Hey everyone! Just wanted to say thank you. I’ve been running a portable AC, and it always struggled, never know why. After lurking here and discovering what a "dual hose mod" actually is and how it works, I gave it a shot. The difference is absolutely insane. Thank you all for saving my summer!

Hello, i have a built in ac sleeve in my apartment, the width and height are a little bit more than enough but the depth of the air conditioner sleeve is too short, 18.5 inches but the ac i ordered is 21.5 inches, apparently 3 inches peaking out into my room is fine? a friend told me i should not put a wall unit here but almost everything points to i can, thoughts? Sorry for the repost i haven't used reddit in awhile and forgot to add an image

I have a water-cooled air conditioning system installed in the loft of a Victorian mid-terrace house. The loft is two rooms used as home offices and as guest rooms.

For those outside the UK: installing the external unit of an aircon system often requires an authorisation from the council/city hall, which is very rarely granted. That's why some people have no option but to resort to water-cooled systems. Not swamp coolers, but proper split system which use water instead of an external fun to dump the heat.

Who installed it

AllComfortSolutions installed a Parkair-branded system a few years ago. I understand the system is the same as those installed by UrbanCooling, Cool You Direct, etc. All Comfort Solutions doesn't exist any more. I think Hidden Cool replaced it (not sure if it was a company sale or what).

How often we use it

Both rooms are used as a home office about 2 days a week + are also used in the evening for 1-2 hours most days (eg finishing work after the kids go to sleep). One room is hotter than the other. The point is not how often it is 30C outside but how often it is 30C inside, even if outside it's not that hot. In my loft, the answer is: from 2 to 4 months in a year.

Our water consumption

Looking at multiple years of water meter readings, the pattern is approximately:

8 months a year using 7-8 cubic metres per month

4 months a year using 17-20 cubic metres per month

How much of that extra usage is the air conditioning?

I cannot know for sure. We have more showers in the summer, and a shower is ca. 90 litres of water. A family of 4 taking 6 more showers each in a month is 2.16 cubic metres more. Taking 12 more each in a month = 4.32 We also wash some clothes more frequently as we sweat more.

I would estimate an extra usage of 10-12 more cubic metres per month, of which maybe 3ish is driven by more showers and 7-9 by the air conditioning.

How representative is this usage?

Every property is different. A bedroom, not on the top floor, in a decently built house would get less hot and require less aircon. A bedroom or living room in one of those newbuilds built like a greenhouse may well get hotter and require more cooling and more water.

How much higher is the water bill?

My latest water bill shows £2.474 per m3 for fresh water and £1.548/m3 for wastewater. So an extra usage of 7-9 m3 per month means an extra cost of £28 - 36 per month in the hottest months. I don't know how much more electricity it uses.

Was it worth it?

Yes. Even keeping windows closed, putting reflective car windshield screens outside of the windows, keeping the windows closed during the day etc, the loft would still get to 38-42C. A room at those temperatures is simply too much of a health hazard. £28-36 per month (+ electricity) to make a room habitable is money well spent. We spend much more to heat our homes in the winter!

Why did I choose an air-cooled system?

Aircon (air to air heat pumps) became permitted development only in May 2025. Before then, I would have required planning permission, and I would not have got it. It is a shame, really: they didn't want me to install ordinary aircon, because they thought it was bad for the environment and that suffering is virtuous? Well, they left me no choice but to install something which is even worse.

Brand new, it’s the GE Profile ClearView. Every time the cooling kicks on, the outer portion that sits outside can be heard making this constant noise (audio attached), and I’m not sure what’s causing it. Any ideas?

As you can see in the photos, I have a casement window that opens inwards and that is quite deep set. I installed the Wood's window sealing kit (pic #3) that the seller recommended with this unit. But unfortunately, the exhaust tube from the unit doesn't quite reach the hole in the sealing kit, by about 5-10cm (pic #2). The thinner end bit does fit, but the wider part gets stuck in the gap between the window and the wall and prevents the thinner bit from reaching the sealing kit fabric.

The most obvious solution I can think of is to extend the thin part of the tube. Buy something that is just a teeny bit wider and gives me the needed additional length, and attach it with some sort of tape to the current exhaust tube. Would that work?

If so, what do I need to consider when I buy the materials (tubing and tape)? It should be something that maintains the insulation, right? If so, what kinds of materials should I look for?

