Planned Purchase: Portable Air Conditioner

More than I, my wife wants one or more air conditioners in the house. Presently, we have a big, fat zero count on those. You see, my wife finds it difficult living in the Philippines, even though she was born and raised here. I guess following me around while I was in the military, away from high temperatures and high humidity, acclimated her in the opposite direction than I. Going back to the US to work for months at a time doesn't help. The heat only bothers me for about three months out of the year (March – May) these days.

Central Air Conditioner?

Certain neighbors and other people who have experienced living in the US keep asking me if I plan to install a central air conditioner. My usual reply is something like asking them if I plan to cut off my left arm. My house would require too many structural changes to make central air conditioning feasible, even if I could afford it.

I know all about heat pumps, air exchangers, ventilating tubes and duct and everything related to central air conditioners except for the mechanics of the air conditioning unit itself. Those are actually the easy parts. What's harder is replacing the windows, the ceiling panels (which would have to be cut), cutting a holes through two ceilings (one below a cement floor), weather-stripping every door that leads to the outside and lot of things I don't feel like writing at the moment.

In the end, I might be whole lot cooler but I'd be whole lot poorer, including the inflation of the monthly electric bill.

Window Air Conditioners?

Window air conditioners are out of the question. The last things I need are big square warts sticking out at the level of the second floor. I don't fancy cutting square holes into solid cement walls either. The reason holes would have to be cut is because all my windows are either too big or too little for window air conditioners.

When my wife was in Cebu City, in January, her and her relatives saw a lot of nice homes in that particular area. The only thing that detracted from the view was the big wall warts sticking out from the second floors. It only took one look at that for her to agree that window air conditioners are not an option.

Portable Air Conditioners

Of all the air conditioner choices available, the one my wife wants is made by Carrier and is called a Slimpac. It's also about $1300 and requires installation and some wiring changes. Sure, it would probably cool the entire house, but I convinced her that we'd try a single portable air conditioner instead, at a cost of about $400.

It's simple, I want something that will cool a single room, not the entire house, especially since the house isn't weather-treated and would leak a lot of cool air to the outside. I also want to be able to move it without it becoming a major operation. Because there are a few months when air conditioning isn't required at all, like during the wet days of the rainy season, it would be easy to move a portable air conditioner out of the way when it's not being used.

Using a portable air conditioner will be on test basis. If it craps out too fast or doesn't cool well enough, then I'll have to break down and do it the way she wants to do it. If it works out, then we'll be buying two or more for the other rooms. Dealing with heat downstairs isn't an issue yet and since cold air travels downwards, I'm not too worried about it. The wife, on the other hand, might not be so inclined. Whatever happens, I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

I have eight months to buy it, set it up and test it before my wife returns in November (if all goes as planned). When she returned last November, she was already complaining of the heat, so I know what to expect if I don't get it done. No, I do not have a dog house should I fail.

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