Are mobile air-conditioners good for offices?

Offices all over the world are forced to contend with soaring temperatures during the spring and summer months as poor insulation struggles to keep cool air in and hot air out.

Although old buildings are often the worst offenders, modern skyscrapers clad top to bottom in glass can also magnify the sunlight and bake interiors on sunny days.

Fixed air-con units are often the go-to solution to cool offices. However, when these systems malfunction, it can be hours, days or even weeks before cool air is circulating again.

During this time temperatures will gradually build inside, making conditions increasingly uncomfortable for staff. Air becomes sticky and humid. Teams struggle to focus. Employee productivity and happiness plummet.

Portable air-conditioners, such as the ACT 7*, are quick and easy-to-use solutions for room cooling. Deployed in just a few moments, these systems can provide a temporary stopgap for offices and ensure comfortable conditions can be maintained in any scenario.

In fact, these solutions are so effective that more and more buildings have made portable air-conditioners their standalone cooling solution. Below, we cover how these units work and the benefits they offer as both a temporary and permanent system.

How do portable air-conditioners work?

To regulate temperatures in a room, portable air-conditioners absorb heat into the integral cooling system. Once captured, hot air is then cooled by air drawn into the exterior unit. This, in turn, lowers the indoor temperature to comfortable levels.

Why do you need air-con in your office?

Keeping conditions within comfortable levels inside is not only a legal requirement in many countries around the world – dedicated A/C office climate control technology offers numerous advantages for improving work environments.

Enhance employee productivity

Excessive heat can have a significant impact on employees’ comfort and concentration. Mistakes are made. Work progress slows down. People spend more time away from their desks refilling drinks or finding somewhere to cool down. Overall, productivity often grinds to a halt in hot temperatures.

By using A/C to effectively cool rooms, employees are faced with fewer distractions and are able to focus more time and energy on their tasks. This increases the speed and quality at which jobs are completed and boosts employee productivity.

Protect business-critical equipment

Modern offices are full of important equipment that allow teams to do their jobs. However, when temperatures soar, it can gradually damage or destroy sensitive components such as modems or servers. This can result in costly downtime and incur additional repair or installation fees.

To keep this critical infrastructure safe and prevent disruptions to work, air-con regulates room temperatures, preventing devices from overheating.

Improve staff happiness

Poor office climate control means hot air builds indoors. If these conditions go unmitigated for long spans of time, this can erode employee satisfaction and increase the likelihood that people seek employment elsewhere.

By using A/C units to control temperatures, people are more comfortable and able to focus their attention on the tasks at hand. This can contribute to overall team happiness and reduce turnover by keeping people in the same job for longer.

Maximise staff safety

While hot indoor temperatures can be unpleasant in small exposures, when teams spend hour after hour in these conditions day in and day out, it can gradually eat away at workers’ health, wellbeing and comfort.

An air-conditioning unit can help keep interior conditions under control and stop the onset of dizziness and dehydration from causing discomfort or progressing to more serious illnesses, such as heat stroke or exhaustion.

Is portable air-con energy efficient?

Even though fixed and portable air-conditioners operate in a very similar manner, the way in which these technologies can be applied differs significantly.

While fixed air-con is effective at maintaining the temperature inside multiple rooms at once, portable A/C units can be positioned flexibly whenever and wherever needed.

This greater degree of versatility offered by mobile A/C devices allows cooling to be more targeted to the areas that need it most. In certain situations, this will prove more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective to run than a larger, more far-reaching fixed solution.

To demonstrate with an example, consider the fact that offices experience changes in temperature throughout the day. As heat builds in busy areas or near sunny windows, different pockets warm up at different times.

Mobile and portable air-conditioner units can be positioned where needed and spot cooling specific areas or zones. This helps ensure all of the energy used is directed specifically to only where cool air is truly needed.

In other words, despite being no more efficient than fixed systems on the surface, mobile A/C units can reduce energy bills and the emissions generated by only being used in the right place at an appropriate time.

Advantages of portable A/C

Fixed air-conditioning is costly and difficult to install. Not only do the units themselves need to be installed, but they also require ducting throughout buildings to work. What’s more, to accommodate these pipes, work may need to be carried out on the structure itself.

For some offices, the high cost of purchase and the time-consuming installation makes fixed coolers unsuitable. In these situations, mobile alternatives, like the ACT 7, are more than capable of delivering a constant stream of cool air permanently.

As well as this, portable air coolers are beneficial because:

Choosing the right unit for your needs

While there are many different portable air-conditioning units on the market, the ACT 7 is ideal for use in offices and other environments such as on-site data centres, kitchens and gyms.

• This is because the ACT 7 is a fast, effective and cost-efficient solution that can be deployed in minutes to cool a room

• As well as being highly capable, is it also manoeuvrable enough to fit through doors, up staircases and inside of elevators with ease

• Additionally, it can be positioned flexibly indoors, as hoses up to 30 metres long can be fitted that allow hot air to be extracted

• This device is also exceptionally energy-efficient and operates quietly – perfect for workspaces where focus is paramount

• The ACT 7 also comes equipped with an easy-to-use control panel that allows temperatures to be set and the status of the unit to be observed quickly

• Being made from sturdy metal and coated in an easy-to-clean high-gloss finish, this machine can comfortably withstand the trials of everyday use too

• For maximum ease of use, no exhaust duct is required – the unit only needs a water-glycol hose connection between indoor and outdoor devices to transfer heat

Harnessing decades of Dantherm experience in every facet of the design, our entire range of portable A/C coolers are backed by our outstanding support network which means qualified technicians, useful advice and spare parts are always just a phone call away.

How many portable A/C units do I need for my office?

When using mobile units as a permanent or temporary solution, it can be difficult to predict how many machines are needed.

Even though devices like the ACT 7 are capable of cooling whole rooms on their own, offices tend not to heat up uniformly, and a single unit could be positioned flexibly to tackle multiple hot areas throughout the day.

In addition to this, different offices can be reliant on varying numbers of air-conditioning units. While a single system breaking down could affect an entire office, it could just as easily affect just one floor of a larger building.

When carrying out space calculations, you should consider:

Talk to the experts for advice

When fixed air-con is out of action or installation is too invasive, portable air-conditioning units like the ACT 7 offer businesses the perfect solution.

Not only are these devices highly durable and energy-efficient, but they are also capable enough to cool whole rooms themselves and can be moved to wherever needed at a moment’s notice to limit energy consumption.

If you would like to learn more about the ACT 7, and how it can help your office stay cool during warmer months, get in touch using the form below.

* The AC 7000 is the replacement unit for the ACT 7