Ventless Portable Air Conditioner
Do you want to keep cool in summer without running expensive air conditioning?
Get an economical ventless portable air conditioner, no vent required (also known as a swamp cooler, desert cooler, evaporative cooler or wet air cooler).
It is a free standing air cooling device with no exhaust vent hose needed and it can save money now on running costs.
Vent Free Evaporative Air Coolers
If you just found this page, you're in for some interesting reading, as this is the focus of this website.
Staying cool in hot weather indoors is not just a convenience, it's a necessity in certain climates!
In Search of Affordable Cooling
In the past, the only effective way to chill the interior atmosphere to make it comfortable enough to live in was to employ a power hungry heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) monster.
It cost a small fortune to operate but provided the much needed respite from the searing heat outside.
Ordinary fans are OK but they only push hot air around the room, they don't actually chill it in any way.
Fans Create a Breeze
You feel cooler in the breeze they create because the moving air evaporates the sweat on your skin, creating a drop in temperature as the sweat is evaporated.
Swamp coolers work in a similar way, with the big difference that they pass moving air through a moist membrane, evaporating the moisture. That creates cold air that really does reduce the ambient temperature in a room; in some cases by as much as 30 degrees!
Low Cost Cooling
The amazing thing about this type of air cooling solution is that it does it extremely cheaply. That's when it's compared to regular air conditioners, either movable or fixed installations.
The running costs are so much lower thanks to there being no motorized air chilling, compressor refrigerant system (and the power needed to run it) as with regular aircon.
And the other big attraction of swamp coolers is there's no need to vent to the outside!
Cooling Unit No Vent
So here we have an extremely economical, highly portable and ventless air cooling solution. One that is powerful, quiet to run and environmentally friendly (very important).
As long as you have low humidity levels where you live or work, you can enjoy the benefits of this type of climate control solution for those months of the year that get really hot and you need to be comfortable!
Note: As a Sylvane affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
FEATURED VENTLESS COOLER FOR 2022 - Hessaire MC18M Evaporative Air Cooler
Here is a great low cost, yet powerful cooler that has been getting a lot of positive attention from customers and shoppers this year. You can buy one online from Sylvane today by clicking the image to the left.
It's super economical to run, surprisingly quiet yet has a high output that can cool a room of up to 500 sq ft by 20 degrees or more.
Its 4.8 gall tank is big enough to keep the unit running for up to 4 hours before needing a refill.
Lightweight and Compact
Yet it's light (only 16lbs) and about the size of a suitcase, making it extremely portable and easy to wheel around from room to room.
Remember, this amazing cooler does NOT need an exhaust hose to vent hot air because it doesn't produce any hot air. It's exactly what you wanted when you found this page!
LIMITED SPECIAL OFFER: Available NOW while stocks last. Order yours by clicking the image above left NOW!
Best Ventless Portable Air Conditioner Models
Perhaps you're considering getting one of these amazing mobile ductless room coolers for yourself but you're not sure which might be the best model for your needs.
There are many different models from several different manufacturers. So when faced with a choice it can get tough to know which will suit your individual circumstances the best.
Swamp Cooler Reviews
In fact, that's where this site can really help you. I have included several individual product reviews as well as comparison articles so you can see which model has the best benefits you're most interested in.
Add to that the kind of power output you will need and then average costs for purchase and running. There is a lot here but that's exactly what you need to make an informed decision on which is the best one for you.
Spoiler Alert!
By way of a spoiler, I'm also listing my next two top swamp cooler models that are best for general use in regular size rooms or outdoors. You can click the image of the cooler you like best if you want to visit the page at Sylvane where you can buy it:
Note: As a Sylvane affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Honeywell CL30XC 525 CFM Evaporative Cooler
The Honeywell CL30XC portable evaporative cooler is lightweight yet powerful and perfect for cooling rooms in your home or in your office.
This swamp cooler is ideal for use in arid conditions indoors and outdoors.
It can efficiently and surprisingly inexpensively cools medium size spaces of up to 320 sq ft. With a high-performing, honeycomb cooling media, this cooler is designed with user-friendly features, plus it features a powerful air flow of 525 CFM.
Coming from a popular manufacturer of cooling equipment, Honeywell, this unit is particularly popular. In fact it is one of the most popular swamp coolers on sale today!
Pros
Its powerful fan has three speed settings and the airflow can be automatically directed around the room using its oscillating louvers.
