It's summer, you're hot, and it's time to cool offBefore rushing down to the nearest home improvement store and buying the first one you see, do a little homeworkIt will help you save money and stay coolerFirst you have to know that a portable AC unit isn't going to cool your entire house (unless you have a 200 square foot studio), but it will do a great job of cooling the room that you are inThis is what they are designed for and why they are portable.

Portable air conditioners need a window to exhaust the hot air that they pull inOn most models there is a large hose that comes out the back of the unit and mounts to a windowIf the room that you want to cool doesn't have a window, you will have problems cooling it offOne option is to rig up a series of fans to draw cool air into the windowless room from the AC unit.

The power rating of the unit is measured in BTU's (British Thermal Units) which is the common unit of measure for heaters and air conditionersThe higher the BTU's the more power it will have and the larger the space it will coolSome models are more efficient than others, so with that in mind a 2000 BTU unit from one manufacturer can cool a larger space than one from a different companyRead the manufacturers materials on the unit to see how large of a space that the unit can cool.

Class is overGo shopping and cool off!