Portable Air Conditioner: Window vs Floor Unit

When comparing a portable air conditioner window unit versus a floor unit, you have to consider a few aspects of your apartment lifestyle. Before you purchase one unit or the other, compare these characteristics:

More Apartments Allow Floor Units

Many apartment complexes ban portable air conditioner window units because of their bulk and easy visibility from outside of the apartment. You should review your rental agreement to see if window units are banned because if they are, you are unlikely to get permission to install one in your apartment.

Portable air conditioner floor units are much more likely to be allowed in an apartment because their required vent space is usually only about 4 inches in diameter, the size of a vacuum hose. You can vent a floor unit through a window, a sliding door or a hole in the wall, but you must not cut holes in the wall without your landlord’s permission. Venting through a window or sliding door, though, will require only about four inches of space (you plug the rest up with wood) and is less noticeable than window units.

Window Units Usually More Effectively Cool a Room

Portable air conditioner window units are generally stronger than portable floor units because they are larger and require more room for ventilation. However, which unit better cools a room really depends on the individual unit’s BTU measurement. The higher the number, the stronger the unit and the more effective it is at cooling a room. The maximum BTU a window unit can have is greater than the maximum BTU the floor unit can have, but it is possible to get a floor unit with a higher BTU than some window units.

Floor Units Are Easier to Install

Neither the portable air conditioner window unit nor the floor unit are incredibly difficult to install, but because the window units are generally a bit less portable and much larger, it can be more difficult to properly screw in the unit and make sure there isn’t excess space around the unit. A floor unit only needs a hose to stick outside of the apartment, so you can either stick it right into a small hole in the wall designed for this purpose or stick it into a block of wood that covers the rest of the gap in an open window or sliding door. However, even if you get permission from your landlord, making a hole in the wall is a difficult and intricate job, as you don’t want the hole to be too large, so making the hole can pose some difficulty.

Both Units May Be More Convenient

Although you will have to make sure the ventilation hose connecting to the outside is properly fastened each time, the floor unit offers more convenience than the window unit because it more easily moved and reinstalled in a different location. However, if there’s a room that you always want to keep cool, like your bedroom, getting a more stationary window unit might be the more convenient option so that you don’t have to continue to install and uninstall the unit throughout the season.

Both a portable air conditioner window unit and a floor unit can offer an effective, simple way to cool your apartment during the hot summer months. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but you must also consider what’s allowed in your complex before you decide.