Are there portable ac units available immediately anywhere?

[DreadedInn]

Hi, my 93 year old MIL has been struggling with the heat in her flat. I have been looking for a cheap (around £150-200) portable ac unit my husband could take there and set up this week.
Obviously they are mainly out of stock but I am wondering if anyone has found a “secret stash” perhaps in a shop I wouldn’t normally think of?
Thanks

Ours was super easy. The thing for the window fits any size window and it only took a few minutes. But you have to wait for 24 hours with it sitting there before you can switch it on.

It was really bloody heavy though. I did my back in trying to shift it up stairs alone! But I'm not very strong so I guess a normal person would be ok with it.

It's for a 93 year old, not such a problem for someone younger.
I don't think the 24 hours thing applies to all of them. Mine gets moved from room to room as required but it is on wheels.

Yeah that's true. I've got the body strength of a 93 yo!

I think it's true of any the 24 HR thing as you can't guarantee it hasn't been on its side at some point during warehousing or transit.
The oil need to leak back down to the bottom or it can blow the motor. I think 24 hours is the maximum. But I was too scared to risk breaking it by doing it sooner!

Moving it from room to room is easy. I just unfortunately have tons of stairs!

Not an airconditioner, but Appliances Direct have evaporative air coolers available for delivery from Monday:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/ac701r/akai-ac701r-air-cooler

Probably not allowed to post this, so expecting it to be deleted.

However, I have three that I got from Marks Electrical last week. I am going to return them, as they're really too big for our bedrooms. I was desperately looking and just grabbed the only three I could find, without really considering the size. They are 10,000BTU and 65db.

One has been unpacked and tested (very effective), and the other two are still in their original packaging.

If anyone around the Bedfordshire area is interested, rather than returning them, I'd pass them on for what I paid fir them (£350 each)

This doesn’t answer your question as it’s not in stock (sorry!) but I bought this reasonably cheap unit in desperation to use in our baby’s room and it’s worked a treat. It’s not the most powerful, sure, but it brought the temperature down from 29 to 22-23 during the very hot weather here in London which makes a big difference to comfort. It’s a small room, and we do have another more powerful unit which does a better job, but to be honest for the price I’ve been very pleased. Just to offer an alternative perspective on cheap units!

www.wayfair.co.uk/home/pdp/fxsger-energy-efficient-3-in-1-portable-air-conditioner-7000-btu-cooling-36lday-dehumidifier-2-speed-fan-quiet-sleep-mode-24h-timer-digital-display-remote-window-kit-for-rooms-up-to-300-sqft-fsge3772.html

I know it's a common discussion but the difference between proper air con and any kind of fan or cooler is like night and day.
My little air con unit gets the bedroom from furnace to freezer in an hour.

That's really cool if OP could reach you to get it. We ended up canceling our order for a second one and I'm thinking I should've kept it and just sold it at cost price to a vulnerable or desperate person. I guess I just didn't know how few would be available.

Hi, sorry to jump on this but do you still have them please

I believe a cold damp towel round the back of the neck is good. I have a neck fan but they can be quite noisy.

My husband is going down there this week and was going to set it up if we could find one.

That’s really kind but I can’t get to Bedfordshire.

So if anyone can who would like one for someone vulnerable I hope they can get in touch with you.

Thanks again everyone

I am desperate for one for my rabbits. I hate it enough myself but the stress for the rabbits of two weeks of this is going to be awful, even with all the measures I have in place. The house was 30 degrees last time. I am about an hour away and am utterly desperate. Please get in touch if you still have them.

Please make sure your relative doesnt sit with all the windows open all day under a misguided idea that 'keeping the air moving' somehow makes it cooler - it doesnt.
The best approach is to open all windows very early (6-7am) while its cooler but close them as soon as the air temperature outside is the same or warmer as it is inside - and get the curtains and blinds close to prevent the heat coming in the windows.

So many people have windows wide open at 2pm letting all that 34 degree heat in when their house was maybe only 27 degrees inside, and opening the windows is actually like turning a heater on!

I know AC units are like hens teeth right now. How about an ice machine in the interim. I have one and it’s fabulous. I have the ice in drinks but also put a bowl of ice in front of a fan, which is far better than nothing.

Messaged you 🙂

I got a Meaco 140000 btu from curry’s online today, for delivery Tuesday. It was £600 but that seems standard for the quality and I just want to be able to sleep so didn’t really care what it cost.

Apparently Aldi sell some kind of mini air con pack someone was telling me about it may be worth a look. Roy’s (east Anglia) had air con units last week not many left. I don’t know if you have a shop like this where you are they seem to sell everything from hardware, clothes and some food!

Keep seeing people at various places saying the cheap ones don’t work and I get they may not be as good, but my daughter and partner got one of the Lidl ones and have been very impressed. Admittedly they have small rooms in their house, but it’s enough to keep them and grandson cool in the extremes of the worst heats.

Ive PMd you 😊

Yeah that's good to hear. I just heard they break easily. But if the room isn't too big when it's functional it definitely will cool the room. It probably is markedly better than nothing or just a fan. Hope it keeps up the good work!
Think it's gonna be v hot again next week! X

Get her to freeze enough wet tea towels that she can always be using a couple to cool down while the others refreeze. Or wet flannels frozen in zip lock bags to put inside clothes.

I do appreciate all your comments but the chance of her listening to me re. tips about cold flannels, just being in a t-shirt and knickers etc etc are zero. I have explained the windows/curtains being shut depending on outside temperature so many times and she has developed her own entirely random schedule re. that 😂 hence thinking about a portable unit my husband could arrange.
I think I will let him talk to her when he’s down there.

We have Meaco fans (next day delivery from Amazon) which are pretty good. But doing the windows/curtains thing correctly and moving around into the coolest room over the day is important (and easily done). Does she drink plenty of water ?

The cold towels are pretty good too (it’s like a scarf in a special material which goes really cold when it’s wet, no need for freezing). Again, on Amazon.