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On 05/08/2022 at 01:47, Harnser said:

"Hope you can all find a way to keep cool"

We just bought a portable air-con unit to cool our bedroom down when it's too hot to be comfortable.

Monday 18 July  was peak heat here in south central Brittany following weeks of hot weather. Monday's forecast temperature was high 30's to early 40's after a few weeks of early to mid 30's, so this old stone house had absorbed and stored that heat, which was making our normally cool bedroom increasingly uncomfortable.

We spotted that Lidl had an offer on a portable air con unit on the previous Friday, not their own rubbish Silver Crest brand but a widely available brand called "Comfee", so took the plunge and bought one.

www.archyde.com/lidl-comfee-air-conditioner-cheap-.../ -

That price is a tad out of date, we paid €200 at Lidl

Went out next day and bought a sheet of 15 mm plywood and a sheet of polyglass to made an insert for our inward opening casement bedroom window for the warm air exhaust from the air con unit.

The maximum daytime temperature on that Monday outside our kitchen door was 44 C !

We ran the air-con for about 18 - 20 hours in total including for 12 hours overnight on the monday as the bedroom was 35 C - really cooled it down to around 23 C. We also used a fan in the room to circulate the cool air to cool down quicker.

We also ran it for a couple of hours on Wednesday last as the bedroom was too hot for comfort, cooled it from 35 C to 25 c - much more comfortable !

 

Harnser, I have succumbed.  Went to Leclerc to source a climatiseur mobile.  Couldn't see any, so asked at Customer Services.  Answer was y'a n'as pas plus.

Tried online with Darty being the first port of call.  Yes, in stock but no delivery, you'll have to come and get it.  Alas, the nearest shop stocking the model I have chosen is hundreds of miles away in another département.

Good old Amazon to the rescue?  Maybe....

So, what I want to ask you, Harnser, is whether yours has a large tube to put outside your window?  We do have a window in the bedroom but in the sitting room, the only window is a French type that opens onto an enclosed verandah.  Not sure how we could get the tube through the door and then seal the rest of the door that would be ajar and thus letting the hot air back in?

I HAVE seen air conditioners that do not need an extractor tube but not sure if these are just glorified fans and would do a proper job?

Harnser or anyone else, PLEASE help.....I have 2 lung conditions and I had to get up at 3.00 am this morning to go out into the garden and stay there till I no longer felt as though I was suffocating.

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Zeroing in your specific questions-

So, what I want to ask you, Harnser, is whether yours has a large tube to put outside your window?  We do have a window in the bedroom but in the sitting room, the only window is a French type that opens onto an enclosed verandah.  Not sure how we could get the tube through the door and then seal the rest of the door that would be ajar and thus letting the hot air back in?

Yes menthe it has a large flexible tube/hose a bit like an oversized tumble dryer hose to get rid of the heat that is extracted from the room. 

If you have french -style inward opening casement windows like our bedroom, the right hand half opens first so you keep the left hand half closed and make an "insert" to fit the right hand opening from 15 mm plywood with the outlet hose in the bottom 8" or so, I cut a window into the insert so as not to make the room darker and glazed it with plastic glass "polyglass"  various plastic fittings come with the unit to do this.

You could do this with a "french door" type also - the full plywood sheets come as 2500mm x 1250mm  

I HAVE seen air conditioners that do not need an extractor tube but not sure if these are just glorified fans and would do a proper job?

These are not true air conditioners, they evaporate water or use ice cubes with a fan blowing over/through it.  I doubt that's going to work in a large room, probably ok to put on your desk in an office blowing at your face.

Getting hold of a unit Amazon.fr have them, here 7000 btu which we have and a bigger 9000 btu unit.

I'm not specifically recommending this particular make or model but from our experience they do the job.

Bear in mind they do make a noise but that's preferable to being a big sweaty mess and not sleeping properly.

(from my school science memory the BTU is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree fahrenheit.)

