Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioners

What are portable air conditioners?

Portable air conditioners are cooling units which can be moved to the space where they are needed. They are designed to be mobile, with wheeled bottoms, handles, or latches to place in windows. Since they use electricity, portable air conditioners just need an outlet to begin cooling air.

These can be contrasted to conventional air conditioners, which are installed permanently into the structure of a building and they need to be connected to vents. Whereas conventional air conditioners cool your entire home, portable air conditioners are meant to just cool a single room.

Portable air conditioners can be used anywhere. They provide a way to cool an especially stuffy room without having to cool an entire house or floor. Common applications of portable air conditioners include: 

  • Kitchen: Using an oven, microwave, stovetop, toaster, or coffee machine heats up the kitchen, a portable air conditioner can cool it down to a comfortable level.
  • Areas Without Air Conditioning: Garages, basements, attics, and cellars often don't have air conditioning vents. Portable air conditioners are especially useful if you've converted an appendage room into a bedroom or office.
  • Sunny Areas: Target rooms that are hit directly by the sun by blasting them with the cooling power of a portable air conditioner.

Dual Hose

Dual hose portable air conditioners are superior to single hose models in efficiency. They imitate a conventional air conditioning system by having two hoses, instead of one. One hose serves as an exhaust hose to release warm air and the other draws in fresh air from the outside into the machine to cool it down.

Ambient air inside the room is cooled with the condenser, and its byproduct is released using the exhaust hose. The second hose brings in fresh air from outside to cool the condenser coil and compressor. Once the outside air has cooled the machine, it too is released from the exhaust hose. Cold, air-conditioned air is released back into the room.


Single Hose

A single hose portable air conditioner removes heat from the room's air with the power from a condenser. That removed heat is released using the exhaust hose. The compressor coil is cooled off using air from the room, which is also then released out the same exhaust hose. hosedrawing

The single hose design is inefficient because it takes some of the cool air from the room and uses it to cool down the coils....and then shoots it outside. It also creates negative air pressure in the room that's being cooled, which sucks air from other rooms inside. This system ends up wasting a significant proportion of cooled air.

Overall, it takes at least 3 times or more times to cool a room using a single hose portable air conditioner. The extra efficiency makes a dual hose portable air conditioner the more environmentally friendly choice.


Recommended Units

We recommend a few excellent dual hose portable air conditioners:


lx140flipSoleus LX-140

At 14,000 BTUs, the Soleus LX-140 is commercial grade and an advanced dual hose portable air conditioner. It uses evaporative technology and has a specially designed motor for optimal efficiency. The Soleus LX-140 also functions fan, heater, and dehumidifier. Other features include a programmable timer, a multi-colored VFD display, a remote control, and 3 speeds on the fan.







pact110pDeLonghi PAC-T110P

DeLonghi offers its Pinguino T110P dual hose portable air conditioner, which also serves as an air purifier and a dehumidifier. The sleek design may look delicate, but behind the brushed metal casing a powerhouse of cooling efficiency. The Pinguino runs at 11,000 BTUs and features an LCD display/remote control, caster-wheels, and 4 different cooling modes. The model uses 3M Filtrete to remove particles from the air and has a continuous draining system which is tank-free.






ac12000emediumNewAir AC-12000H

The NewAir AC-12000H runs at 12,000 BTUs and cools air quickly, quietly, and efficiently with the help of self-evaporative technology. It's also functions as a 3-speed oscillating fan and an electric space heater.  The NewAir AC-12000H covers 400 square feet and helps circulate air in the room.