2-hose conversion of 1-hose room A/C unit.
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- Опубліковано 24 чер 2020
- June 2020 semi-update on original video. Here, I’m emphasizing WHY I made this change and why it makes for a far more effective setup.
Here's Part 1 from 2018, which describes how I did the modification and shows the construction details.
LOL I had almost that same set up with the fans blowing the air out of my bedroom to cool the hallway area. Definitely works & helps.
You may want to insulate both hoses . That would stop the losses of cool room air chilling some of the air in he hoses.
true. both hoses are hotter than the air in the room
Should move it closer to the window so the hose is shorter, that should cool even better , and should drill a smaller hole for the draining hose, so it can go directly outside.
You are correct with both your suggestions.
Over the whole summer, less than 2 litres of condensate collected in my jar. So an outdoor drain hose doesn’t seem worthwhile in my case.
Yes, shorter hoses would be more efficient. However, hooking everything up would then become more awkward - it’s awkward enough now, with the long, flexible hoses. With shorter, less flexible hoses, I for one would be swearing and frustrating when trying to install the whole setup.
And: I believe the efficiency increase with using shorter hoses would not be detectable to me.
Your situation may be different and wish you 100% success.
Thanks for this information, just picked up a one hose unit as the window unit cant be mounted in a high rise safely with horizontal sliding windows.
I have a power meter and have found the power to be the same in dehumidify mode as in cool mode. The only difference seems to be that the compressor stays on permanently in dehumidify mode, whereas on cool mode it turns off once it reaches the desired temperature. My model is an Inventor Magic (single hose version).
Interesting. And thanks for sharing your data.
Precisely the opposite for me, go figure, lol. In dehumidify mode, the compressor cycles on and off but the fan keeps going and in A/C mode both go full on constantly. Mine uses constant/active evaporation with an internal fan as an alternative to hose or tank draining, so that may be why? Although it has a tank and hose if it should need it and will alert you if the tank is full, but I check it anyway and so far nothing but a couple of drops. So it could be that mine does this periodic compressor shut off in dehumidify mode as a way to let the evaporation do it's thing, I suspect, without adding more to the system. Letting the active evaporation tech. play catch up.
My power meter measure was 0.5 kwhr with or without the 2nd hose. Outside temperature was 29c. My aircon set at 27c
did you convert it into a dual hose system?
The links you mentioned in another comment seem to be missing from the description
I'm gonna do this to my one soon
Brilliant !
The efficiency is really High like this i've done the same thing😊
my aircon was leaking from the gaps and even from the top vent bypassing the filter if i do it like that
My portable ac has two inlet vents. One is blue and the other gray. Which is the one I should use vent out the window? Anyone know?
There seems to be a little gap o
At the top of the styrofoam, won't air in the room leak in?
Have you noticed any air being pulled into the AC not through the hose you used? I converted my single hose unit to dual hose and I suspect mine is doing this because the room pressure still appears to be a bit lower than usual (the door is hard to close). Though it does seem better than with the single hose setup.
Interesting: your comment. I understand what you’ve written. In order for more room air to be expelled through the waste-heat/humidity hose than comes in through the make-up air hose, there would have to be leak. This leak would allow the A/C unit to suck in room air to the waste heat circuit. It’s entirely conceivable that such a leak is a design or fabrication flaw. We’re not dealing with aerospace equipment here. Just $400 home appliances.
It’s possible there is a leak in the parts/connections you’ve fabricated. However, I really have no idea about that. Perhaps your setup is more or less perfect.
With my machine and my setup, I’m seeking an improvement in house cooling, not perfection. And mine satisfies my needs.
@@Larpy1933 yes, the casing on my unit isn't airtight. There are some gaps between the bottom tray, which collects water, and the side panels. That's where the air must be coming in. I actually took it apart to see if I could try to close the gaps up as much as possible.
@@radiosification Hey radio, did it fix the leak. I think I had the same problem with one I rigged.
@@robertstewart1262 it's hard to say how much it helped. I have a feeling trying to plug up the holes in the bottom of the casing made a slight difference but no measurements to show it.
I build this kind of setup also. Haven't tested it yet since I finished it yesterday but when building I noticed that the cold and hot side have air gaps between them, inside the unit. So, this might only solve like 90% of the pressure problem...
Also, you should definitely insulate those pipes! I ordered heat and sound proofed ventilation duct from a grow shop. It has foil layer, plastic layer, 3cm(~1,25 inch) rockwool layer and another foil layer.
G’day! i have the single hose unit and converted to dual Hose like u said but my room is not cooling during mid day pls help. (TCL TAC-12CPA/k) its also 1.5hp
Here are some troubleshooting hints:
(1): look in this video’s description to find links to two other videos of mine on the same topic.