7000 BTU unit

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07KJT9K9M/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=1d66e626e91199f8b7c7490bec577e06&content-id=amzn1.sym.962b535b-a8b7-499f-8ba5-164fe04b0459%3Aamzn1.sym.962b535b-a8b7-499f-8ba5-164fe04b0459&hsa_cr_id=5808331370602&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=671e380a-17d1-42dc-8493-c25e0dac7d62&pd_rd_w=m0QLk&pd_rd_wg=aOclk&qid=1660381070&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_title&sr=1-2-fd947bf3-57d2-4cc9-939d-2805f92cef28

9000 btu unit

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07KJYD1ZP/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=1d66e626e91199f8b7c7490bec577e06&content-id=amzn1.sym.962b535b-a8b7-499f-8ba5-164fe04b0459%3Aamzn1.sym.962b535b-a8b7-499f-8ba5-164fe04b0459&hsa_cr_id=5808331370602&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=671e380a-17d1-42dc-8493-c25e0dac7d62&pd_rd_w=m0QLk&pd_rd_wg=aOclk&qid=1660381070&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_2_img&sr=1-3-fd947bf3-57d2-4cc9-939d-2805f92cef28

Free delivery with prime!

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Answering or adding to my own post here, there is an alternative to making the insert as I did, it's a sort of fabric contrivance sold as a kit for about €20 - we bought one with the aircon unit. Took it out of the packet, read the instructions, shook our heads, folded it up, put it back in the packet and it went back to lidl for a refund on the way to the diy shed for the plywood.

Up to you of course, if you or OH is not interested in a bit of swift diy making the insert.

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Hmm......food for thought indeed!  Thank you to everyone who has replied and special thanks to Harnser for the detailed information.

Next week is going to be cooler so I still have time to research.  So, the "feurte" thingies for windows do not work; that doesn't surprise me as I looked at the pictures and had my doubts.

It's not because OH is unwilling to do DIY but he is 91 years old and, frankly, I'd worry about letting him start doing DIY now as he wasn't too keen on that even when he was years younger!

Will have to see if I can find someone to do this and I do have friends who know a man "that does".

ALBF, I don't think a ceiling fan will cut it because, last night for example, the bedroom temp was 31.5.  And no, we didn't sleep in it!  If I had, I don't think I'd still be here asking for advice.....

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15 minutes ago, menthe said:

 

ALBF, I don't think a ceiling fan will cut it because, last night for example, the bedroom temp was 31.5.  And no, we didn't sleep in it!  If I had, I don't think I'd still be here asking for advice.....

Our bedroom temperature was the same last night....there or there abouts. It is hot in the combles in our house.

I was on the second setting (very cold)....i.e...the fan spins faster. The third setting would be tooooo cold.

I slept like a bunny with a cover on me. In 30 degreees +. 

A fan does not cool the room, it make you feel cold.

Our fan has a reverse mode (the fan spins anti-clockwise) and in the winter in blows hot air down. 

Ceiling fan ! It costs 150 euros !

 

But in the long term (for anyone renovating a house in France) you need to to have downstairs bedrooms. No more sleeping upstairs. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by alittlebitfrench
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"So, the "feurte" thingies for windows do not work; that doesn't surprise me as I looked at the pictures and had my doubts."

I can't say that they don't work, it just seemed a lot of messing about sticking velcro tape along the edge of the windows, if your OH is not keen or able to do the solid insert give it a go, you may very well be able to make more sense of it than we did. 

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Been chewing this problem over while chewing my lunch.

Harnser, we now think that, instead of doing those plywood inserts, we might just as well have a hole drilled into the outside wall.  It is a modern house, so only one-brick thick and I can do the making good and bit of redecorating afterwards.

ALBF, also thinking of your suggestion.  What if we install a good extractor (to remove the hot air) and an effective fan?  The costs will probably work out the same for 2 rooms and 2 climatiseurs.  But running costs might be a bit lower and the environmental impact less pronounced.

Any further comments or suggestions, anyone?

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If you can get two holes drilled in your wall with reasonable accuracy, you could install a very efficient unit which is self contained, and does not have a separate outdoor unit.

The holes are used for 20 cm ducts, one of which brings cold air in, the second exhausts the hot air.

