The majority of portable air conditioning units now imported into the UK are made in China. This has had price benefits to customers who can now buy the smaller units of 2-2.4KW output at very low prices from major retailers. When comparing these designs with those widely made and distributed from Italy 10 years ago, there are significant differences. These are principally in the areas of noise levels emitted and durability of the units.



Competition between the five biggest manufacturers has led to repeated value analysis exercises, in production, to reduce manufacturing costs to a minimum. The result has been portable air conditioning units which are largely uneconomical to repair and which can only be scrapped if any major components fail. The good news is that the costs have been driven down to where replacement is cheap, particularly with the low value of the Chinese currency.

The small low cost units are, however, less suitable for the UK market in that they can be noisy to work beside all day in an office and in more humid conditions frequent emptying of the condensate is required with many of the designs, to keep the units running.

Higher noise levels seem to be unavoidable as construction becomes lighter, sound proofing is reduced to bring down costs. Smaller fans running at higher speeds are cheaper and more compact in production and for a given output the units need to move an adequate volume of air. This means higher air velocities from units which are physically smaller and this in turn means more fan noise.

Whilst the lower costs and resulting raucous designs appear to suit the far eastern market they are not the choice of UK offices who

The PM38Q ? A New Development

Aircon Hire Ltd have worked with Promac in China to specify a model of portable air conditioner which is more suitable for the London office market. The aim was to produce a powerful unit of 3.8KW output which was better than standard units available in the market in 3 ways. Firstly, it needed to be quieter at all fan speeds with a low setting which would be quiet enough to be used all day in close proximity to staff. Secondly, it needed to have lower air velocities to reduce draughts and thirdly it needed to eliminate the need for inconvenient condensate disposal.

The new PM38Q available from Aircon Hire Ltd. The unit looks very similar to the earlier PM38 units but internally it is very different in construction and layout. It has quieter fans, a newly patented condensate disposal system and utilises R410 refrigerant. It retains its twin hose facility. When placed side by side with other models and other manufacturers to difference in performance and noise level is immediately apparent.

Other improvements include a digital control panel with room temperature readout and built in time delay for protection of the compressor. All in all the PM38Q is a major step forward in design for the UK office market.