Talk to me re getting air con

[BananaGio]

Every year as I start to roast in my flat in Italy come July I promise myself that this will be the last year I will live without aircon. Am looking ahead to the summer and want to get myself sorted but no clue where to start, what I need and I want to get the knowledge behind me before I go to a shop and am sold something I dont need / cant afford. Our flat is 90 sq metres, has 2 bedrooms off of a large living/dining room area and a small kitchen with no door off of the living area. Money is tight so cant afford top of the range and we rent long term. Can anyone talk me through what I need? Thanks

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

Firstly, is there a hole in the wall already (one that's filled in,but obviously there) for the air con unit to sit in or do you need one that goes in the window? Secondly, are you allowed to have a window unit?- some apartments don't allow them in case they fall out and kill someone. If not, you'd have to get the LL to agree to let you bash a hole in the wall. He may be fine with it, assuming you agree to leave the air con unit in situ when you move out. If possible, you want this type as the window ones are a bit rubbish tbh

[BananaGio]

No definitely no hole in the wall at the moment. Do want a fixed one as not a fan of the tube out of the window one as seems to defeat the object of keeping heat out when window open. Think LL will be ok but will check. Am sure its fine in terms of the split unit bit outside as well as others in the building seem to have. Do they need huge holes bashed in wall? The ones i have seen seem to be just attached to the wall rather than sitting in it? Or have i not been paying attention? As you can see by my vague knowledge am not so hot on the whole diy front.

[ripsishere]

What about a portable one? not sure whether you can get them there, they are sold her (Malaysia) pretty cheaply.

[CassieTheCockatoo]

Not sure if it will work where you are, but we got quotes for air con and then asked the landlord if he would pay half. (He came back to us and said he had one we could have and we just paid to get it installed. Saved us so much money!). We are in a house though.

Just a thought....

It has made us so much happier - we talk about it everyday!

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

The problem with portables is that you need somewhere to put the tube for the hot air to go out. Wherever the tube goes out gets hotter, so it needs to be outside your apartment. This usually means leaving a door or window open, so they are not that effective. I looked into it for my helper's room but got a big fan instead.

The size of teh whole depends on if it's split or a box type. Split= smaller whole but more complicated to fit.