How do portable air conditioners work?

In the simplest of terms a portable air conditioner sucks in hot air and blows out cool air to replace it. There are three main components that achieve this; the refrigerant, the compressor, and the air circulator.

As hot air is pulled into the machine, the hot air is cooled by the condenser coils. From there the air heats the refrigerant in another lot of coils called evaporator coils, in turn changing its state from liquid to gas.This gas travels through the portable air conditioner to the compressor where the cycle starts again. As the heat transfers from the air to the refrigerant, the air circulator pushes the cold air back out into the room, while any remaining warm air is pushed outside through the duct.

Since the coils are imperative to heat transfer, if they get dirty (as they tend to do) the compressor has to work harder to cool down the air. Not only can this cause serious damage to the device, it also makes the air conditioner less efficient so you’ll need to run it for longer to get the best results. There are a whole heap of other reasons why you should clean your portable air conditioner, but this one might just tip you over the edge.

Throughout this process the AC also extracts moisture and humidity from the air because the air is cooled until it becomes water vapour. In fully evaporative portable air conditioners the device will (you guessed it) fully evaporate the moisture for you. They still have water catchment areas that may need to be drained on occasion, but they are much lower maintenance than gravity drain models that need a drippy hose pipe.