Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/26/this-portable-air-conditioner-puts-out-all-the-cooling-power-of-a-home-unit-at-a-fraction-of-the-size.html
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I thought air conditioners worked by having the heat exchanger located or positioned in such a way that the heat generated by cooling the interior is funneled to the exterior of an enclosed space. How does that work with a portable air conditioner? Do you have to run an exhaust pipe?
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This thing is a notorious scam. Shameful to see on this site.
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From the Wired review:
Warm air is sucked in through one vent on the rear and hot exhaust goes out through another. You can also attach the included, extendable exhaust hoses to keep the ZB2 from simply recycling the same hot air if you’re in a confined space.
It also describes it as “much louder than a window AC unit and not much quieter than, say, a small blender.”
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Solution: use it outside where the hot air can escape and the noise won’t be as much of a bother (or rather: the bother will be shared by the neighborhood.)
It is very effective! /s
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Indeed, the Wired article goes on to say
it’s best to temper expectations if you’re attempting to use Zero Breeze in an open-air environment. In this case, you won’t really notice more than a light breeze if you’re more than a few inches away from the vent. … The situation is much better when you’re in a smaller, sealed space
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So, once again, ceiling fan 1, AC unit 0.
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Was just about to link that. Excellent video. Also this one is even worse cause it’s about 4X cost for 1/5th the performance just so for a smaller unit that can run on batteries.
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No it does not
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I hate portable ACs but given my living situation I have no choice but to use them. My windows won’t support a window unit, and I can’t drill any holes through the wall to the outside to mount a split unit. So I’m stuck with these noisy and inefficient pieces of shit.
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It can’t work, unless they’ve used alien technology that defies the laws of physics.
There’s not such thing as creating cold. In order to cool down something, one has to move its heat somewhere else, that’s the principle behind heatsinks: heat moves from the hottest point to the coldest, just give it some thermally conductive material and it will go away. Therefore any conditioner not having an external radiator will simply cool down a restricted area of a room while warming up the rest of it because it’s heat can’t be discarded behind an insulating layer such as a wall.
This translates into a big waste of energy since the device has to fill the progressively increasing temperature gap between a room that becomes hotter, albeit slowly, and the area being cooled down.
It surely can give a sensation of fresh air, but the price to pay is more heat pumped into the surrounding environment. And once one turns it off, the room has become hotter.
Edit:
Somebody pointed out it’s a dual hose type, which is even better than single ones, so disregard my “it can’t work” above regarding this product. Only bad thing to me is the price, but that is subjective.
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Either you’re intentionally hiding the air exhaust hose that would be required for this thing to prove any actual cooling at all, or you’re willingly participating in a scam. Which is it, Boing Boing?
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Those portable AC units are horribly inefficient, but at least they do provide some cooling if you’re not in a situation where you can install a regular window unit, which is the case for many people. This product, however, doesn’t even appear to need a way to push the warm out of the house, which of course makes it a scam,
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Also note that 90% of these hipster-gadget-marketed “air conditioners” are actually swamp coolers. People imagine that because smartphones exist, then technology can surely also render the laws of thermodynamics moot. Wrap something in curved white plastic and give it an app and people will buy it.
You’re better off putting a bowl of water in front of a fan.
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for the record: it’s a dual hose. I’d be tempted if it didn’t cost 2x as much as a regular “portable”.
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Thermodynamically it’s incapable of doing just about anything.
I stopped buying anything Boing Boing suggests anymore. Sad to lose respect for the site like that.
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This actually works like an AC, it’s just very weak and you do have to run dual tubes. The battery capacity is a joke for how much power you need for this thing to be useful in the least, at that.
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Useless unless it is ducted to the outside.
Think about it. An AC unit removes heat from the air - it has to dump that heat somewhere to cool your room. If its dumping the heat inside where you are, you’ve accomplished nothing, but maybe a cool draft.
Meanwhile, consuming electricity from burnt dinosaurs to further heat the earth. Its a win-win-win
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