[PortableACChap]

The Honeywell 14,000 BTU dual-hose portable a/c unit is for most of my bedroom cooling needs during the hot months. The single-hose LG 10,0000 BTU a/c unit is for room ventilation during the cooler months and for rainy days. The Honeywell dual-hose unit has no "single-hose mode". The exhaust fan only runs when the compressor is cycled on during the cooling mode. In fan mode, the exhaust fan is inoperative so this unit is no good as a room ventilator. It can't generate back pressure to draw in outside air to the inside of the home like the single-hose design can so I need both types of a/c for a complete climate solution.

If Honeywell and other dual-hose a/c makers were even smarter, they'd design a unit with a ventilation/back pressure/single-hose mode that would switch from dual-hose mode to single-hose mode by flipping a lever or pushing a button. In this theoretical back-pressure fashion, air would be drawn in from the bedroom instead of via the window kit intake hose by means of a diverter valve to cool the condenser coil and expel the air back out the window. In this single-hose mode, the exhaust fan would run continuously, in either cool or fan mode, for flow-through ventilation drawing fresh air into the home from the other rooms by the pores in the walls and the gaps around doors and windows. Think of automobile climate control: dual-hose mode should be a recirculation function (no air drawn from the outside to mix with indoor atmosphere) while single-hose mode should be a "fresh air from the outside" function. It's rather inconvenient to have to disconnect hoses from the window kit to change airflow modes anyway. These portable a/c machines have limited dehumidification in cooling mode as well so in humid climates one need a separate dehumidifier in the bedroom.

I also need a separate stand fan to get maximum cooling effect due to wind chill. This Honeywell, as most other dual-hose a/c units with a top cooling vent, has limited air flow output: a weak fan to blow cold air out even at HIGH speed. My single hose LG a/c with a large square front vent has much more powerful air flow. Sometimes I have to place the fan right in front of the Honeywell while in bed to get maximum cooling comfort. The fan boosts the cold air current delivery to my body where I lie in bed. The dual hose model has the advantage of not drawing more humid air into the home while the single-hose model has the advantage of flow-through home ventilation. I can't open my windows (sans awning/overhang protection) during rainy weather as the strong winds of SW Oklahoma will blow water right into my home and that's where my single-hose a/c comes in handy for flow-through cooling and ventilation.

I have a tall bedroom window sill and note the cement blocks I have the Honeywell up on that allow the short hoses to reach the window kit. Another flop in design. I have yet to see how well this unit cools my bedroom on 100+ days. It seems to keep my bedroom at 68-70 degrees temperature so far with outside temperatures up to 96 degrees. I have a bedside digital thermometer and humidity gauge. The temperature readout out on the aircon panel reads 3-4 degrees cooler than the thermometer by my bedside indicates. An HVAC tech told me years ago an aircon should keep the interior of the home at least 30 degrees cooler than the exterior. I usually have to keep the temp setting on the aircon about 67 degrees to feel 68-70 degrees in bed which is on the opposite side of the 145 square foot bedroom and have separate portable fan between the foot of my bed and the front of the aircon cooling vent.

Honeywell could improve this unit by offering an optional flow-through ventilation for fan and cooling mode (which when selected, the unit in would operate exactly the same as a single-hose unit in physics principles), a much stronger cooling fan and more generous hose lengths for tall window sills.

 

[PortableACChap]

Now for the bad news!

I just got shocking electric bill !!!

Only $83 in May but now $155 this month! That damn dehumidifier I bought at Walmart might have to go right back since I still have about another 35 days to return it. I have a new dual-hose A/C so I might not need to rely on a separate room dehumidifier. I like to keep my room at about 45 percent relative humidity but during the hottest summer months in SW Oklahoma the humidity is not supposed to be so high after the rainy/thunder season is over.

I wrote the power company an email to make a complaint as follows:

"I see my current electric bill. It looks suspiciously high. It looks like a have a smart LCD meter. How can I verify if power is being drawn off my meter even if the main circuit breaker in my apartment is shut off? On an old-fashioned meter, the disk stops turning when current stops flowing. What is the equivalent to the "turning disk" on my digital meter? I want to investigate for possible illegal tapping of my meter since I have neighbors in my apartment building. Electricity theft is always possible. This can be done by shutting off the main in my unit and observing my meter if one knows how to observe it properly. The upstairs neighbors are fairly new as live on a bottom unit. I did buy a new 50-pint compressor-type home dehumidifier "Energy Star rated" on April 24, 2020 and have been using it almost 24/7 since then. It's rated at 632 watts. I also have been using a new portable dual-hose air conditioner for about two weeks now and it's rated at 14,000 BTU but it's supposed to be more energy-efficient than my older single-hose unit rated at 10,000 BTU which draw in hot air from outside the home. I'm disabled and stay home all the time and my portable a/c runs almost all of the time in warmer months just as it has been doing the summer months of 2019 when even in the months of July and August my consumption was still much lower than using that supposedly much-less-efficient single-hose air conditioner. Also, I'm going to start religiously photographing my meter readings with my time-dated digital camera on billing days each month to compare the meter readings on my bills. Can a small household dehumidifier appliance alone possible cause my bill to jump about $72 from May to June? It's not easy for me to believe. I need to seriously diagnose the sharp rise in the consumption. Is there a gross meter error on your part? Is somebody tapping my household wires as through the wall or floor? Is my dinky dehumidifier really a gross power hog?"

I might be able to sacrifice the dehumidifier, but my a/c in Lawton, OK this time of year?

Might as well get run over by a freight train: I'd die anyway!

I just tried something different too: I put my Draft Guards under both my bedroom doors (one leads to the bathroom).

The dual hose a/c seems to be keeping the room humidity from about 53-59%. Without those gap-fillers under my doors it was keeping room humidity between 59-66%. The a/c compressor kicks in, the humidity drops: the compressor shuts off, the humidity rises again. It's a yo-yo effect. I think the air in the room wicks in moisture lick a sponge from adjacent rooms or through pores in the drywall. The door draft guards might help make things easier on the electric meter as well. Throughout most of the day, the rest of the home is not climate controlled. It gets warm and muggy in other parts of the home. Most of my time is spent in my bedroom so I try to make it as comfy as possible while trying to keep the meter running as slow as possible. It's a real summer battle: taking on both mother nature and PSO!!

The humidity is only 42% in my city right now so why is the humidity that much higher inside the home?

I have an LSD digital humidity/temp gauge right on my nightstand. It's 93 degrees in Lawton, OK right now.

 

[PortableACChap]

couple more pics, forgot almost...

 

[PortableACChap]

Question: will one of these save me significantly on electric bills?

https://planetaides.com/


It's unsightly as the devil and look at the price of it. Is there a more elegant solution that is at least as energy-efficient?

 

[roughneck]

Other then the last post, is this a question or more of a blog?
Portable units are notoriously inefficient, even the 2 hose models.
The 2 hose model you speak of isn’t using the condenser fan as a room exhaust, it’s in one hose and out the other for condenser air.
Single hose units are terribly inefficient and create more problems then they solve by creating negative air pressure within the room.
You’d benefit greatly by scrapping the portables and getting a minisplit.

 

[user_12345a]

Those dual hose units are only like 6 EER, a basic window unit is 11.

They shouldn't be legal.

A window unit is so much better if you can stand the ugliness and having a window blocked.

 

[user_12345a]

The humidity is only 42% in my city right now so why is the humidity that much higher inside the home?

% humidity is based on how much moisture is in the air vs how much moisture the air can hold.

The hotter it is, the more moisture the air can hold.



42% at 93F is humid, at 80F indoor in absolute terms it would be over 60%.

 

[PortableACChap]

Those dual hose units are only like 6 EER, a basic window unit is 11.

They shouldn't be legal.

A window unit is so much better if you can stand the ugliness and having a window blocked.

My apartment manager says no window units and that's common all over America. Apartment tenants are pretty much restricted to those "cooling robots" with window hoses as I have. My living room has a larger 1,850 watt wall (Motel 6) a/c unit from the landlord.

 

[PortableACChap]

Besides, it's not safe to have a window blocked if you only have one bedroom window to escape in a fire blocking the bedroom door. There is a safety factor in having my floor unit.
Since I have two separate bedroom windows, blocking only one window by a box window a/c would be fine in safety theory.

 

[PortableACChap]

The Verdict on My Dehumidifier, it's an energy PIG!

My dehumidifier was averaging a consumption of 15.6 KWH/ a day all by its lonesome!

Removing this machine from my home's power grid resulted in a 24-hour consumption of 33.48 KWH with a/c running all day long, cooking, dishwashing and other usually activities being the same.

My last bill was $155.25 for a 32 day cycle, May 14-June 15. The dehumidifier was practically running 24/7 in my bedroom over that period right next to the portable a/c which was also running all day long.