(2) ask a friend who is knowledgeable in thermodynamics to investigate your setup. A professional engineer, auto mechanic or HVAC technician will understand machinery and heat flows better than a typical person will.
(3): If your system works well at some times, what conditions are different when it doesn’t work so well? Has something restricted airflow? Is the outside air MUCH hotter during the day? If so, the cooling power can’t possibly be as great as when the inlet air temperature is lower. Is the room experiencing greater heat inflow at some times? Is strong sunshine streaming in a window(s)? Is heat flowing into the room through the floor, walls, and or ceiling? Insulation in those structures can only do so much. Is heat flowing into the room from other parts of the house?
I hope you realize that my ability to help is limited as I cannot inspect your system, installation and circumstances. GOOD LUCK!
Larry Manuel thanks 😊
unless you have a inverter technology ac the power consumtion in dehumid mode should be the same as the compressor can only turn on and off and instead of turning off at a set temp it keeps going until you turn it off. The only diffrence is that on most units the fan speed is locked to low so yeah not very much energy savings
Why can't I just duck tape the intake vents leaving just enough space for the intake hose which will be duck taped too it?
Also what about putting a screen on the outside of the intake hose is it necessary?
Duct tape is fine - if it lasts long enough and you put it in the correct place(s). See video #3 ua-cam.com/video/zq1ArzkbFTs/v-deo.html for more info which might be useful to you. My system of styrofoam and various glues and adhesives won’t necessarily work better - it will work a lot longer though.
On another video about this, yes, to your second question. You can just get some simple filter material and cut it in circles that fit over or in the ducting and tape it in there. It is useful for keeping dust etc. out of the unit.
Do you have any measurements before and after ? Awesome project
There was no “before”. I modified my cooling system before I put it in service. Why: with an understanding of how it works, there was no doubt in my mind about which way would be better.
I have none either, but a barometer change. So I have something in terms of measurements. It was dehumidifying the air more after this mod, for sure and the humidity dropped more, for sure. Results may vary widely with these things. Some see massive improvement, some moderate or little. I also have to keep in mind I am expecting mine to cool the biggest area in my apartment which is a tall order for this, lol. And I have to keep in mind it is removing heat generated by two desktop computers and a fridge and my wife and I. So I didn't necessarily "feel" cooler (like say a store's AC, which is like walking into a fridge, lol), but I noticed I wasn't sweating from doing literally nothing too, hehe.
The barometer confirmed it had dropped it 10-15%. 15% by about 8 hours or more being on, as it gets 10% quickly but not that extra 5%, it takes much longer and is pushing the limit. Before the mod., it was barely moving and was less than 5% humidity removal and never more no matter how long it was on.
At the very least, this mod. improves efficiency, always, so it is well worth doing no matter what. Because the major issue with them is they are using freshly chilled inside air, to cool the condenser and compressor and immediately exhausting it out. Makes no sense and is wasteful.
At least pulling warmer outside air in to do that and blocking off the intake, means you aren't exhausting your freshly cooled air and instead, exhausting both the warm air you sucked in and the warmth you just extracted from the room (cause all AC's, fridges etc. are heat pumps). It's way more efficient and where I saw the results, was in the humidity level more than anything. It really took the edge off it and considering what it is being asked to cover, that's a pretty good result and just enough to be comfortable for me. I was noticing absolutely no difference before this, it was that horribly inefficient.
have you figured about what percentage less electricity you are using less with your two hose conversion?
I don't know about electricity usage, but I know during summer once it hits 90° or so, the portables are basically unusable for me. The room gets so much hotter, seems it's acting more like a heater.
Does your second hose (intake) supply enough air flow for the internal cooling of the device? (No risk for overheating the device?) The surface of the air intake is of course smaller than before.
I haven't noticed any difference and mine has the compressor in the same corner as the intake. It gets warm but not hot, I can feel it a little on the outside of the case and it's luke warm, so the compressor isn't getting too hot. It doesn't overheat no and if you do it with a better duct (boot) than he has, it gets more surface area as it widens at the mouth, after the tube.
There is an alternate and easier mounting solution and duct. By using a metal duct "boot" like is used on floor radiators. It expands from a tube to a larger rectangle about 10 inches long and 4-5" wide depending on your ducting choice. I could only get and fit 4 inch for mine at the time and it works fine. I just cut the corners, bent all 4 sides of the rectangle boot out to form 4 wings and used self tapping screws to fasten the boot to the grill of the intake and use Gorilla tape/duct tape to seal up over it and the grill. Works great, only 30-40 minutes of work.
