I bought a portable AC to cool down and when it arrived, the weather also became cooler the next day and has stayed cool. Did I waste the money?
No and here is why. What I didn’t think about was all the humidity in the air. Now with this 8000 BTU AC it has removed a lot of water from the air making it more pleasant. Besides the heat, the humidity in NYC lately has been above 90%.
As soon as it was turned on it started to reduce the heat. It also started to make it drier and more comfortable. That night I turned it off and when I woke up in the morning it felt humid again. Of course because with the PTAC/air exchange units it always is venting and so even though it was cooler and shouldn’t need a AC the reduction of humidity make it way more comfortable than just the temperature.
I think one of the mistakes that I can make in my thinking is that when you slowly adjust to conditions like humidity you don’t think anything about it. Then when it comes time to consider if something is needed like an AC, you might decide against it but the root cause is still there.
Now will I put this away when I can use the regular AC/PTAC/Air exchange again? No. That unit does not remove humidity. Plus having it as a backup is really wonderful. I really appreciate the fact that no longer am I stuck with having to do what the HOA says in regards to the build in AC utilities. I got approval and now I can use this and achieve a more reliable comfort experience.
If I had looked ahead at the weather than I might have mistakenly considered I didn’t need this and not bought it. That would have been a mistake. Sometimes having a backup system, or trying out a new system has benefits that you don’t realize.