The placement of a portable air conditioner is important for its performance, and sometimes placing it on a carpet may not be the best decision for smooth mobility.
Portable air conditioners offer owners flexibility when it comes to where the unit can be placed and how it can be moved around, as many of them sit on wheels to offer users convenient mobility.
These units may be the best option for people who do not want to make permanent structural adjustments to their homes and living spaces. These AC’s sit comfortably on the floor and are vented through the window.
Although a portable unit needs to be placed on the floor, it cannot simply be placed on any type of surface. Homes have different types of floors that may or may not be suitable for a portable air conditioner.
Portable air conditioner placement
The key to ensuring that a portable air conditioner works is making sure that the unit is installed properly and safely, vented with the exhaust hose through the window, and in the proper placement for the exhaust hose to vent.
The placement of the air conditioner’s body is also a key factor as the type of surface your unit is placed on can affect its performance.
The unit needs to be stable and straight, and it should not lean in an unbalanced manner, as this can interfere with the cooling process.
Can a portable air conditioner sit on a carpet?
Portable air conditioner placement is important if you want your AC unit to function optimally. The best place to put a portable air conditioner is on a hard, level floor, at least eight to 12 inches away from any obstructions such as furniture, flowers, or plants.
A hard, level floor is crucial so that the air conditioner is always in an upright position on a level surface where there is no chance for it to be tilted due to unbalanced positioning.
If the unit is not level, its performance can be negatively affected, as the inner components may not be able to work well at an unbalanced level.
Hard floors are the safest choice, but if the unit sits on a carpet, this can be okay under certain conditions.
Certain carpets are uneven when heavy objects are placed on them, whereas other harder carpets can handle heavy weights pretty well and still keep the object stable, upright, and balanced.
The one consideration you should make if you want to place your portable unit on a carpet, is whether this will make it easier or more difficult for you to move the unit around if the need arises.
Portable air conditioners come with wheels, and some wheels may have trouble gliding smoothly on or over a carpet, so if you do not plan to move the air conditioner around much, then a level carpet is fine.
Why placing a portable unit on a carpet may be a bad idea
Since portable air conditioners extract moisture that needs to be drained regularly, if the unit is not drained in time and starts leaking, this can spell disaster if the unit is positioned on a carpet, which can easily soak up the water and start to smell bad if it does not dry quickly enough.
This is another reason why placing the air conditioner on a carpet is a risky move, one you might not be willing to take.
Preventing carpet damage from water leaks
If your home only has carpet flooring and you still wish to place your AC unit on the carpet, then you should always remain on the safe side and prevent your carpets from getting wet from a leaking portable air conditioner by placing a container under the unit’s drain plugs.
This container will collect any possible leakage from the unit. This method is ideal for people who may be forgetful when it comes to draining their portable units timeously.
Homeowners need to be observant of when a container has water in it, as this is an indicator that the unit needs to be drained before any damage is caused to the inside of the unit.
Where should a portable AC unit never be placed?
As previously mentioned, if a carpet does not provide a stable enough surface for the unit to be in an upright position the way it should, then you should rather move the unit to a harder and flatter surface.
A portable air conditioner should also never be placed anywhere except on the floor. A desk, chair, or shelf is not a good place for the air conditioner to operate, as this can be dangerous if these pieces of furniture are unstable.