Nursery Too Hot - Seeking Portable A/C Unit Rec
Hi,
Does anyone have a recommendation for a portable air conditioner to cool a small nursery? I live in an old apartment and none of the bedrooms have heat or A/C. The nursery is a very small room and I don't like to open the window because too much light comes in. Also, the traffic noise and dog barking is quite loud, even over the white noise. I don't know how to dress my baby for sleep when it is 78' at bedtime and 67' in the morning. I thought it might be best to have a portable air conditioner to cool the room. If you have faced a similar problem, please let me know how you solved it Thanks!
May 3, 2019
Parent Replies
I bought a portable air conditioner from Amazon. You can check the reviews of various brands there. It worked great, but it had to vent to the outdoors (through a window). The other option is a "swamp cooler" which doesn't need to vent I think but I think it has various disadvantages (I didn't buy one but someone told me about them).
We've been using this one for about a year for the same reason. It does require you to put a small plate in the window sill for the tubing, which comes with the unit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CS3J4LW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asi…
I would also just add that swamp coolers are mentioned a lot here by people from dry climates who may not ever have tried one in a humid climate. I suspect that a swamp cooler would behave inconsistently in the bay area because of the humidity. They do really shine in places like arizona and inland though, and are cheap to run. Just FYI!
We bought a portable AC from Home Depot many years ago. When my son was an infant on very hot days, we would wheel it into his room before dinner time, hook it up to the window, and set it to HIGH COOL. At bedtime, I'd put baby down to sleep, close the window, and wheel the unit to the master bedroom and cool that down too. We always turn off all ACs at bedtime because the Bay Area naturally cools down overnight. On other nights, we'd put a box fan in my son's bedroom and do the same thing to cool down the room, then remove everything and close the window and shades. In the late evening I'd go into the room to check the temperature and adjust his bedding. Another thing to consider--you can leave the window open and allow you baby to live with road noise and light. I feel I was too anxious about ambient light and noise and now my son cannot sleep except in complete silence and dark, which causes headaches when we travel or if anything changes (like daylight savings time). Your baby can sleep in any situation, why not introduce a little light and noise? If your baby is a newborn the main thing to be concerned about is good ventilation, make sure the room is not too hot and stuffy.
Not an a/c unit but wanted to mention that we had a similar issue and one other thing we started using were merino wool sleepsacks (I like the Woolino brand and they frequently have sales as they are a little $$). They work well year round and found them to be perfect for the Bay Area fluctuations in weather.