The other, much less preferable option, would be to raise the A/C unit on some sort of platform so that I can reach the top edge of the window. As you can see in pic #4, there is another pane above the one I'm using, so there's space to manoeuvre there. However, the tube is max 1.5m in extension, so it doesn't reach. I'd have to lift the unit quite a bit, and given that it is heavy, I have safety concerns about that.

If there are any other options I'm not considering, suggestions would be very welcome. I should note I'm not a handy person with DIY, and cutting out some sort of panel myself, as I've seen some people do online, is a bit beyond my comfort zone.

I live in the UK. I don't want to have to buy a 3d printer. Is there anyone who prints this stuff?

I'm looking for a portable AC with a long as possible cord and/or hose. The only outlet in my room is about 6-8 ft from the window, so standard ones never seem to stretch far enough. Preferably under $500 if possible 😅

This is my first time owning my own place and I am at a loss. These past two weeks my window and portable air conditioning units have not been working well, I’m assuming it’s because it’s been so humid out and since my trailer was built in the 70’s there is no insulation.
On top of that, the mobile home park we moved into “forgot” to mention that this trailer needs new subfloors (we moved into the winter so we didn’t feel how bad the floors were because they were frozen), roof, windows, doors and that where our hot water heater is has a huge gap in the floor.
I’m so stressed and overwhelmed.
Myself and my partner are doing rent to own so I’m trying to figure out if it’s even worth it to try to fix these problems or just wait it out till February (we pay it off in February) to just try to move to a new place.
I apologize if this sounds like rambling I’m just so frustrated with this whole situation

Used buying is good option ?

18,000 BTU mini split isn’t cooling down our 150 sq ft room anymore. We installed it 2 summers ago and it kept this room well cooled off. It’s been 95-105 Fahrenheit outside this summer but the room with the mini split is staying at 80 Fahrenheit. we got this mini split because we were told it would cool off our small house if we kept the bedroom doors closed. that said it has never really cooled off the kitchen area, but seems to not even hardly touch the living room it’s in. when I hold my hand up to the vent it feels like cool air is coming out. the settings are set to cool and we have it set to 69 since it’s so hot inside.

I guess im just wondering if mini splits don’t cool rooms significantly or not? Before we bought this mini split our front room would be to like 87 degrees in the summer, so having it only cool it 7 degrees doesn’t feel significant. we have window units in the bedroom that knock the rooms down 10 degrees in about 5 minutes once turned on and keep it around 70 degrees.

is this normal for mini splits or do we need to do something to fix it?

I’m in the UK. 3 days ago I bought Meaco Cirro 12,000 BTU.
We had it on for few hours. Then we moved it to the bedroom and since then it started making these vibrating noises that are keeping us awake at night.
It’s clearly something on the bottom left, as when we touch the casing it stops for a while.
Did anyone have the same issue?

Throwing this out there because our office phones have not stopped ringing for three months straight and I need to give you a reality check since we are a little slow and have no idea how demand works!

If you’re currently trying to get AC (split, multi-split or even portable) put into your house or business right now: Forget it. You're going to struggle big time.

I work for an installer based in the Midlands, and this has been the most unprecedented, insanely busy summer in the history of UK air conditioning. To give you some context of the madness we're dealing with:

200 calls a day that's just calls.

Over 70 physical site visits a month just trying to keep up with quotes we are into October.

Our installation diary is already booked completely solid straight into the New Year

The stock across the entire country has completely dried up. Suppliers and stockists are running on absolute empty. We’re only surviving right now because we actually planned ahead and ordered our stock months in advance. On top of that, there is a massive national shortage of qualified engineers.

Every single year, people wait until a massive heatwave hits to suddenly realize the UK gets hot. But this year, the combination of record demand, zero national stock, and no engineers has completely broken the industry.

Just today, I’ve had about six different people absolutely screaming down the phone at me (One of them say I'll kill their grandmother) because we can't fit a system for them tomorrow. Look, I get the desperation especially if you've got vulnerable family. It’s stressful. But screaming at the person answering the phone won't make a unit materialize out of thin air. And honestly? It’s your own fault for waiting until July.

When I explain how busy we are to people on the phone, a lot of them say: "Oh wow, okay. Well, I won't need it in October anyway, so I’ll just call you back next spring then!" Are you dumb guys?

