For background, I’ve been looking to get a portable A/C for my bedroom until I can get a permanent unit installed, which will take time. Unfortunately I don’t have a window, just a sliding glass door. Would it be bad if I got a portable A/C and just pointed the vent tube into the hallway? Is there any hazard beyond dust?
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An ac can more accurately be called a “heat pump.”
It pumps heat out of the air in your house.
The heat goes into the refrigerant which is cooled by a fan. That fan blows the heat outside.
This actually makes the portable machines relatively inefficient compared to full window units as it has to pump some of the cooled air outside with the heat.
The net effect is cooling, but less cooling than a unit with the refrigerant cooling fan located outside.
This is why you usually have two units with a central cooling heat pump. Inside is the main distributer of the cooled air and outside is a big fan with coils and tubes where the refrigerant is cooled via the outside air.
Check out Technology Connections on YT for a full explaination on these AC units. He has a pretty good vid on them.
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