home. Retrofitting a suitable air conditioning system can be very expensive and complicated.
The answer is a portable air conditioner (or two), but there are a few things you need to know.
Perhaps the most important thing is to understand the shortcomings of these machines. If you want anything effective, a portable air-conditioning unit will cost at least £300. They are usually ugly, they can be noisy, they are usually made of white or off-white plastic, quite large-about 80H x 40 x 40cm is pretty standard-you won't use them in 9-10 months year. Depending on the situation and location of your home, you may only use it for a few days in a few years.
But let me tell you that in those days when you really need it, you will feel very complacent and satisfied with your purchase. One of mine lives in the bedroom and will cool it down even on the hottest days. In theory, I can—and probably should—move it to a spare room so that it does not spoil the beauty of my room, but even in winter I just leave it in place.
Another good summer cooling option
Regarding the air conditioner, what you really need to know is whether it will really cool your space. One of mine lives in a bedroom, about 15 million square meters, because it is really difficult to cool in a larger place. This is a 7-year-old machine, and when I got it, I thought it was not exactly the most advanced.
The good news is that air conditioning equipment comes with a BTU rating and the estimated maximum room size they can handle. This is also good, because calculating the exact BTU you need is very complicated. Meaco recently sent us a very advanced guide that contains a formula that takes into account the size of the room, the position and size of the windows, the number of people in the room, the number of electrical equipment and lights in the room, and the energy level. The room...you know.
• If you want to be busy with the calculator: try the complete Meaco air con BTU calculator guide
The simplified version is to measure your room and then check the recommended maximum room size of any portable air conditioner available, but if you live in a modern apartment, the apartment is insulated to keep it warm in winter, if the room has any large amounts of glass -Especially if it does not have shading shutters and/or is sunny during the day, please buy a machine with a higher BTU rating. In particular, if you have a kitchen and lounge in a room, as has been popular in new construction and renovation in the past few decades, you may need a more powerful machine. Therefore, if the size of the room is 30 square meters, the air conditioner is built for 40 square meters.
You also need to pay attention to the noise of the air conditioner. When working at full capacity, even the quietest person may be around 60dB, which is roughly equivalent to a normal conversation level. Therefore, although this will not drown the TV, it cannot be ignored, and it may be louder than most people make when they want to sleep. Although our friends at Quiet Mark helped us write a guide to silent fans, they did not prove that any portable air conditioners are silent.
In this case, the key is to cool your bedroom at night so that the temperature drops to about 20ºC before going to bed. As long as the night temperature does not exceed the standard, you should be able to fall asleep. When I work from home, what I do is run the air conditioner in the bedroom, so when my office becomes too much, I can always escape to a suitably cool room.
One thing you really need to pay attention to is that you can’t put the air conditioner in the room like you would install a fan. That is, the air conditioner does not just move hot air like a fan; it expels cold air while expelling hot air through ducts as much as possible.
There is no lie: I once attended a product launch in a jewelry store that would not normally accommodate so many people. Therefore, for this event, they brought a portable air-conditioning unit, but no pipes. So if you stand in front of the air conditioner, you will get a cool breeze. If you stand behind it, you will be surrounded by hot, foul-smelling air. Of course, the net effect on room temperature is zero.
Therefore, in order to get a more useful effect, you need to be able to exhaust the hot air outside the house. This means that installation needs to be done through windows or exterior doors. The best thing to do is to drill a hole in the wall or get a window adapter kit, but it is very obvious that I just opened a window slightly and pushed the pipe out of it. This is not the most effective method, but it works well for me. You only need to check whether the hot air you exhaust will not return immediately.
One last thing: most portable air conditioners can also be used as dehumidifiers and heaters. In all cases, it is best to use a suitable dehumidifier or heater, but these features sometimes come in handy.
As I mentioned, I have been using the same machine for seven years. And it is still very strong. Well, it is still going on. All the buttons on it are worn out and I lost the remote control, so starting it is a bit like a lottery ticket. It will also make strange purring noises, even if it doesn't do so, it will be very noisy. So I don't recommend it, but it is still available-or at least it is still on various websites, although most of them are sold out: this Electrolux. This is a typical home portable air conditioner. It looks boring and the design is not surprising, but it does.
AEG recently sent me a second portable air conditioner and it is much better. Chillflex Pro portable RAC A is suitable for rooms up to approximately 20 million square meters. Compared to my old room, it is quiet, the touchpad buttons feel like they can be used continuously, a nice remote control and a beautifully long, well-designed pipe length. I like a beautiful pipe. As usual, the fit and finish of AEG is higher than the overall standard. However, I cannot guarantee whether it will remain strong in seven years.
• You can buy AEG Chillflex Pro Portable on Appliances Direct for £499
Using air conditioners is a sinful pleasure-they use a lot of electricity and are difficult to recycle at the end of their life. Therefore, in fact, they will cause global climate change-and global warming means that more and more of us will buy them. Humph. However, in the hot weather we are now experiencing, portable air conditioners are still more of a necessity than a luxury.
Since his middle age, Duncan has been writing about technology and fitness for nearly 15 years, and he realized that he can no longer rely solely on his childish beauty. He used to be on TV load, but unfortunate events prevented this, so he is now mainly content to tell people, "I used to be on TV, you know." Before the lockdown, Duncan was widely considered to have been wearing clothes for T3 ever since. The best man-undeniably, he doesn't say much. After locking, he looks forward to wearing shorts and hoodies again soon, assuming he can still wear them. He currently writes articles about cycling, not-so-heavy fitness techniques, and everything related to the kitchen and home.
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