One of the perks that comes with writing a blog is that occasionally I am approached to write a review about a product that a company feels would work in the tiny/small house world.
Recently, I received a big package in the mail with a NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner in it. It had been recommended to me for use in a small house. To be honest, I was surprised at the size of the box as it seemed huge. I opened it and found that it was double boxed for protection and was a little smaller than I first thought.
The NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner is a 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner with a built in heat pump. It produces serious air-conditioning for an area up to 525 square feet. Perfect for a small house. This particular unit also heats but I have not tested its ability in that area yet.
The unit has adjustable air louvers, allowing you to direct the air where you want it. It also has a remote control so you do not need to get up to make changes but can do it from where you are sitting. It also has a built-in ionizer that removes airborne pollutants, thus allowing you to breathe cleaner, healthier air.
It is built of high quality industrial design so should last well under normal use.
Here is my experience with the unit. It was well packaged and had all the components it said it should. It is not a small unit so it takes a little hefting to get it out of the box. It does have wheels so will roll around fairly easily once out of the box.
Setup of the unit was a little difficult. The hardware supplied did not adequately allow for the connection of the window unit to the adapter for the air exhaust. I had to find a few tiny bolts to hold it together. I also had some difficulty connecting the air pipe and am still trying to make it hold securely. It needs some type of hardware to make this connection more secure. I contacted the company and evidently a couple of pieces of hardware were missing in my shipment so this should be covered.
The unit seems to work quite well and cools fairly quickly. In the last couple of days on average it has been 96 degrees outside, while inside the unit keeps it at 75. The unit seems to hold its own in quite hot weather. We do not have the humidity out west so I don’t know how it would do with high humidity.
The unit does collect water in a tank that occasionally needs to be emptied. It has worked for me two afternoons and so far does not need to be emptied. You drain the tank into a tray and the unit beeps and shuts down when the tank is full.
The company does supply a drain and you can set this up if you plan to leave it in one room. However, that limits the portability of the unit if you choose to move it to another area of the house or if your tiny house is on a trailer and moves frequently.
I would recommend this air conditioner if you have a small home. It is too large for a tiny house, such as a Tumbleweed on wheels. But, it cools well and can be used as a small heater.
To learn more and decide if this unit is what you have been looking for visit the Air and Water, Inc. website.
Can you keep track of what it does to your electric bill?
I will do that and let you know. We only use it part time as it cools down at night here and we open up the house, I have been turning it on for 3 or 4 hours the last couple of days and will continue to do as long as the heat hangs around.
The website lists it as drawing 1141W for cooling. You can use http://www.electricity-usage.com/Electricity-Usage-Calculator.aspx?Device=cooler&Watts=1141&CostPerKWH=0.10&HoursPerDay=6 and enter your kilowatt per hour cost and how many hours a day you’d be using it and see how much it’d set you back.
A handy formula to use is
wattage x hours used ÷ 1000 x price per kWh = cost of electricity.
Say you leave a 100-watt bulb running all the time (730 hours a month), and you’re paying 15¢/kWh. Your cost to run the bulb all month is 100 x 730 ÷ 1000 x 15¢ = $10.95.
I have something similar to this for my 750 sq ft apartment because it cools 500 – 800 sq ft. Mine has dual exhaust though. 14k btu is the way to go!
Margaret, What brand and model do you have? Any idea of its efficiency? How long have you been using it And what’s your climate? Thanks
I’ve been looking at air/heat systems for my small house, I’m using a window unit now, the price for one mini split system was $3750…too much for my budget. This looks like a good alternative, no complaints with the window unit, but I hear they just aren’t efficient, and it’s 220 so the Kill a Watt won’t work.
I’d plug this into a Kill a Watt meter and monitor the usage. I wonder if they’re rated/made for continuous or long term usage? I’ll do some research, I’m in Florida, and our cooling season is about 5 months!
That is a lot of power for most tiny homes, many which are solar dependent, or at best have an extension cord parasited to their host property. This thing is going to draw 11+ AMPS. If you are going to use an AC this big, then make sure you spend the money on a 30AMP RV extension cord, or something similar.
Also, what is the advantage of using this instead of a couple of small window units? Say, two $100 Haier 5000 BTU units, one in downstairs, and one in the sleeping loft for example? Use one, turn the other off. One of the few joys of window AC is the immediate area cooling — being right in front of its airflow.
