Summer means a rise in temperature and humidity. With more people working from home and spending longer indoors, keeping cool can be a problem. Getting a good night’s sleep also becomes difficult when the weather turns hot and sticky. An air conditioner is one solution and Chris Michael, MD at Meaco, gives his top tips when it comes to choosing one, and for getting the best results.
MeacoCool MC Series Pro 7000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner compatible with the Meaco App, Google and Alexa
How to choose the best portable air conditioner for you?
The best advice on buying an air conditioner is to start by thinking about what you’re aiming to achieve.
- Are you looking to get a good night’s sleep on those hot uncomfortable summer nights?
- Is the room being used for heat generating exercise (for example, home exercising )?
We recommend ignoring the gimmicks and opt for a larger capacity air conditioner unit. Most people underestimate the size they need and are then disappointed. A bigger unit not only gives more cool air in a larger space but will be quieter too. Calculating the correct size is dependent on a number of factors:
- The floor area of the room
- The size and position of windows, and whether they have blinds or shades
- Is it going into a conservatory?
- The number of room occupants (if any)
- The heat generated by equipment
- The heat generated by lighting
Other factors influencing how long it takes to cool a room are:
- Is the room south facing?
- Is the room shaded from the sun by trees?
- Does the room have thermal blinds (and are they being used)?
- Is the room upstairs and drawing in heat from the floor below (especially relevant if you live in a block of flats)?
- How well insulated are the walls?
- Do you have a window or door to put a duct through and get rid of the hot air? Our air conditioners are supplied with 1.8m flexible ducts and window kits to suit most UK homes.
- Is there any furniture blocking a duct from reaching the window or door?
- How well insulated is the attic?
- Or even, is it not in the house at all! Are you looking to cool down an outbuilding or office?
Keeping everyone cool with a MeacoCool MC Pro Series Portable Air Conditioner
Our top tips for keeping cool with a portable air conditioner:
- Keep your curtains closed during the day, especially at sunny, south facing windows. Only open windows when the outside temperature is lower than inside, and turn off electrical appliances when they are not being used.
- Turn your air conditioner on in advance of when you actually need it. If getting a good night’s sleep is the main purpose of the air conditioner, then pre-cool your bedroom and turn the air conditioner on in the mid-afternoon, with the blinds and curtains drawn, and the door closed. At bedtime you can then turn the air conditioner off, or just run it in fan mode. An ideal bedroom temperature is around 16-18°C (60-65°F). Temperatures over 24°C (71°F) are likely to cause restlessness, while a cold room of about 12°C (53°F) will make it difficult to fall asleep.
- Make sure the unit and the exhaust duct are set up properly. The aim of the portable air conditioner is to generate cold air in the room and expel the remaining hot air outside. The exhaust duct will push out the hot air from the room and generated from the unit, out of the room. If it’s not set up properly, if there are kinks in the hose or gaps in the window or door, you’re reducing the unit’s efficiency – or causing damage altogether! The duct should be fixed tight to the unit, leading straight to the window or door and fitted with a sealed window kit.
- Keep your air conditioner clean and clear of dust. By cleaning your filter regularly throughout the season, a quick hoover on both filters every other week, you’ll help the air conditioner run efficiently, better cooling your room. Equally, if you have things obstructing the air outlet, you’re restricting the cooler air entering the room and posing a risk to the health of the unit.
At Meaco, we have a large range of portable air conditioners, the MeacoCool MC Pro Series, with eleven models to choose from, providing localised cooling in rooms from 12M² to 40m². In the low fan speed setting, the sound pressure level of just 51dB(A) makes this an easy portable air conditioner to live with, for example, when pre-cooling your bedroom. With useful timer functions, you can set both an on and off timer from anytime between one and 24 hours. An easy-to-use remote control provides full control of the air conditioner, enabling the user to adjust the temperature and engage a sleep mode to ensure a restful night’s sleep.
