Venting Portable AC Unit Question
I've got a Haier portable Air conditioner going in my basement. I'm considering venting (it's got a 5 foot by 4" exhaust pipe) it out through the nearest wall, but this would put the vent outside under our back porch. The under porch area is not enclosed, but I wondered if there would be an issue with the vent blowing out under there? The porch is 5 feet deep and about 15 feet long and about 4 feet off the ground. It's only covered on one side by a large opening latice.
Answer:
Make sure you put a flapper door with a mesh animal/bug guard on the end. When those chilly nights come, a 4" hole with warm air coming out of it will attract LOTS of company. The higher off the ground you can get it, the better. I don't see any problem with doing this on a mechanical basis but here is what you should look at for your confort. 1) Hot air will be dumped under your porch and heat will rise through the cracks and ends to be exposed to you when your out there. 2) Depending the model and noise level of the air and the unit. You may want to listen to the unit exhaust before installing it there. Picture this : 6:00 A.M. , Cup of Coffee , Listening to the Birds, and you have this hissing noise under your feet and you look around to see it is not a animal under there. 3) There is no problem with it working well under there but just the heat and noise to look at. Won't most of the moisture be gone from the exhaust air anyway (it will be hot!)? My portable AC collects a couple of cups of water when I run it 8 hr or so.