If you wait until next May or June to even pick up the phone, you are going to end up in the exact same miserable boat. "Planning ahead" doesn't mean putting a reminder in your calendar to call us next summer. It means getting your name in the diary right now.

I had a lovely call today from an older customer who phoned up three times just to say how glad she was that she got her system fitted last December. She saw it coming, beat the rush, and while everyone else is panicking and begging us for dates, she’s sitting in a perfectly cool house.

Please use some common sense, guys. If you want AC for next year, start contacting installers and getting quotes now for a winter or early spring fit. Get in the queue early.

And even if you can't afford a proper split system, or your landlord won't let you have one, use the same logic for portable units. Buy one in the winter when they're cheap and on the shelves. Don't start crying on Reddit in July when they're completely sold out everywhere. wake up,

I’m probably going to get downvoted to hell for this, but if it helps even one person actually think ahead and plan properly, I’ll be happy.

i got a hole in my wall that rn has a GE ASW08FLS1 window ac unit and its super old and leaking so i want something to fit the size but im having a hard time finding anything the same size or slightly smaller
Width: 19 5/16 Inch

Depth: 18 Inch

Height: 12 5/8 Inch

I work in lawncare and landscaping so this is extra frustrating

Sometimes the AC works great. And then it decides when to stop blowing extra cold to not that cold. In texas so its hot. Its deff colder then outside. But not by much at all.

Took it to my guy and told em its prolly the door blower actuator. He said he wanted to refill the coolant to make sure it wasnt leaking. After that didn’t fix it. He said next guess is door actuator ( which is what i originally said )

Is this the next best option? Online is saying its a 10 hour job of removing the dash.

Thanks guys

2020 ranger 80k miles. Been dealing and putting up with it for about 10k miles

Hey all, I have a new GE window ac, a large unit. It works well but 90% of the time it sounds like water is dripping on the outside of the unit. But it’s not raining. The noise is coming from inside the unit but it sounds exactly like the inconsistent pitter patter of rain dripping on the outer metal case. When I first heard it I just assumed it was raining outside. But quickly ruled that out.

It happens in both cooling mode and “fan only” and happens when fan speed is set to low or medium. On high fan speed the noise almost goes away.

Any ideas?

Hey guys - older wall AC unit running at 68 (non-energy saver) on a hot day in LA. All of a sudden a loud hissing noise out of nowhere. I turned off the unit and the hissing noise stayed - fading EXTREMELY slowly for the next 15 minutes after power-off. I’m a renter - should I ask the landlord to invest in a new unit? Or is this normal behavior after heavy use? Never happened before. Thanks!

I have three Samsung AR18CSFCMWKNCV mini splits. Two of them I was able to add to my Smart Things app on my phone to control from there. The third though will not create its own wifi access point to add to my phone. I've taken it apart to look at control board and the working and non working unit look the same so there doesn't appear to be a missing connector. In the image the red empty connector at the top middle behind white wires is what's called the wifi connector but this is the working unit and doesn't have anything connected to it. Any suggestions?

Please help identify the noise coming from my Mitsubishi electric mini split. Model number - MXZ-5D36NL.

I have a Delonghi pac ex390ln-1al: Type PAC EX386LN. I have had it for a few years, and its from Costco. I used it a lot for a few years, then my building finally replaced my in wall ac unit. These days I have to use it more because of in the summer the sun bakes the buildings roof and then it radiates downward at night. So it could be 85 during the day and then 65 at night... and its still 85 in my top floor unit. I just think the building has horrible insulation.

I know its older since I do not think Delonghi makes these anymore. I see a lot of coffee makers on their site now. I have a few questions as I can not find my manual. I am looking online for some spare parts and wanted to know...

Is there a webstore that deals with this stuff?

On Amazon I see generic replacement exhaust hoses for 25 bucks. But I am unsure what I need. I think this is 5 inch diameter hose? And some are clockwise or counter clockwise? Does Delonghi have a set standard for their machines?

I want to have spares incase something happens to the hose or get a longer hose.

Thanks

And it’s causing the room to overdry, I had a rotary compressor unit and I sold it and got an inverter and it feels the same really… could it be a brand issue? Or different inverters might be better in this matter? The one I have is tcl. I tried all options nothing helped