Looking at whether it is okay to extend your portable air conditioner’s exhaust hose, and how to go about doing so without causing any damage to your unit.
So, you have purchased a portable air conditioner and are wondering whether you are able to extend the exhaust hose of the unit or not. It is not something that is usually advisable to do, as it could potentially damage your portable air conditioner, but it is something that is possible to do should you find yourself with no other option.
What are some precautions to take when extending the hose of your portable air conditioning unit?
It is important to consider that things that could go wrong when you are attempting to extend the hose of your portable air conditioner. Unlike other air conditioning units, a portable air conditioner does not come with two components like an exterior unit to cool the air. These units have a system that allows them to cool the air while venting the warmer air outside of the house by use of a hose.
Many problems can occur when attempting to extend the hose of your portable air conditioner. Most portable units are known to come standard with a five to eight feet-long hose for the process of venting air outside.
This is known as the most suitable length for a portable air conditioner to have, as most models will struggle to vent the air and push it any further than the length of the actual hose.
Extending the hose in this case may be risky, as you might cause the unit to start working inefficiently causing damage to it or resulting in it breaking completely.
Ensuring that you always read the instructions of the manufacturer of your portable air conditioner is key in order to be sure that you can pull off extending the hose.
This is also important as extending the hose will invalidate the warranty. Since back pressure is the most important aspect, you need to be careful when extending the length of your unit’s venting hose, one way of achieving this would be to increase the diameter of the hose, but carefully and slowly.
A flexible hose is necessary for this and can be found at local hardware stores. It is not advisable that the extension exceed 12 feet.
Why is extending the hose of your portable air conditioner mostly advised against?
In some cases, it would be strictly advised that you not even attempt to extend the hose of your portable air conditioner. Some of the reasons for this include the fact that your portable unit’s exhaust hose has been manufactured only for your particular portable air conditioner.
Making any changes to the length, modifying the hose, or attempting to use a longer one can lead to your unit not operating efficiently. Moreover, this will cause problems when it comes to your unit delivering the cooling that it should for you.
The exhaust hose that comes packaged together with your portable air conditioner can be stretched to its maximum length, but in order to get the best in efficiency from your portable unit, the hose should not be stretched but left at the shortest possible length.
Furthermore, you must be sure to be aware of any kinks or bends in the hose to avoid inefficiency in your unit’s performance.
What are some portable air conditioner hoses available on Amazon?
Turbro portable air conditioner universal exhaust hose
Amazon has a number of exhaust hoses for portable air conditioners. The Turbro portable air conditioner universal exhaust hose is an expandable hose with the shortened length reaching 16 inches.
You are able to extend the hose by an additional 78 inches. These extendable hoses are said to be longer in length than most original hoses and are more flexible for bigger spaces.
Zealor universal exhaust hose
The Zealor universal exhaust hose is extra long and is also an extendable hose. The shortest length for the hose is 14.7 inches, while it can be extended for up to 78 more inches.
The hose is flexible and able to twist in a counter-clockwise direction, made up of high quality flexible material that also makes it easy to install.
When it comes to choosing extendable hoses for your portable air conditioner, it is important to note that it needs to be compatible to that of your original exhaust hose on your portable air conditioner.
In determining the right approach to extending the hose of your portable air conditioner, it is also important to take into consideration what alterations could potentially do to your portable unit in terms of damage, as well as how to be sure you are carefully and properly doing it.