Its detachable water tank holds up to 8 gallons of water for long, uninterrupted running and there's a low water alarm to tell you when it's time to refill.
If you prefer constant running, there is a standard hose hookup point that will keep the tank full and the unit running for as long as you want. Great for using the unit outdoors on the patio for those summer barbecues or for keeping you cool around the pool when friends or family come over!
You can also add ice via the unit's top loading ice compartment for a blast of extra cold air when you need it!
To operate, the unit has easy-to-read on-board digital controls plus a remote for convenience.
Cons
Nothing is perfect in this world and this cooler is no different. It has its flaws, although there are thankfully not many.
The first is one that applies to all swamp coolers and that is it will not perform well in high humidity. As the humidity level rises, swamp coolers become less effefctive at producing chilled air to the point where, at above about 60%-70% humidity they all but stop, just emitting a powerful blast of air from the fam but it ceases to be cold.
The other flaws I should mention are mainly cosmetic and of little importance. The "new product plastic smell" that comes with many new appliances with plastic bodies or components is evident with this model too. This is not really disagreeable and goes away after a few days with use.
Apart from these, the cooler will work just fine if you live in an area with dry summer heat and save you a lot of money by not using nearly as much electricity as an air conditioner!
Click the image above right to visit the product page at the Sylvane website, where you can get full details of how to buy this great looking and top performing cooler.
Hessaire MC37M 3,100 CFM Evaporative Cooler
Here is a higher powered evaporative cooler from Hessaire that can cover a much larger area (up to 950 sq ft) indoors as well as outdoors.
This model can shift air at a rate of 3,100 cubic feet per minute (CFM), yet it's operation and control are kept as simple as possible. This means there are fewer things that could go wrong, as is evident in some of the more complex coolers around today.
Pros
This cooler does its job effectively and without fuss. All the controls (of which there are only a few) are manual, for setting the fan speed (low, medium, high), pump on/off and whether to swing the oscillating louvers to move the air left and right for even distribution.
The water tank holds just over 10 gallons, sufficient to keep it running for up to 4 hours, or you can hook up a water hose for continuous filling and non-stop running.
The big attraction of this cooler is of course its high power output that blasts a lot of cold air out to keep you cool.
Cons
There is some assembly needed upon arrival: The casters are stored inside the unit for transport so these have to be installed before you use it.
Like all swamp coolers, this model is limited by the amnount of humidity in the air. The higher the moisture count, the less able it is to produce chilled air. However, if where you live has dry heat in summer, you can benefit from the low cost cooling this appliance provides!
After the casters are on and you have filled the tank with water, it's simply a case of turning it on and giving it a short while to soak the evaporating medium before it starts pumping out chilled air.
If you want a high output cooler that doesn't cost much to run and you live in an area with a dry atmosphere, this Hessaire unit is the one for you!
Click the image above right to visit Sylvane where this cooler is on sale right now.
Let's look at how these devices work and what makes them tick.
How A Swamp Cooler Works
Are you wondering how an evaporative cooler keeps you cool? Here is a short explanation of how this type of cooling device works.
By exploiting water's surprisingly large enthalpy of vaporization, these devices are capable of dropping the temperature of dry air significantly through what is known as the phase transition of liquid water into water vapor, or simply put, evaporation.
The following paragraphs may appear a little more like the science section of the article, but I wanted to include it in case anyone was interested:
The Science of Vent-Free Cooling
The energy required to evaporate the water is extracted from the dry air in the form of "sensible heat." This has an affect on the actual temperature of the air and is converted into "latent heat."
This is the energy that is present in the air's water vapor component. All the while, the enthalpy value of air remains constant.
Isenthalpic Process
The process of sensible heat conversion to latent heat is known correctly as an "isenthalpic process" since it occurs at a constant enthalpy value. From this it can be seen that evaporative cooling (working with a phase change of liquid water into vapor along with the latent heat of vaporization) creates:
- A reduction in the air temperature proportional to the reduction in sensible heat
- An increase in humidity proportional to the latent heat gain
This phase-change cooling process can be seen in a visual manner with the use of a psychrometric chart, finding the initial condition of the air and then following a line of constant enthalpy that will lead toward the air's state of higher humidity.
Thermal Comfort
If that didn't exactly make a whole load of sense, don't worry. Here's the simpler explanation:
The general idea here is that this process makes it possible to reduce the temperature of the air to create thermal comfort inside a building while using far less energy than a comparable air conditioner that uses a refrigeration model to produce cold air.
