Portable air con for surplus

I looked at this as well but most things I found required a horrible hose type thing to go out the window.

What type is that @Jonathan

Get one of those wall mounted ones. No issues with heat transfer through the hose or gaps around to make it inefficient.

Can be used a heater too.

https://www.wholesaleheaters.co.uk/powrmatic-vision-3-1dw-twin-duct-air-conditioner/

Yes, comes with the hose, but that's no good if you're letting the ambient air back inside. The window seal is like a plastic-y material which attaches to your window with velcrow and you stick the hose out through it. It's just to try to keep the warm air out. Obviously it's not a perfect system, but it's good enough for a small/non-permanent solution.

On the noise front - the one I have has 2 power settings. It's quite noisy in the higher power setting, but I didn't have a problem with the lower setting. It's similar to the amount of noise produced by a dehumidifier.

The permanent solutions essentially have half of the machine located outside, which gives them a huge advantage in terms of noise and dealing with waste heat. The all-in-ones are never going to be able to complete with that, but on a hot day they still produce lovely cold air.

Looking into the possibility of adding a split system (or two) that can do both AC and heating, something similar to these: https://www.buyitdirect.ie/p/multi-split-27000-btu-smartapp-wifi-inverter-wall-air-conditioner-with-3x-9000-btu-indoor-units-to-a-single-outdoor-unit-iqool-3ms9k9k9k

Just wondering if anyone here has done something similar and can suggest a decent installer in the Dublin area

Ok perhaps a misleading title.

Our house bakes in summer with solar gain particularly upstairs. Air con units would basically have no electricity costs now that solar in installed, so I am wondering has anyone installed air con?

it's rare in Ireland but summers do seem to be getting hotter, and a lot of new houses seem to be hard to cool too, and throw on the solar to power it for free and maybe this is a space which will grow?

Curious if DIY is an option for install?

The average annual temperature in Ireland is about 10°C. It's why all those data centres set up shop here - free cooling. The annual average temperature in Sydney is about 20°C.

No, I do not think this is an area that will grow.

Unfortunately my problem is upstairs so no chimney to shove pipe into.

i think it's 9000btu, so not the biggest but not small either. Like you say, running it during the day, off at night. But finding once off it's not long before temps up again, and I'm blaming the lack of air tightness with pipe out window setup... also surprising how little the air moves to the adjoining bedroom beside it.

For us it's stored heat in the external red brick walls that travels internally. Sun travels around the house from morning to evening with nothing blocking it. House is all red brick - which 'sponges' up the sun.

Pumps out as radiant heat all night. Like an UFH when you don't want it :)

Bedrooms stay well into 20s at night during really hot spells. Beside a main road so can't open windows or no one can sleep. Windows open until bed time and temp climbs as soon as closed.

Would putting the vent pipe up through the attic hatch be an option? It's generally outside the insulated space and is probably well enough ventilated to remove the warm air being added

Most houses these days have the high tech Irish ventilation system (big hole in wall with cheap plastic vent cover) so I guess you could use those if you have them?

That's probably what I'll end up doing, but it kind of fixes the air conditioner into one room which is a bit wasteful for the 1 week a year it's needed, and negates the portable bit

As someone who has had a single-hose portable unit for the past few years - I would say don't do it.

I'm not saying don't get any A/C, but just don't get a single hose units. Especially if you intend on using it in rooms you want to sleep in.

They are are loudest, and most inefficient A/C units you can get. Even at a lower-blow setting, you will still have the noise of the compressor circulating the refrigerant. It's much like a fridge, except louder.

Also, whilst the hot exhaust air goes through the hose and out the window; that air originates from inside. This is a problem for two reasons. Firstly, you are using electricity to cool the air in the room, only for some of the air (which you have used energy to cool) going straight back outside; and secondly, pumping air out of the room lowers the pressure within the room which then means that external air is sucked in.

As others have said, the only semi-good window seals are the ones which work on sash windows. If you have windows which hinge outwards, the seals are not very good at all (but better than nothing). I am looking into whether I can tie the unit into the room vent, but I need to try to get/make an adapter.

Better systems exist.

2 hose units suck in external air to dissipate the heat generated by the unit, which is much better as you aren't exhausting your cooled air, and you're not creating a pressure differential. These units seem to be fairly rare though.

You can also get split 'portable' units, which are like mini-versions of the installed A/C units. These keep all of the hot stuff (and some of the noisy components) outside, with just power and refrigerant lines connecting the two. These are expensive though.

Best is a permanent install - but this is more expensive again.