Help me keep my home office cool

May 3, 2011 2:39 PM

My home office gets hotter than hell. Will this little device work?

If I leave the door to my home office open, kids invade and make work impossible. If I shut the door to my home office, my computers and the bright lights I prefer make the room oppressively hot. Dropping the thermostat on our central AC would be wasteful. Evaporative coolers won't work in this humid climate. A window AC is not an option, as the only windows face the street and would be too inviting to burglars. Security hazards would also necessitate contantly placing and removing the vent panel for portable ACs, which would be a pain in the ass. I was thinking about this device. It would sit nicely under my desk and blow cool air on me. Any experience with something like this? Any other potential solutions I might not have considered?

posted by Crotalus to Home & Garden (19 answers total)

the size of your room makes a lot of difference here. the unit you link to above is only 1000BTUs, which is really not a lot at all. If you're trying to stick in that price point from a place like Home Depot, I would recommend something like this LG unit. 7x the cooling for $10 more.
posted by Bohemia Mountain at 2:48 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bohemia Mountain, the one you link has to be vented, while the one the OP linked doesn't (though how well that would work, I can't imagine).
posted by Jahaza at 2:52 PM on May 3, 2011

The product you linked to is essentially a dehumidifier - it would help with what's called the latent heat load (hot, moist air caused by people, outside air, or from running the shower, etc), but I don't think it will help with a latent heat load (that's the dry heat that comes from lights and appliances). The hot, dry air has to go somewhere, and it looks like it just goes back into the room.

Note that the portable AC unit in Bohemia Mountain's link requires venting to outside air - this is to discharge the hot air and will be much more effective for cooling a small space. However, you might have to leave your office door open to get adequate airflow.

Is it possible that the AC vent in your room is closed, or that there is some problem with the ducting from the central AC unit to your room?
posted by muddgirl at 2:52 PM on May 3, 2011

Gah, that second latent should be "sensible."
posted by muddgirl at 2:57 PM on May 3, 2011

When I had a portable AC, I would constantly remove and re-attach the vent to the window. A minor annoyance, really not a big deal.

Although in your case, I would probably just try opening the window and have a fan blowing.
posted by gnutron at 2:58 PM on May 3, 2011

In Florida, in the summer, a fan blowing in hot, moist air probably won't do the trick. Instead, install a vent and a fan in the office door to blow cold into or hot air out of the office.

Or, you know, get your AC system checked.
posted by muddgirl at 3:01 PM on May 3, 2011

I have a portable AC unit with the vent and a weird looking window contraption thingie to keep it from falling out.

It is expensive to run but cools the space. Mine is more powerful than 1,000 BTUs, but I'm not sure exactly how much more powerful.

Anyway, I love mine. It isn't a big deal to just flip it on when it is too hot and in a few seconds feel the delicious cooling breeze. It does have a water reservior that has to be emptied depending on how often you use it.
posted by Sheppagus at 3:14 PM on May 3, 2011

If the bright lights add a lot of heat, you might consider replacing them with LED lights. We swapped all the halogens (which give off a huge amount of heat) in the kitchen with LEDs. The brightness is roughly the same, and the floor lights are no longer a fire hazard. The lamps are comparatively expensive but they last forever, use much less electricity and give you that nice middle class feeling.
posted by rhymer at 3:29 PM on May 3, 2011

I'm in FL and have the same exact problem. We had our A/C units replaced and added another vent and another intake in the office. Big Money. Very Little Effect. We are currently converting our garage into a well insulated, well air conditioned space with the servers in a separate a/c'd room. I've spent 50K trying to get a decent home work environment. I won't be watching this thread because if you find a good solution for that cheap I might have to throw myself off a bridge. I sincerely wish you luck, I know what it is to work in Hell.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 3:37 PM on May 3, 2011

I would go with a portable ac unit and install a dryer vent to hook up the hot air out hose too. Getting one installed isn't that difficult on an outside wall, could be a diy if you are handy or the kind of thing any decent handyman could do. A good dryer vent doesn't let in insects or the like and you wont have any security issues or have to hook/unhook a vent.

You could also get a wall unit installed high up in a purpose made hole that would solve the security issue and wouldn't take up any floor space or window space.

