Both portable air conditioners and evaporative cooling have cooling factors, but which one is best for you? We explain everything

Author: Cynthia Lawrence Last updated 2021-05-21T10:04:26.933Z

As the weather gets hotter and muggy, you may be looking for the best way to stay cool-especially in the bedroom before you need to go to bed. When it comes to truly effective cooling that does not involve the installation of a whole-home air conditioning system, you are studying portable air conditioning and evaporative cooling, but what are they and what is the difference?

Both can provide efficient, room-specific cooling, but they work in very different ways. In addition, they have their own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to decide which one is right for your home and cooling requirements-we will help. For example, the best portable air conditioners can have a huge impact on a room within a few minutes, but they are much more complicated to set up and use.

The first thing is to measure! Before choosing a suitable AC device with the correct output, it is important to determine the size and dimensions of the space to be cooled. Output is measured in British thermal units (or BTU), which is a unit for estimating heat. As a basic rule, the minimum temperature required to cool a small room (18 square meters) in hot weather is 7,000 BTU. This will increase accordingly, so why is it important to measure first, otherwise your AC device will not function properly.

At the same time, we studied the working principles, advantages and disadvantages of portable air conditioners and evaporative coolers, and which one might be suitable for the unique features of your home. Both are more effective than the best fans for truly effective cooling.

The technical ins and outs of air conditioning can be very complicated. But to put it simply, the portable air conditioner is a smaller version of the central air conditioning unit. The only exception is that all components are contained in one unit, rather than some of them are installed outside. 

Now is the science part! Similar to air conditioning units, they require a chemical refrigerant to absorb heat from the air. It continuously flows through a labyrinth of tubes and coils, and uses condensers, compressors and evaporators for the cooling process. For some households, it is more practical than a complete AC installation because it is a single device that only needs to be plugged into a power point. However, you need to remove the heat from the door or window-most installations have ducts. They are also quite noisy once they start, so you have to take this into consideration.

On the other hand, evaporative coolers do not require chemicals to absorb heat from the air, but increase humidity. Often referred to as a "swamp" cooler, this cooler works by using a fan to draw warm air into the equipment, and then blow it through the water to evaporate it. This can remove heat from the air, cool the room, and also increase the moisture in the air. The best thing is that they do not make a lot of noise during operation, although obviously you need to make the room more humid.

As we all know, the larger the evaporative cooler, the greater the power and the higher the efficiency. The best part is that they use very little energy because it is actually just a fan, while in larger installations, electric water pumps are used, although all of this may vary depending on function and capacity. However, compared with portable air conditioners, their low power consumption also limits the ability of evaporative coolers to convert electrical energy into cold air.

Portable air conditioners are much more powerful in converting energy into coolness, making them more versatile, which means you can run them for a shorter period of time-but again, it all depends on the settings and room size.

Evaporative coolers are generally more environmentally friendly because they do not use any chemicals to cool the air. Generally speaking, evaporative cooling will be the cheaper option overall.

Portable air conditioners work well and are more efficient indoors and in enclosed spaces (such as rooms and offices). But even if the doors and windows are closed, they do require a heat dissipation method to be effective. So you need to put it next to a window, sliding door, or make a hole in the wall to expel the hot air. 

The evaporative cooler does not require any way to extract heat, so it can be moved anywhere in the house. The only disadvantage of evaporative coolers is that over time, they can cause excessive humidity in your home, so you may want to consider balancing cooling when needed, and opening windows when appropriate to allow dry air in.

It's simple: portable air conditioners will provide the most effective cooling of the space, but are more expensive, less environmentally friendly, and heat dissipation can be awkward.

Evaporative cooling is quieter and cheaper, but it can have a slower rate of impact, and will produce a humidification effect over time, which may or may not be popular. If you really take the evaporative cooling route, you should choose a larger unit-the larger will be more effective.

Cynthia Lawrence is a freelance lifestyle journalist and digital editor for national publications. She also has a rather unhealthy obsession with home and interior design, and likes to bargain.

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