In my case, this is a one room house, there are partition walls 8 feet high around the bathroom, but no celiing in there, it’s open to the rest of the house. One unit works fine here, but that may not be the case for others.
howdy folks~
this was a timely posting for me as next week i am preparing to move into a little 1950’s camper trailer i’ve been renovating and i am researching how to stay cool in our hot north carolina summers.
the “little love shack” is 7×13. i have someone who can install a roof mounted RV AC for $700 which is more than i really have to invest right now and i’m not sure how efficient those systems are.
because of the small space, i’m reluctant to give up one of my windows for a dedicated year round AC window unit (the windows are lever style so i’d need to remove the whole window frame and i doubt i’d want to do that every year just for 3 months of cooling).
another idea is to cut a hole in what little wall space there is and install a small 5000 BTU unit there. not sure if there is a big difference between “window” AC units and “through the wall” units other than the mounting. one issue with this approach is that the only two places to cut an opening would be over an existing window (would it drain onto the lever-windows when they are opened?) or in the little room where the composting toilet will be (do i really want to keep that door open to allow the cool air to flow in?).
any bright ideas, insights, or resources would be much appreciated!
all blessings~
kim
Kim,
For what you are looking for, a roof unit is the only practical way, at your size/space. I’d look to see if anyone is salvaging travel trailers & or craig’s list. I’m trying to Demo one myself, dodging the rain! They seem to fall apart easyly, & in this economy, people aren’t paying to fix them or using them. So dump them.
The AC is one of the first things to go, so be careful what you buy. And the white plastic they seem to make EVERYTHING on the RV roofs, breaks down FAST in the sun!!! Get some plastic spray paint & spray it a darker color to block UV rays.
oops, to protect from sun you want a WHITE color not dark..reflect the rays and avoid extremely high temp that would result from black paint. But yes, paint is good..Ive heard of a technique painting a surface black then white to achieve total protection sometimes done on fabric covered aircraft.
Curious about two features
There is only one hose connected to the window to let the hot air out. This is interesting as most a/c systems use the outside air for cooling the radiator without letting the hot air in. This means the a/c should have had two hoses: one to let the outside air in to cool the radiator (if you select cooling) and another one to let this air out again with all the heat. This one can only blow air to the outside, which makes it into a combined a/c and ventillation system. That means a window will be kept open at another end of the house. A split a/c is set-up differently: An inside unit is a heat pump. An outside unit is a radiator. A closed circuit of cooling gas connects the two via holes in the wall. The outside unit uses air for cooling, does not let hot air into the room. This one seems to work harder (and use more electricity) simply because it has to let air in all the time.
The hot air outside is more humid than the cooled air in the room, and letting in the outside air means that the system will condense more water than normal. This is good if you use the water for irrigation (Mine fills 25 Gallons in 24h!)but you said the system shuts-down when the tray is full. How much water does it allow you to collect and how often do you empty it? If you install a bigger tray, is it easy to replace it? Can you connect a water outlet to a container outside? (Not concerning drilling a hole in the wall)
I have a Soleus 14K BTU portable cooling/heating unit for backup. It is only about 10 SEER, so efficiency isn’t high. But keep in mind it doesn’t have to push air through long ducts (and my ducts are in the attic where they get hot). It can cool/heat MOST of the house in a pinch.
Best way is a mini-split. A 23 SEER 24K BTU(two-ton) mini-split can do nearly the work of a 16 SEER 3-ton central AC and do so cheaper. It just works better for zones, so three one-ton mini-splits can really save money. It isn’t the cost of the units so much; just finding an AC guy that will install and provide maintenance. They don’t make nearly the money they do fixing inefficient, leaky central AC systems.
@Drue – can you please give some brand names and model numbers for the mini-split you are talking about? Not knowing a lot about a/c I want to research this issue BEFORE I start building – which I hope to start construction in September.
Thanks!
This site has a good number of options.
http://paylessminisplit.com/home
Anyone considering this item might also want to look into the alternative of a hybrid heatpump/water heater like the GE Geospring that I just installed in one of my houses. It draws on the heat from the surrounding environment to heat water, and exhausts a stream of cool air in return. IF the demand is too great for the heatpump process, the water heater automatically switches to standard electric heating .The hot water capacity is probably more than any tiny house would require, but this might be used in conjunction with second structure as well. I expect a quick pay-off of my price (around $1100 after all promotional sales and rebates, et cetera, because we live in the warm climate of Hawaii, and because our electric costs here are triple the mainland average.
The PCS-730 +/- 1 kV Charging Source is used to charge the CPM-720 to +/- 1,000 volts to measure ionizer decay and material decay. Electrostatic Meter. These three instruments are match calibrated to work together for accurate and efficient auditing.
Has anyone used one of these for heat? I have a 400 sq ft cottage in Western North Carolina & am trying to decide whether to buy something like this. For this winter I would like something that is electric & doesn’t require cutting holes in the walls. I may do something more permanent after I have lived in/with the house for a while.
Thanks,
Tammy
From this review it sounds quite perfect for my home. I am looking for something which can be accommodated at my small home. I would love to hear from you again about its current performance and efficiency.