Humidifies as it Cools
In extremely dry climates (very low humidity), the ventilation and cooling of air through evaporation has the additional benefit of humidifying or conditioning the air with moisture providing greater comfort for a building's occupants.
The cooling potential for cooling by evaporation is largely dependent on the difference between the dry-bulb temperature and the wet-bulb temperature (known as wet-bulb depression).
Low Energy Consumption
In the dry, arid climates that are best served by this method of cooling, energy consumption is greatly reduced along with the total equipment needed as an alternative to compressor-based cooling (AC).
In climates that are not necessarily considered to be arid, advantage can still be taken of the indirect evaporative cooling process yet still not causing an increase in humidity.
Passive evaporative cooling strategies will offer similar benefits of hardware, mechanical evaporative cooling systems all without the added complexity of external equipment and ductwork.
Free Standing Portable Air Conditioner Without Vent Hose?
Despite what you have already read here, you may be surprised to know that there are many people that will ask,
"Can you really have such a device that will keep you cool but doesn't need a ventilation hose to vent hot exhaust air to the outside of the house?"
Unsurprisingly, if those people had been reading this page, their question would already have been answered!
However, it can be a little difficult to really understand this if they've been accustomed to using a regular aircon device that did have an exhaust vent.
Air Conditioning and Hot Air Exhaust
Let's talk about this a little. An air conditioner is essentially a large refrigeration device.
Perhaps you already know that in order for a refrigeration device to produce chilled output via the use of "vapor-compression refrigeration" or an absorption refrigerator method, it must generate a similar amount of heated output from the heat exchange process.
You simply cannot have one without the other!
Expelling the Hot Air
That heated output cannot be allowed to disperse in the room you want to occupy or it will increase the temperature, not reduce it. This is the general aim.
So that hot air must be forced outside of the room (preferably outside of the building altogether). And that's what a portable AC unit's exhaust vent hose is for!
Unsightly Plastic Hose
That flexible corrugated plastic pipe is a nuisance at best because it has to be fitted to an installed outlet in the wall or window frame. Or as is more often the case, dangled out a convenient slightly open window!
The latter case is not ideal as some of the heat will re-enter the room through that window opening. However, the net effect is a cooler room so the occupant is happy enough with the system.
Evaporative Air Cooler vs Air Conditioner
Then you have the vent-free cooling alternative in the free standing evaporative or swamp cooler. This device does away with the need for a refrigeration heat exchange process altogether and relies on nature's own temperature control process: cooling by evaporation.
This simplified process means there is no heat exchange and therefore no heated output from the device. That means there is only cold output as long as the humidity level in the room is sufficiently low (below 50% is optimum).
Ideal Conditions
Where conditions are ideal (and you want to compare evap cooler vs air conditioner), the truth is that a swamp cooler can perform equally well when competing against an AC unit. The big advantage is that it does so while using considerably less power.
In fact, the only real power usage is that of the fan and some ancillary power for the timer and any other "controls" that may be featured on the unit.
Very Low Power
The typical power usage is often below 100 watts of electricity.
If you compare this to the considerable power requirements of an AC compressor and heat exchange engine, which runs into the kilowatts (1,000 watts plus) range, you can quickly see how much more economical the swamp cooler is when set up against a comparable AC in terms of temperature chilling capacity.
The purchase cost is another factor that sways heavily in favor of the lower energy consuming device, with comparable units costing well over half that of their more power hungry alternatives.
If It Absolutely Must Be a Portable Air Conditioner
I quite understand that there are a lot of people living in areas that have high humidity. It means they simply cannot take advantage of the low energy evaporative cooler to keep them comfortable during summer's hot, sticky weather.
In this situation, a free standing AC unit is probably the only way to beat the heat effectively.
Staying Cool Regardless
If making do with an exhaust vent hose trailing out a suitable window means getting through the summer in relatively cool comfort, then so be it!
It is way better than suffering in the heat. Even if you're on a low budget, a portable AC can bring you affordable cool relief from the heat.
Top Rated Portable Air Conditioners
I really couldn't leave such a large percentage of the population wondering which free standing air conditioner is best for them. So I've included these AC models below which are highly rated and big sellers at online stores such as Sylvane this year.
Note: As a Sylvane affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Take a look for yourself by clicking the image or link below it:
DeLonghi Pinguino 8,700 BTU Portable Air Conditioner w/ Heat
The DeLonghi Pinguino 8,700 BTU (14,000 BTU ASHRAE cooling power) is capable of cooling, dehumidifying, circulating air and heating in rooms up to 700 sq ft and is a highly versatile mid-powered ACs with heat function AND WiFi capability!
