Page 6 | Portable air conditioners

Pickledonions12 · 2026-05-28T10:02:40+00:00

Morning everyone. I'm thinking of buying one of these. Does anyone have any advice and/or specific models they'd recommend? Thanks 🥰

Imunravelled · 30/06/2026 16:33

Dbank · 28/05/2026 14:08

In countries where you need AC most of the year "Dual Hose" is more common on portable units, as they are 40%-50% cheaper to run than a single hose design, but the purchase cost is higher.

Single hose units are inherently inefficient for two main reasons,

As it blows air out of the room, warm air is sucked in to replace it, through gaps in the floor, windows and vents etc.
The cooled air in the room is used to cool the "hot side" of the unit. (which might sound sense, but the heat differential is so great you might as well use the ambient air outside, for "free".)

Dual hose systems, don't reduce the air pressure and don't use the air in the room to cool the "hot side"

I've been unable to find anyone selling "dual hose" portable units in the UK, I would love to know if anyone can find one.

Quite a good explanation

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After another heat wave and also looking for dual hose units, I finally found the EcoFlow Wave 3. Currently £799 at full price for the version without a battery (sold out right now) although they always seem to have some sort of discount. I decided to go for one because they are actually portable (approximately 13.5 kg for the base unit) rather than the usual "portable" units on wheels that are 20kg+

Will report back when it arrives.

https://uk.ecoflow.com/products/wave-3-portable-air-conditioner

EcoFlow WAVE 3 Portable Air Conditioner | EcoFlow UK - EcoFlow UK

Powerful portable air conditioner with cooling and heating functions, app control and up to 8 hours of wireless use.

https://uk.ecoflow.com/products/wave-3-portable-air-conditioner

Dbank · 30/06/2026 20:15

Imunravelled · 30/06/2026 16:33

After another heat wave and also looking for dual hose units, I finally found the EcoFlow Wave 3. Currently £799 at full price for the version without a battery (sold out right now) although they always seem to have some sort of discount. I decided to go for one because they are actually portable (approximately 13.5 kg for the base unit) rather than the usual "portable" units on wheels that are 20kg+

Will report back when it arrives.

https://uk.ecoflow.com/products/wave-3-portable-air-conditioner

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As I read it, the EcoFlow Wave 3 is still effectively a single hose design, but I will be interested to hear your feedback once you have received and tested it.

Sunshineandrainbow · 30/06/2026 21:41

@Imunravelled I would be interested to hear your thoughts too. It doesn't look like any others I have seen.

LoafofSellotape · 30/06/2026 21:58

Pickledonions12 · 28/05/2026 12:39

Ah I see @Imunravelled. So .....with a portable unit it's not just a case of park it near a window, poke the plastic hose out of the window and jobs a goodun?

Some thought has to be put into how to "seal" or cover the open part of the window through which the plastic hose is poked?

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That's exactly what we do,put it near a window,hose out and shut the curtains around it to seal it as much as we can. We have a 20 year of Delonghi and it's great. Noisy though but gets the room really cold when the heat gets too much . We paid about £350 at the time and it's still going. Keep the door shut to the room.

Imunravelled · 30/06/2026 23:06

Dbank · 30/06/2026 20:15

As I read it, the EcoFlow Wave 3 is still effectively a single hose design, but I will be interested to hear your feedback once you have received and tested it.

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Can you explain why you think that? I'm not asking to be snarky - genuinely interested as to what the difference is. It has both an inlet and an outlet hose.

Dbank · 01/07/2026 01:10

Imunravelled · 30/06/2026 23:06

Can you explain why you think that? I'm not asking to be snarky - genuinely interested as to what the difference is. It has both an inlet and an outlet hose.

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Having read the manual again, I stand corrected this can be used as a dual hose machine.

HumbleKatey · 17/08/2026 18:00

Imunravelled · 28/05/2026 11:25

I saw some guy in the UK testing these (sorry can't link because it was just on my IG feed or something). But he was saying that a problem with the portable units is that they pump hot air out (through ducting that you should put out a window or a vent) but the models for sale in the UK don't have a inlet hose. So the air being pumped out of the house pulls hot air from the outside in through window vents or other gaps in the house. This means that they don't cool that big an area and you're constantly trying to cool warm air from the outside. Which is not great given the cost of electricity to run the things.

I get the impression they are ok for creating one cooler space within a house if you are willing to pay the cost of running it (or have solar/batteries)

You are absolutely correct,

FinallyHere · 17/08/2026 18:10

Imunravelled · 28/05/2026 11:25

I saw some guy in the UK testing these (sorry can't link because it was just on my IG feed or something). But he was saying that a problem with the portable units is that they pump hot air out (through ducting that you should put out a window or a vent) but the models for sale in the UK don't have a inlet hose. So the air being pumped out of the house pulls hot air from the outside in through window vents or other gaps in the house. This means that they don't cool that big an area and you're constantly trying to cool warm air from the outside. Which is not great given the cost of electricity to run the things.

I get the impression they are ok for creating one cooler space within a house if you are willing to pay the cost of running it (or have solar/batteries)

@Imunravelled if they had an inlet hose, where would they be getting the air from? How would that be different to the scenario you describe?

bumblebee1000 · 17/08/2026 22:07

FinallyHere · 17/08/2026 18:10

@Imunravelled if they had an inlet hose, where would they be getting the air from? How would that be different to the scenario you describe?

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The machines with 2 hoses draw fresh air from the outside, meant to be about 20% more efficient than the single hose models, some people adapt their one hose model by boxing off the intake on the machine and fitting a second hose, info on youtube about all this. You can also lag the exhaust pipe so the heat from it dont add heat to your already warm room...Ultimately the portable machines have all the heat making working parts inside the room, hence the box ones that sit in a sash window in usa etc are much more efficient but costly and a bit noisier.