Search "climatiseur sans unite exterieure"

I was considering installing an Olympia Splendid, but it is a bit too much work, as we have very thick walls (250mm parpaign+50mm airspace+100mm brique+80mm insulation+placo).

https://www.olimpiasplendid.fr/climatiseur-monobloc-sans-groupe-exterieure-unico?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl92XBhC7ARIsAHLl9al0fu51_ZSv7pn7fyWgJZrOV3pGx5LO4tWEDdvURdr3E_kVvUOVn_IaAmQkEALw_wcB

There are several YouTube videos on the site showing installation.

They would also be quite easy to install in a mobile home or caravan.

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59 minutes ago, ssomon said:

If you can get two holes drilled in your wall with reasonable accuracy, you could install a very efficient unit which is self contained, and does not have a separate outdoor unit.

The holes are used for 20 cm ducts, one of which brings cold air in, the second exhausts the hot air.

Search "climatiseur sans unite exterieure"

I was considering installing an Olympia Splendid, but it is a bit too much work, as we have very thick walls (250mm parpaign+50mm airspace+100mm brique+80mm insulation+placo).

https://www.olimpiasplendid.fr/climatiseur-monobloc-sans-groupe-exterieure-unico?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl92XBhC7ARIsAHLl9al0fu51_ZSv7pn7fyWgJZrOV3pGx5LO4tWEDdvURdr3E_kVvUOVn_IaAmQkEALw_wcB

There are several YouTube videos on the site showing installation.

They would also be quite easy to install in a mobile home or caravan.

To my mind, a permanently installed unit has one big disadvantage.

When or if it goes wrong or needs servicing you have the usual french problem of getting someone in to do it.

If it's portable you just put it in the back of the car and take it to an air conditioning repairer.

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If you look at the installation videos on the site I linked to, you will see that the unit I mentioned above is simply hung on the wall to line up with the two 20cm holes, and can be unplugged from the mains supply, moved away from the wall to disconnect the condensate drain, and taken to a repair shop just as easily as a portable unit.

 

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Olimpia Splendids are available on Amazon France. 1.8kW (6,000 BTU/Hr) is €999. Largest, 2.3kW (7,300BTU/Hr) is €1,369, both with free delivery on Prime.

Actually a bit expensive for me, as I do our AC&R installation and repair myself, so split units cost us less, but they are probably good value for someone who has to pay for professional installation.

The Splendids are also a bit small for us. We manage with two ancient 9,000 BTU/Hr split units, possibly installed in 2000 or even earlier, which were in this house when we bought it in 2010. I have replaced the compressors and some electrical parts in both units, but I can't keep them going for ever, and I dream of two slightly larger new split units, which might even provide enough heating in the winter.

With the current outdoor temperature well into the 30's I have the thermostats set on 24º, and the units run probably 50% of the time, cooling an area of about 110 sq m. The rooms containing the units are at 24º all the time, and the furthest away, the office and the kitchen, are quite habitable.

This house is extremely well insulated, plus there is only one small window on the  south side (and the north), none on the west side, and the shutters are kept closed on the east side of the house until after midday.

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Yes, ssomon, I can see that is really a neat bit of kit.  OK, need to reconsider options maybe but that climatiseur does sound a bit pricey.

They are both small rooms, well one very small room and I suppose quite a roomy bedroom.  Already have a radiator on the one outside wall and not a lot of room either side.  But I must admit I do like the pictures you have enclosed.

A bit of reflection time as the weather is forecast to break tonight....yay!!!!

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Northwest of Carcassonne, we had some rain during Saturday night, didn't hear the forecast thunderstorm, everything was bone dry before midday.

The Aude is too poor to get proper weather, we just get what's left over from the other Departements.

Edited by ssomon
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4 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

 Anybody had rain or thunderstorms?

We have had lots of rain over the last 36 hours. The garden has been watered. We need more....like 3 years more. 

It is cool here now but a little bit humid.

Mosquitoes are back though. 😟

I have been bitten twice big style. 

France is great....not. 😀

Edited by alittlebitfrench
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We had 5 stère of wood (ca. 3000 kg) delivered into our courtyard Saturday, so of course we have had rain since and lots more expected over the next 3 days. We have a lot of plastic sheets to keep it more-or-less covered until it is shifted into our wood store; last time it took us about a month for 4 stère.

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