This single-hose equipped, self-evaporating portable AC is a compact 4-in-1 home comfort system that offers smart, boost and sleep modes along with a digital remote control for those times when you just need to use a remote.
Air Conditioning
of course the primary function of this appliance is to keep you cool during the hot summer months and it does so beautifully with high power rated at 14,000 BTUs (equal to 8,700 BTU at the new DOE Standard).
It has a fully adjustable thermostat to maintain the temperature you choose along with 3 selectable fan speeds to make things just right.
Dehumidifying
This setting is included to reduce the humidity level in your room for those time your space feels a little damp and clammy.
Auto Evaporation
This top featured portable air conditioner also removes excess moisture when in normal cooling mode. Instead of just allowing a tank to fill up as the moisture condenses inside the unit as do most regular portable AC units, this one uses DeLonghi's clever patented dripless, self-evaporating technology to exhaust that excess moisture through the hose to the outside.
This DeLonghi portable AC also features frost protection to prevent ice forming on its internal components.
Heating
The DeLonghi PAC EL390HLWKC-3AL (this model) 8,700 BTU portable AC has a built-in heat pump that you can turn on to provide supplemental heating whenever you need some extra warmth during the cooler months of the year.
WiFi Operation
For the ultimate in convenience, the smart Pinguino is also WiFi capable. That means you have total control over its operation via phone app when you're away from home, or with any home assistant device like Alexa or Google Home.
Quiet Operation
Despite its awesome power and functionality, this appliance runs surprisingly quietly at just 54 dB on the high setting.
The DeLonghi Pinguino portable air conditioner is a multi-function cooler, heater, dehumidifier and air circulation device that can be controlled via your smart phone or home assistant device making it one of the top all-round climate maintenance appliances ever!
If you want to view this model online, click the image above to visit its product page at the Sylvane website for full details.
LG LP1217GSR 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner
The LG LP1217GSR 12,000 BTU is capable of cooling, dehumidifying and circulating air in rooms up to 400 sq ft and is one of the most versatile mid-powered ACs on the market.
This single hose air conditioner is ideal for bedrooms, living rooms, home office space in all sizes of home from small apartments to larger houses.
Set the precise temperature and program the timer on the electronic touch control panel or use the included remote control.
Auto Evaporation
It features an auto-evaporation system to remove excess moisture through the exhaust hose instead of allowing it to condense into a tray. So there's no need to drain periodically like most portable units.
In addition to cooling, it also has a dehumidifying function that is capable of removing up to 2.6 pints of excess moisture per hour. There is a removable, washable air filter that works to eliminate dust particles and allergens in the air.
To help make it easily portable, there are durable caster wheels for easy movement. It features auto-swinging louvers and powerful air circulation all with a quiet operation rated at 53 dB.
Note: As at May 1, 2022, this AC model is out of stock at Sylvane. Click the image link above right to visit Sylvane's website page displaying all available portable air conditioners.
Do You Want One?
Simply click the image above to visit the product page at the Sylvane website where you can get the full details and spec and order it for yourself online. There is free shipping on these models and the prices are competitive with other online stores.
Note: The AC units featured above must be vented to the outside via a flexible exhaust duct (vent hose) supplied with the unit. Use the window fixing kit supplied for best results.
The above models should not be confused with the ventless portable air conditioner type of cooler (by that I mean an evaporative cooler).
Air Conditioners Where Needed
The above refrigerant-based portable AC examples have been included for those folks that live in climates with high summer humidity levels. By that I mean the kind of hot, humid climate where swamp (evaporating) coolers will not work as effectively as AC.
There are many very good reasons to opt for a low power, high output climate cooling evaporative device over a regular portable or fixed AC or HVAC system when climate conditions are right.
Know Your Local Humidity levels
However, please remember this is true only when the local climate will sustain this type of cooling device.
That means you really need to have low enough humidity levels during the hot season (preferably below 60%) so that it works effectively. You can easily check with your local weather station for the local atmospheric moisture levels.
Is your local climate right (low humidity)? Are purchase cost, running costs, environmental factors and sheer portability without a vent hose the benefits that fit with your own personal values?
Then an unvented air conditioner (...and now you know that's really an evaporative/swamp cooler) is the choice you should be making to keep you and your family cool during the hot summer months.
Resources: US Dept of Energy