It gets enough cooling, even with warm outside air, the advantage is, you are using warm outside air to cool it and the condenser, rather than your freshly cooled inside air. And it makes a difference, for sure. Mine got more efficient, just from this simple mod. and my humidity dropped 10-15% more than before the mod. That's where I noticed the difference. And I can't complain, I got the unit for free and only sunk like $30 into it with this mod. A worthy investment in just how much more efficient it is.
@@MrBilld75 How many degrees diffrence with the mod ?
@@rubenn7212 Not a lot, it maybe lowered it a degree or two lower than without the mod. but not a lot of difference in temp. Because I am cooling a large living room, kitchen and hallway of an apartment. Where I noticed the real difference was in humidity. It lowered the humidity more than without the mod and I got it down 10% -12% more on humidity. I'm glad I judged it by the hygrometer and humidity as well as temp. or I would not have been impressed by just temp. alone. Sometimes, shaving down that humidity makes all the difference, even if temp doesn't go down much if at all.
There is guy who did similar to me on UA-cam and he worked on the inside too, separating different parts of the unit to keep the components and outside air contained to only certain parts which made it even better. He used packing tap and cardboard separators. It's a video with a black coloured A/C unit like mine and he used a metal duct boot on the back at the intake, like I did. I got the idea from him for the boot, but did not modify the inside like he did.
@@MrBilld75 so its not realy worth it to only ad a second hose.
If you want lower temps
@@rubenn7212 Well, it depends on the brand and the size of room. Some brands lend themselves better to the modification than others and results vary widely. I've seen many commenters mention it. Some had a significant difference, others, not so much. In a bedroom, I would imagine it cools it quite a bit and I have never used mine in my bedroom as it stays cool enough, naturally. I have a big Pine right next to the window and the front yard is full of them, so we get naturally shaded well, from noon onwards.
I am cooling a large space, beyond what my A/C is capable of. So my results/opinion are subjective and my variables are quite important in that result. In a smaller room, like a bedroom, I could see it lowering the temp. more.
This is the same unit as the midea 8000 BTU they sell today.
Great video sir!
Thanks a million for your kind words.
Agreed! I got one of these units and wanted to do the same thing
I have what I think is the same unit under a UK Brand ('Logik'). Nice mod, I have done similar with cardboard.
What makes you think the dehumidifier function uses less energy? I've been trying to work out how/if it's different to the cool mode as it feels the same?
Cheers
Lower power demand in dehumidification mode? The compressor - which uses far more energy than the two circulating fans (blowers) seems quieter in dehumidification mode than in A/C mode. It has less of that motor-under-load-growling sound in dehumidification mode - to my ear. There are devices, such as Kill-a-watt that we could use to test my hypothesis. I’ve never felt sufficient need to buy one of those simple power meters.
I have the Inventor Magic (single hose model) which looks almost identical to the one in this video. The dehumidify function uses the same amount of power. I have a power meter and tested it.
Edit: after looking again, the front does look different although the back looks the same.
radiosification, Thanks for posting your power-meter finding.
@@radiosification Likewise, thanks. I think this unit is sold under a few brands. I'm actually getting a second unit this week from Inventor (but not the same design).
My suspicion is that the dry mode forces the unit to run regardless of temp, so it will always be drying, and that it forces fan speed to slow to give the air more time to pass over the coils (leading to enhanced moisture extraction)
Shame really. I was hoping dry mode would be cheaper for the not-so-warm days. I guess lower fan speed is something...
@@TheDirector17 well if you just want cooling you can put it on cool and set it to a temperature. It turns off the compressor and rear fan so the power usage goes down to around 50-60 W as it's only running the front fan.
Nice job .... I have a Q tho ... can any 1 hose portable AC be converted to a 2 hose? like is there a 2nd outlet just blocked off or something? ... thanks in advance.
See video 3 on the topic. ua-cam.com/video/zq1ArzkbFTs/v-deo.html The short answer is ANY 1-hose unit can be converted. You must identify the inlet to the hot section (see linked video) and supply outside air to that. There is not going to be any cover blocking an inlet.
@@zepto9 I'm not sure if that's completely right. There may be some units where the intake is combined for both evaporator and condenser sides. In that case it wouldn't be possible unless you wanted to potentially take apart the entire unit and move parts around (which would be difficult because you have to keep all the copper pipes holding the refrigerant in place)
radiosification: Thanks for your extra thoughts on the matter. You make a very good point; one that I hadn’t considered. If what you stated is true for some models, I can imagine installing a baffle to separate the inlet air flows to “hot” and “cold” sections, thus allowing outside air to be supplied to the hot section. This would be entirely workable, but perhaps beyond the abilities of some DIY UA-cam viewers that come across my videos. .................................................................. Years ago, when I was living on little money, I dreamt about splitting my basic dehumidifier into two sections - putting the hot section outdoors and keeping the cold section indoors. This would require replumbing and refilling the coolant pipes, not to mention adding another fan. Ergo! “Central Air” (as A/C is called in N. America).
