Portable air conditioner/heat pump thermostat inaccurate.

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kol12

kol12

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Jan 26, 2015
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I've just picked a Portable air conditioner/heat pump and I ran it in heating mode last night but I am not happy with the accuracy of the thermostat. It seems that it is sensing the heat most directly around the unit which doesn't reflect the overall room temperature. I actually had to set an increased temperature on the unit to get the room to the actual temperature I wanted. The second problem is that when the unit has reached it's set temperature it cycles off, but likes to think that temperature is going to stay there for much too long. As the temperature rapidly drops (according to my phone) the unit remains off and I start to feel cold. I'm not sure if this is a sign of faulty thermostat or just a highly inaccurate one, or is this inherent with portable units? Would I better plugging the unit in to one of those plug in thermostats which can be more centrally placed and cycle the unit on or off according to it's reading?
 
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kol12
I was thinking about one of these (below) I think the unit does actually power up to the last enabled mode so this could work.

heatermate_fig5_b.gif
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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A thermostat, any temp sensing device....can only sense the temperature that is right next to it.

It knows nothing about the air temp on the other side of the room.

Don't read the temp on the thing...adjust it for what is comfortable in the room.
 
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nerro120

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Feb 13, 2014
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Most portable units are for spot cooling, now there are industrial units that are better but I'm going to assume you bought a window unit, they do not work that well. Considering the cost of a lets say 3 ton heat pump (from my company atleast) is around $3500-4000. Those little $100-200 are really meant for spot cooling. The thermostat probably has a 2 degrees swing both ways, unless it's a cheaper model, so it would be a sensible difference before it would come back on. They also don't have a very high btu output
 
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kol12

kol12

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Jan 26, 2015
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I can adjust it to what is comfortable but the problem is when it cycles off once reaching that set temperature. The room cools down much quicker than according to the units thermostat which in turn starts to make me feel cold. I'm not exactly sure how this units works but isn't it usually when the thermostat drops 2 C that it cycles back on? I'm thinking that because the unit retains so much heat around it or in it that that 2 C drop is going to take forever...
 
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kol12

kol12

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No it's a standing portable unit that gets vented outside via hose. It's a 2.9 kw 10,000 BTU unit. I have to check the manual again for what the temp swing is for re-cycling. I'm worried that the internal thermostat is reading the heat from mainly inside and directly outside the unit leading to a somewhat ineffective/inaccurate temperature control.
 
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kol12

kol12

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Jan 26, 2015
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No, it has to sit next to the window to vent it. Don't have a ceiling fan, what will that do?

The manual doesn't give any indication of what temperature swings determine when the unit cycles on/off but I imagine it wouldn't be anymore that 2-3C?

I don't think one of those thermostats that you plug the unit in to would work. When it restores power to the unit it would be in cooling mode as that is the default mode when powering on and off.
 
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