Mobile Split Air Conditioner for Apartment

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21
I really don't understand what you mean. My portable AC unit cools down my living room and does not warm up the rest of my aprtment.

22
The Novamatics and others that look the same are very noisy and I'd say only suitable for commercial situations like a server room or something.

Stiebel Eltron used to do good ones. Probably the best out there now is the Argo Ullysse 13. Circa 1600 euro in Germany and significantly more in Switzerland.

Great if someone has found an installation of a monoblock unit that works for them but the science doesn't lie.

If you have the situation where you have outside space away from neighbours you could make a temporary installation of a mini-split unit if you think you could get away with it.

23
Portable Air Conditioners - Why you shouldn't like them

24
I looked through discussion about mobile ACs and arguments that 'they will cool your bedroom but warm other parts of apartment' this is partially true... this happens because most of mobile ACs such air from apt to cool condenser and expel hot air outside (and thus create negative pressure in apt, and that air will be sucked in form somewhere where is hotter... that's true. Nobody mentioned however a dual hose mobile units, which suck air from outside to cool condenser (well the 'hot side') and expel same air out... this creating no difference in pressure in apt, I mean like that one:

25
I'm sure you do not realize it, but that's indeed what's happening, even if the effect might not be apparent.

This. As I said, I opted for a (powerful, 12000 BTU) monobloc because I basically have no other choice, and because most of the heat comes from a single room, but I'm not super happy about the solution. Making sure that the seal around the window is tight when there is negative pressure pushing air inside is a velcro and tape nightmare.

Yes, this might work. However: 1) you still get full noise inside the house, as with a monobloc, and 2) you need to put two large exhausts out of the window(s), and separated by a large enough distance so that you do not re-use the exhaust hot air to cool down the unit. Might be doable, but really depends on the layout of your windows and apartment.

26
This is excellent.

27
So it seems split units, or more conventional air cons units are more energy efficient and effective. It does beg the questions as to why Switzerland is not accepting of these, I mean it's almost impossible to get a permit to install one.

28
Because the noise generated by split systems is NIMBY stuff.

The noise you move outside of your apartment will naturally be generated the furthest apart possible, which will simultaneously be closest to your neighbor. Not always, but usually and in the vast majority of cases.

Cue neighborhood wars. Miracle of miracles, the neighbor's system keeps going out of service and everybody wonders why.

29
My nearest neighbour also has a split system

30
Do you still sleep with your windows open in the very warm nights? Tropical nights as they're called around here.

31
You can buy so-called portable split units (where the compressor is inside) in Switzerland so I'd assume Switzerland is accepting of these. Conventional fixed split unit outdoor units are quieter than they used to be but there's still the potential for them to become noisy and a disturbance. I used to hear that it's because of the environmental impact but I don't know about that.

32
I am indeed considering one of these, even if bulky, turns out I'd have the room for that.

Question: Look at the attached pictures of my window panel (notice it's a fixed panel, not an opening, next to the actual door-window, and the frame is made of wood).

How insane am I for considering cutting a 4 cm hole through the wood frame there in the red spot? I could pass the hose of the split unit through there, use two raisers on the side rails to block the sliding shutter 4 cm from ground, and once leaving the flat I could seal the hole with polyurethane foam and wood putty, plus some paint. (I would not ask Livit for permission, of course the default answer would be "no")

33
Any idea?

34
Exactly what I did, the hole is larger due to an earlier ac.

35
Whenever cutting into a window in a rented flat where you think there might be issues with the landlord, often a good solution is to look at Hornbach or similar for a cheap window in the same size. Drill your hole in the replacement window. Take the original window off and store it safely, install the replacement.

Then when you move out, put the original window back in. Landlord has nothing to complain of.

---

In my earlier post I forgot to mention another small annoyance with my old split unit: The drip hose. It's quite short so you have to find a tray that works with that, but is also large enough to collect a fair amount of water. My solution is to raise the unit on a platform so the hose more easily drips down into a tray. On a humid day you have to empty the tray fairly often. I have no idea if this is still a thing with newer units.

36
Anybody know where you can buy one of these? I modified a single hose one to have 2 hoses, put them in 2 windows about 2m apart, it cools the room MUCH faster and much colder than in single hose mode. I did this because i couldn't find dual hose ones for sale and it looks really ghetto. Cardboard boxes and duct tape kinda thing.

37
GLORIOUS! I think I'm gonna go for it!

Thanks for the hint, I will have a look at Hornback just to have an idea. However, I doubt it is worth the effort and cost of a replacement window, also considering that I don't know for how long we will stay in this apartment, and I think fixing the hole is gonna be relatively painless, so I'm probably going to take the risk unless at Hornback they have replacement windows for very cheap.

38
Just a quick necropost-update on this. The "powerful" monobloc unit that I bought last summer didn't deliver, after not even a month I decided to return it because it was absolutely disappointing. This year I went for a split unit and I did as planned above: I drilled a hole in the wooden frame of the window (more difficult than it looks like but doable) and passed the hose in between. Sealed with white silicon.

The result? FANTASTIC! Even if the unit is in a somewhat inconvenient area of the house (far away from the computers where I work), by using that and a couple of fans to circulate the air in the apartment we managed to keep the temperature absolutely decent!

Do not go for a monobloc. Split AC is the way.