Plus, new for 2024, the MeacoCool MC Pro Series are also app-enabled! You can now use your smartphone to switch on your portable air conditioner unit on the way home from work so you know it’ll be ready for you when you get in. Alternatively, change the modes from your phone from the kitchen to save you going upstairs.
Products featured: Meaco MC Pro Series air conditioners
12 responses
Hi, we bought a Meaco 10000 at the weekend for our bedroom and we can get most things to work but we cannot get it to go into quiet sleep mode and it’s too noisy to sleep with on the usual mode so are having to turn it off when going to bed which defeats the object of us getting it , how do we get it to sleep mode so quiet as it tells us it’s in sleep mode and the indicator dims down but the noise volume stays full blast
Fingers crossed thank you
Gayle
Gayle,
Thank you for your purchase.
Sleep mode is indicated by the lights dimming, which shows it’s been activated. If you’re not noticing a drop in noise, it’s likely the unit is already running at its lowest fan speed, sleep mode doesn’t reduce fan speed further if it’s already on low.
The best approach is to pre-cool the room before bedtime so the unit doesn’t need to work as hard (or at all) during the night. That way, it maintains comfort with minimal noise while you sleep.
I hope that helps.
Omar@Meaco
When the air con is in heat mode the instructions seem to imply the water will come out of the outlet in the middle of the machine, page 14 on the instructions, but nothing comes out of there it comes out the bottom which is too low to drain other than tipping the machine periodically. It’s a heavy item. Am I correct or have I missed something? Also in heat mode the heat comes out the front but is counter acted by the cold air coming out the back of the device. Is this correct?
Diane,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Our current manual advises: make sure the drainage hose is attached to the lower drainage port for continuous drainage. This aligns with what you’re experiencing in heat mode, perhaps its a typo in your manual apologies.
Regarding the heat output, when a portable air conditioner switches to heating mode, it essentially reverses its cooling process. Warm air is released from the front while cooler air is expelled from the back. This is the same principle as when it’s on cooling mode, cold air comes out the front, and warm air is expelled from the back. This is completely normal and indicates the unit is functioning correctly.
For drainage, it’s best to allow water to drain via gravity. Raising the unit slightly or using a shallow tray to collect water may help with easier draining. The duct should still be connected and used as part of the ventilation process.
I hope that helps.
Omar@Meaco
do you need to use the extraction tube out the window in heat mode?
Robert,
Thank you for your enquiry regarding ventilation of the air con units.
When the air conditioner is used in Heat Mode the drainage hose needs to be attached continuously to the lower drainage port in order to remove any collected water, this is in addition to the duct, the duct also needs to be in place. (Find more information regarding drainage and venting in your manual)
Hope that helps,
Omar@Meaco.
MeacoCOOL
MC SERIES
Please can you advise as to most economical temperature setting generally for nighttime use on cool.. I’ve been running @ around 19 but I’ve read that 24 degrees is the most desirable setting
Many thanks
Bob,
Thank you for your enquiry. There isn’t a recommendation, portable AC is a luxury. Set it to your most comfortable desired temperature. If your temp is 19C then of course it will run longer than if you set it at 24C!
Hope that helps,
Omar@Meaco.
Would like to see more information about draining the water from the two water outlets.
Edwin,
Thank you for your enquiry, please see the instruction manual for full advice regarding this, link below.
https://www.meaco.com/pages/air-conditioners-instruction-manuals
I hope this helps.
Omar@Meaco
Question please: I’m looking for a portable unit that will automatically act as climate control; heating and cooling automatically as necessary to maintain a set temperature. Which of your units will do this please? Note: this request is not simply for an air conditioning unit that also heats, but rather for one that automatically toggles between heating & cooling without adjustment. Thank you
Thank you for your query,
Our MeacoCool MC Series Portable Air Conditioners require manual operation when selecting a desired mode, for example, by toggling the mode button you have the option on CH models, to select cool, fan, dry or heat as the mode of operation. They cannot automatically change to another mode without manual control.
I hope this helps.
Omar@Meaco