I paid $155.25 for 1,571 KWH consumed. I project that the dehumidifier used 499.2 KWH during that period.

$155.25/1,571 = 9.98 cents, average, MY cost out of pocket per KWH

That dehumidifier then cost ME $48.92 last month alone to operate.

Without the dehumidifier my bill should have been more like $106.33.

What I am going to do now is only run the dehumidifier as necessary and never during peak summer hours. In Lawton, OK the price per KWH about triples between the hours of 2 - 7 PM during the 5 summer calling on-peak season months, June - October. I may need to turn it on for an hour or two to feel dry in bed so I can fall asleep comfortably. The do put a timer on my dehumidifier for a reason. The executive *******s at the PSO electric company who ride around in private jets paid by you and I, the electric consumer.

I like to keep the room humidity below 60 at least while I'm trying to fall asleep.

Lawton, Oklahoma has cheap rent but high electric bills trying to fight the nasty muggy/hot weather to stay comfy. Sacramento and Boise, ID, from where I hail in the past, has dry hot summer weather but rent is not doable for me there. The poor suffer everywhere one way or another. I will be getting energy assistance this summer for cooling, $249 toward my electric bills for the five months of June through October.

I will reserve my dehumidifier for "life or death emergencies". Lying in bed feeling damp and itchy is pure punishment. The dual-hose a/c seems to be an improvement of the single-hose a/c for keeping humidity in the room lower but sometimes even the dual-hose can't keep the room humidity in the 50's and the room humidity can rise up into the low 70's without help from the dehumidifier. If I keep my dual-hose a/c set at 68 degrees during the afternoon, it can manage to keep humidity below 60% when the outside humidity is about 40% and the temp outside is up in the 90's. Right now it's 75% humidity outside and my a/c seems to be keeping humidity below 60% while set on 68 degrees F and the fan on HIGH speed.

I can't understand why the humidity is 20 - 30% higher inside my room than it is outside. Where does that moisture come from?

 

[beenthere]

Your single hose portable lets outside air in when its not running, so it also causes the 2 hose A/C to run longer and more often. Along with causing your dehumidifier to run more.

93°F outside air at 45%RH. When cooled to 70°F if no moisture removed now raises to 92%RH.

So its not moisture being added, but not enough moisture being removed.

Close off the single hose vent, and see how your humidity does.

 

[PortableACChap]

The single hose vent is closed off with saran wrap: it's about an airtight seal

 

[Missouri Bound]

Your calculations don't make any sense. Your dehumidifier cannot cost you $50 a month to operate.
First of all, how big is your apartment?
Secondly....when it's nicer outside than inside why aren't you opening windows?
You certainly should not need any dehumidifier if your AC units are working properly.
There is a lot of information lacking.
In your bedroom, one small unit would take care of both the humidity and temperature if working properly.

 

[PortableACChap]

Missouri Bound, you don't understand the climate in SW Oklahoma right now. Right now it's 93 degrees F outside my window as I type in my 145-sq-ft bedroom. This is a/c weather now, no exceptions. I'm a polar bear. I can't bear room temps above 70 degrees for long periods. My latest PSO electric bill was $155.25 for 1,571 KWH consumed over 32 days according to my smart meter. That averages to 49 point-something KWH per day. Eliminating the dehumidifier and nothing else for 24-hours dropped daily KWC consumption to 33 point-something: the dehumidifier alone is figured to have drawn nearly 16 KWH a day. Remember also that the dehumidifier produces heat to lower room humidity. It's got a freon compressor in it. The heat it kicks out in the room is being battled by the a/c to keep the room cooler. IOt could be that the a/c was consuming more power working against the dehumidifier: suffice it to say, dehumidifier operation jacks up power consumption to about 16 KWH/day extra between both of those appliances working at the same time in the same bedroom. Battling both humidity and heat in a room beats up the meter and my wallet.

 

[PortableACChap]

The humidity outside is only 32% and it's a comfy 55% in my room now with the dehumidifier shut off only only the a/c running. Last night after midnight, outside humidity was 75% and the air conditioner could only keep room humidity in the low 60's unless I set it on 68 degrees and it could drop it down to about 58% then rising back up to about 65% when the compressor cycles off. It doesn't take long for the humidity to climb back up again once the compressor kicks off. A/C has limited humidity control in my sub-tropics apartment.