@@radiosification how would that even work? How would the unit expel the hot air and keep it seperate from the air over the evaporator which you want to keep inside... it might look like one big intake on the back of the machine, but there are baffles to keep both hot and cold airflows seperate.
maybe i'm missing something. If so, please explain.
@@martheunen my unit has a separate intake for each
Just put the unit outside and put a hose from the
cold fan to the room. No two hoses needed.
Makes sense.
It makes you wonder why they are not a two hose system to begin with.
They don't want people to be comfy & want people to waste money.
@@tristanbackup2536 Midea has a single hose with 2 hoses inside called a duo inverter(dual hose,Inverter compressor) The BTU and SACC are very close being there very efficient.
Because they don't want to cut some profits and add a second hose 😂
Hi, what about upper intake, why did you put intake hose down? Our AC is very similar, I'm thinking to do this but I was not sure where to put intake hose, up or down where you did
Having the same question here, not sure which intake to convert.. My single hose AC is driving me insane, it pulls extremely hot air from my loft area which completely counteracts the cooling it provides leaving me with a very expensive fan.
The second hose (the one I added) feeds outdoor air into the “hot section” of the unit.
The upper air intake feeds indoor air into the “cold section”. See my video #3 on the subject. I hope it makes this clear for you. ua-cam.com/video/zq1ArzkbFTs/v-deo.html
That upper section is the cold side. It should circulate the inside air only. Some cheaper/bad models might only have one big vent for both sides.
So this idea will only work if the outside air is much cooler than the inside right? Otherwise you will bring more heat to the "hot side" of the conditioner air cycle.
The device is the same as a HEAT PUMP. It will cool the house or room even if it is much hotter outside.
Think of how the inside of your fridge is colder than the inside of your house. The refrigeration machinery pumps the heat from
INSIDE the fridge to OUTSIDE the fridge.
Now think of your room as INSIDE the fridge. The room A/C with two hoses will pump the heat OUTSIDE your house.
Otherwise, it’s just a window fan, moving air. But it’s NOT simply moving air. It’s moving heat from a cooler place to a hotter place (outside).
I hope this helps. It’ll still work if it’s 100F (40C) outside. It’s more efficient if it’s cooler out (30C or 85F). But you probably won’t notice the difference.
Good luck!
Ok, that's what I meant: will it be still efficient even if the air temperature outside is really high :) But thank you for your answer!
Btw, I've seen a video where someone made a second housing with few holes, to take air from the interior and exterior at the same time - thanks to that, air was a little bit cooler with equalized pressure between room and outside. What do you think about that?
TheMorthes: If that plan works, great! It’s tough to visualize based only on your description.
I have an engineering degree, and I’ve worked as a cabinetmaker for 3 decades. The way I built mine makes perfect sense from a view based on thermodynamics. Doing it any other way is likely to be less effective and less efficient. However, sentence #1 is still true.
TheMorthes .... I think you’d benefit from watching my video #3 ua-cam.com/video/zq1ArzkbFTs/v-deo.html. There’s a number 2 as well. Look in the description for a link to that.
TheMorthes I may be repeating myself. Look at video #3: ua-cam.com/video/zq1ArzkbFTs/v-deo.html For best efficacy, only room air should enter the cold section. And only outside air should enter the hot section. It will still provide substantial cooling if it’s 100F outside. It won’t be quite as efficient. But you’ll still be cool and comfy.
You might find this video interesting. Maybe just the initial logic of the 2 hoses only could require more tweaking.
ua-cam.com/video/rh6fk2AucP8/v-deo.html
"From the cracks it brings in all that heat and humidity from the outside". So I have this hose to bring in all the heat and humidity from the outside.
No, because the AC turns the hot humid air from outside into cool air inside. Single hose ACs create negative air pressure which draws in unconditioned air from other rooms and inevitably outside. They still work, but they're less efficient than dual hose ones.
The problem with these, is they pull the air you just chilled, back outside and it's why they are inefficient. It's like you're sharing your air conditioning with the world and makes no sense, lol. At least we can improve upon them somewhat, by blocking that part off and forcing it to take the warm air from outside to cool the condenser and compressor. Rather than our freshly chilled inside air, which is just so pointless and inefficient.
@@neomaster341 actually, his setup looks like he is using the outside air to cool the condensor and blow the then hotter air back out. He is not cooling the outside air to blow it inside. He has seperated the two airflows. And thus eliminated the negative pressure, like you said about the one hose variants causing.
Wont work You'll still have air from within the house.Feeding out your too because you're the bighter between the first original blower and the two coils