I would, like rhymer, try to eliminate and minimize any sources of heat in the room as well. Cooler lights, can the computer be vented outside? would putting a window shade on the outside or some kind of awning keep the sun off the walls of the room? and is the air coming out of the existing ac vent in the room adequate? (use a cooking thermometer with a probe to see what the tempature in the vent is when on. If it isn't cool enough like 45 or less you probably have a problem).

Another idea is to install a fan IN the door-like a vent fan for a bathroom but mounts in the door like the window mount fans do. This could be a really cool hack if you are into that kind of home improvement.
posted by bartonlong at 3:43 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't do that. Im not sure how large your office is, but it that unit is going to be throwing hot air out the back equal to the cooling plus 25% or so in inefficiencies. Making your space hotter and hotter. A wall mounted split system is the best answer if you have the budget.
posted by ihadapony at 4:16 PM on May 3, 2011

The manufacturer of the device that you linked to has this to say:

Q. Can I use my Portable AC in a server room, computer room, sun room, etc.?
A. No. This is not recommended as Portable AC’s are not designed for this purpose. Rooms that generate high levels of constant heat from electronic equipment will not allow the unit to cool sufficiently to the customers liking. Constant heat will make the unit work harder for a long period of time and eventually overheat.

All air conditioners are heat pumps -- they cannot create coldness, only move heat from one place to another. A unit like this that has no vent to blow hot air outside the room is not going to be able to do much other than remove humidity from the air and push heat around the room. It won't be able to reduce the actual temperature. For that you need a vent.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:01 PM on May 3, 2011

Also, if the problem with leaving the door open is that the kids wander in then that seems like the most reasonable avenue of attack. Perhaps you could come up with some kind of signal that you're busy working and that it's not play time, like perhaps "if the box fan is in the doorway of the office, that means daddy is busy working and you can't go in." If the issue is noise then perhaps a white noise generator or headphones would let you work in peace.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was going to suggest something similar to Rhomboid. Perhaps add a baby gate as a barrier? Symbolic, of course, if your kids are big enough to climb over. "When the gate is closed, that means Dad is working and cannot be interrupted unless someone is bleeding to death."

Otherwise, your best bet is to get a regular portable a/c unit and put in/remove the exhaust hose/panel as needed. I have one of those and it really takes only a few seconds to do either action.
posted by deborah at 6:04 PM on May 3, 2011

The alliterative of cutting a simple round hole in the wall to allow a semi- permanent installation of a portable ac unit seems like a great idea. There things to put on either side to easily close the hole when you are not running the ac. If you are at all handy, this should be a trivial job. If not, find a local handyman to help you out. You don't need to pay a HVAC person to do this.
posted by rockindata at 6:35 PM on May 3, 2011

I was just getting my hair cut today and my stylist had a small upright unit that she said was an "air conditioner." I held my hand to both sides and it was indeed shooting out nothing but cold air. There was no exhaust. I didn't understand how it could work; perhaps it was "only a dehumidifier" but the air it was delivering was significantly cooler than the room's temperature. I'm puzzled about how it works. That unit, at least, seems like it could noticeably cool a small space.
posted by jayder at 6:45 PM on May 3, 2011

If you're not opposed to spending money, your room might be an excellent candidate for a small ductless heat pump.

http://www.nwductless.com/

I got a whole house system for 700 after a Federal tax credit (expired) and a local utility rebate. It's a dream come true and essentially free to run.
posted by jz at 8:24 PM on May 3, 2011

Oh, and since you have central AC don't forget that many such systems have adjustable portioning vanes in the ducting and at the registers to allow one to adjust airflow to different places, so it might be possible to get more cooling in that one room without having to turn down the set point for the whole home.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:44 PM on May 3, 2011

Any portable AC unit is going to provide you with cool air but at the expense of producing waste heat. If you can't get rid of the waste heat from the unit you are basically spinning your wheels and spending your money for nothing.

Try to limit your heat output from your lights and computers. LED lights are brighter than incandescent and have almost no waste heat. They also are low on power consumption and work in standard fixtures. CPU cooling units will keep your computers cool and will keep waste heat to a minimum. Then all you need is a desktop fan to keep the air moving and to provide a small breeze.
posted by JJ86 at 6:38 AM on May 4, 2011