I have one. It cost about £350 and it’s ok, not amazing. i read the reviews on www.appliancesdirect.co,uk It heats as well as cools using air heat pump technology but it only works when the outside temperature is not too low or high. Ironically, it means that on the hottest and coldest days there is no point in turning it on.
The other problem is the ducting. It’s just a flimsy concertina thing, like you get on a tumble dryer. It gets quite hot with all the air it’s blasting out. It’s like a radiator. If your run of ducting is too long (more than 1.5m) then all the heat stays inside even though you’re blowing nice cool air out of the machine. Finally you need a good seal around the exhaust pipe. You need a window kit, like a cat flap. If you just shove it out of an open window or door, there’s just no point. I’m glad I’ve got one, I use mine first thing in the morning, before it’s too hot outside and when it still feels really warm inside.
I’ve done a lot of research into how to stay warm and cool throughout the year. Air conditioning isn’t usually the first solution. You need to keep the heat out during the day using shade to reduce solar gain and fans to push the hot air outside.
As well as fans I’ve got a water evaporator, it’s a fan with a big tank of water. I fill the tank each morning with chilled tap water I store in the fridge overnight and I shove in frozen ice packs and it blows out nice cold air. I also have a big fan that I thought was an evaporative cooler but it turns out just to have a tiny space for a few ice cubes, not what I expected at all.
My routine for the 2 week heat waves we get in the U.K. involves using the air con in the morning, fans all day, and the water evaporator in the afternoon when the air con can’t cope.
I’ve looked into putting shading film on my enormous windows, apparently I’ll be colder in winter as I’ll lose important solar gain and I’ll end up spending more on heating! So I need to install shutters or at least a blind. A canopy would be even better but that’s an expensive option.