 

[PortableACChap]

These are old apartments built in 1971 with bricks outside and drywall inside. I don't understand myself where all this interior airborne moisture is coming from. It's as if the walls absorb outside moisture like a sponge to wick it indoors. Placing my hand inside the cold air vent of my a/c I can feel dampness like a condensed cold drinking glass. The cooling vent of my a/c is soaking wet. The portable a/c might not be as efficient at humidity reduction as a central a/c unit or a window or wall unit.

 

[beenthere]

Does your portable have selectable fan speeds. If so, try a slower speed.

 

[Missouri Bound]

These are old apartments built in 1971 with bricks outside and drywall inside. I don't understand myself where all this interior airborne moisture is coming from. It's as if the walls absorb outside moisture like a sponge to wick it indoors.

I think you understand exactly what is happening.
I doubt there is any substantial insulation in those walls, certainly not up to current standards and probably no vapor barrier.
I know you appreciate the obvious low rent but in order to get an indoor climate you can live with you may have to consider moving.
There is a limit of what can be done with older building.
Are you anywhere near water? Is there a basement to that building?
I have personally seen buildings built over land that used to be wetland and the excessive moisture had ruined the roofs in a short amount of time.
How about your neighbors? What are their issues, similar I expect.
Excessive humidity can cause mold. Have you experienced any illnesses that could be attributed to that? The landlord MUST keep that building up to acceptable standards. I would survey the rest of the tenants and see what is going on.

 

[redogsc]

I have a single hose LG that looks like yours that I bought to use occasionally in my garage. When my central AC failed once, I used it in my bedroom. It lowered the temperature, but was ineffective in removing humidity. We have pretty nasty humidity in central South Carolina too. I wonder how much of it is the recirculating condensate scheme they use. I seem to remember that it has a slinger on one of the fans that recirculates the condensate on to the condenser coils. I know I can hear it sloshing around in there. Mine has a drain plug that can be removed.

I wonder if you could sit the unit on a platform, remove the plug, and let the condensate drain through a hose into a sealed bucket? Maybe you could even rig up some kind of ejector pump to empty the bucket through a hose that feeds out of the window? I would avoid open buckets of condensate, if you're trying to control the humidity.

 

[PortableACChap]

I have a single hose LG that looks like yours that I bought to use occasionally in my garage. When my central AC failed once, I used it in my bedroom. It lowered the temperature, but was ineffective in removing humidity. We have pretty nasty humidity in central South Carolina too. I wonder how much of it is the recirculating condensate scheme they use. I seem to remember that it has a slinger on one of the fans that recirculates the condensate on to the condenser coils. I know I can hear it sloshing around in there. Mine has a drain plug that can be removed.

I wonder if you could sit the unit on a platform, remove the plug, and let the condensate drain through a hose into a sealed bucket? Maybe you could even rig up some kind of ejector pump to empty the bucket through a hose that feeds out of the window? I would avoid open buckets of condensate, if you're trying to control the humidity.

My portable a/c, like most, is supposed to take the condensed water it collects and expel it automatically through the exhaust hose in the form of steam, vapor or mist. I don't know about mine but some a/c even use this condensed water to help cool the condenser coils as well. My a/c does have a drain plug in back. The book says to empty it if it should ever become full. The a/c panel should indicate that the collection tank is full. My dual-hose a/c is sitting up 8" off the floor on cement blocks anyway so the hoses can reach the window kit. It makes it easier to drain the unit by hand in case that is ever needed. I don't know how humidity from the outside gets inside the home with all the doors and windows shut and the a/c continuing to recirculate the same air within the room's atmosphere. A dual hose unit does not draw in air from the outside as a single-hose design does. In the early summer of 2019 following heavy SW Oklahoma thunderstorms, it got as high as 90% with the single-hose unit running then. The dual-hose does control humidity considerably better than the single-hose unit I have ever did. Depending on the humidity level outside, my dual-hose unit can keep humidity down in the 50's during the day unassisted by a separate dehumidifier. Humidity usually rises locally here at night. It's 80 outside right now at 3 in the morning and the humidity is 53% outside. The humidity gauge in my bedroom right now is fluctuating between 61-68% at 68 degrees F room temp. The humidity was as low as 55% in my bedroom at 1 this morning. I got up after sleeping 9 hours since about 4 in the afternoon, and went the kitchen and cooked a pancake breakfast and washed dishes. I came back into my room 2 hours later and now the humidity is up in the 60's. I had the living room wall a/c running for about an hour while working in the kitchen.

There are no basements in my apartment building that I know of. There is no body of water nearby.