If you feel you are not getting the full cooling power from your portable air conditioner, there are a few things you can do to make it colder, including changing its positioning, checking whether it’s set up properly, and cleaning the filters.
7 Tips to Make Your Portable Air Conditioner Colder
1. Check the Temperature Settings
Check that you’ve set the right temperature on the portable AC. You may need to lower it a few degrees to make the room colder.
You may also have left the AC in fan mode, which keeps the fan running but turns off the compressor. Turn off fan mode to activate the compressor and cool the room.
Also check whether it’s in auto mode. In some portable ACs, like the BLACK+DECKER BXAC40008GB, you cannot adjust temperature when it’s in auto mode. You’ll need to turn it off then lower the temperature settings.
Sleep mode also affects how much a portable AC cools the room, so confirm that it’s turned off.
2. Turn on Dehumidification
Ever noticed that humidity makes a hot day feel a lot worse? That’s because too much moisture in the air interferes with our body’s ability to cool down. You don’t sweat as much, making you feel hotter than it actually is.
By reducing the humidity in the room, you can make it feel cooler without necessarily turning down the temperature.
Most portable air conditioners also work as dehumidifiers. Check the settings for a dehumidification or dry mode. Turn it on along with the regular cooling mode. As the air conditioner sucks moisture out of the air, you’ll start to feel cooler.
If your portable AC doesn’t have a dry mode, you can use a standalone dehumidifier. Even a small portable dehumidifier can make a big difference in how the room feels.
3. Increase Fan Speed
The faster the fan on a portable air condition spins, the colder the room gets. So adjusting the fan speed can help make a portable AC colder.
Most portable ACs have at least three fan speed settings. The lowest is ideal if you need mild cooling or you want to reduce fan noise. The highest provides the best cooling power, though it’s noisier.
Note: Remember to check that you’ve turned on cooling and the AC is not operating on a fan-only mode.
4. Clean the Filters
Portable ACs come with one or more filters to make sure the cool air they blow out is clean. If these filters get dirty and clogged, they’ll reduce how much air flows out, which reduces how cold the AC feels.
If it’s been some time since you cleaned the filters in your portable AC, it’s time to check on them. Usually, you just need to dust or vacuum the filter and maybe rinse it under the tap. Check the user manual for cleaning instructions and whether you need to replace the filters after some time.
5. Check the Venting
A portable air conditioner must be vented outside using a window kit. If you are using a portable AC without the exhaust hose, that’s the reason it’s not feeling cold. All the warm air and moisture from the AC gets blown back into the room, instead of outside.
Venting a portable AC through a window is easy and quick. Portable ACs come with the window kit, so you don’t need to buy anything extra. Here’s a video showing how it’s done, though the exact process may differ depending on your type of window.
If you’ve already set up the venting on your AC, check that it’s working properly. Check for and seal any leaks around the end of the hose that goes through the window. Hot air may be blowing back inside the room.
You can also consider upgrading to a double hose setup. The AC draws cool air from the outside through one hose and exhausts hot moist air through a separate hose. This makes the portable AC more efficient and allows faster cooling.
6. Move it Closer or Adjust the Vents
Try moving the portable AC closer to where you normally sit, though you’ll be limited by the length of the exhaust hose. The other option is to move closer to the AC.
You can also try adjusting the vents on the AC to direct cool air in your direction.
7. Get a Bigger Portable Air Conditioner
If you’ve tried everything and the portable AC still doesn’t cool the room as much as you’d like, you probably need to get a bigger (in terms of BTU) AC. Your current portable AC might be underpowered for the size of room you are using it in.
A small 5,000 BTU portable AC works best in small spaces up to 12M2. In contrast, a powerful 12,000 BTU portable AC can cool rooms as large as 51M2.
Check the manufacturer’s room size recommendations when shopping for a portable AC. If the room you plan to cool has high ceilings or is an open-style living room, get a higher BTU portable AC than is recommended.
Additional Tips
Other things you can try to make a portable AC cooler include shutting the doors and windows in the room to prevent the cold air from escaping, closing the curtains to keep the sun out, and adding an extra fan to help distribute the cool air.
