Air Conditioner/ Vacuum Questions

[Chubi32]

Alright so we just found out my husband is getting deployed near the end of March. While he is gone I will be moving home to my parents house with my dog and chins. They keep the house warmer than I prefer for the chins (around 75 degrees, sometimes higher) so I want to get one of those portable air conditioners that doesn't need a window to keep them more comfortable. Does anyone have any experience with these type of air conditioners and if so what brands/types do you recommend? I found something like this online but I have never had to shop for an air conditioner before so I don't really know what to look for. http://www.consumersearch.com/portable-air-conditioners/edgestar-extreme-cool-ap12000s

Next question, I have a small hand held Oreck vacuum cleaner that I use to vacuum up the poop out of my Ferret Nations every night, it works great and I love that there is a hose so that it doesn't get stuck on the fleece but I was wondering if there is such thing as a hand held, bag less vacuum with hose? When I Google it I come up with this: http://www0.epinions.com/prices/Eureka_71AV_Vacuum anyone have one or something like it? If so any opinions are appreciated. It would be used mainly for cleaning up chin poop out of the cage.

 

[Ash]

I can't answer about the portable a/c but as far as the vacuum... Keith had one that was made by dirt devil.

It wasn't this model, but it was similar
http://www.dirtdevil.com/products/details.aspx?id=M08245X

 

[JodiO]

I just bought a hand held Dirt Devil at Wal-Mart today for under $20!! Cheap & works well too!

 

[StevieP]

Portable ACs do require a window for an exhaust hose to blow hot air out of. Like this:

How big is the room that you want to cool? For an average bedroom most portable ACs will work but for a larger room you will want a unit with dual hoses. The dual hose models are superior in efficency and work better hands down. Single hose models take air from inside the room and blow it out of the window, which creates a vacuum, which pulls in (warmer) air into the room from under the door or anywhere it can enter the room.

 

[threewingedfury]

I had a portable a/c in my chin room for about 6 months until I finally just cut a hole into the side of my home and stuck a window a/c in. It was a nightmare - the room was less than 100 sq ft and I was running a 7000 BTU Haier a/c that when set on 60 wouldn't keep the room under 75 - it made no sense considering it was putting out cool air, it's just that the room was so small that the heat from the hose was warming the air back up. If anything, I'd stay away from Haier brands.

 

[Chubi32]

Okay- it looks like I'll be able to find a vacuum okay then! haha I'm going to look into what was mentioned- thanks. Three Winged Fairy how big was the room you were trying to cool? The chins would either be in my bedrooms on the main floor or down in the basement.. the bedroom is a normal size bedroom and down in the basement I would block off a section that is maybe the size of 2 bedrooms. If I did put it in the basement do you think the hose will reach up to the tiny windows on top?

 

[Dusty Foot Prints]

My husband is an a/c tech, but he's not home right now to ask.. I do know there is a Mitsubishi model, I think its called a Mr. Slim??? It doesn't have to go into a window.

 

[addictedtochins]

I am only able to keep the corner of the house that the chins are in cool, so they are fine. I was also going to add that if they have gas forced vents you can pull them up out of the floor, wrap them several times and put them back. It will keep most of the heat out.

 

[hkkjstwcl]

There are my equipment to battle the mess that my chins and bunnies challenge me every day!

1)
A Vacuum is the MOST USEFUL vacuum that I ever used. This is the MUST HAVE for me. This industrial level vacuum sucks hay and bedding on the floor without clogging. This is sooo great because even Dyson's Pet vacuum cloggs up every so often. So, I use this to suck up big mess before Dyson.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eView?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

B. Vacuum to clean the floor

As many of the members here, I have Dyson's Pet vacuum as well.

http://www.dyson.com/store/product.asp?product=DC28-ANIMAL&tab=specification

C. Carpet Cleaner to deep clean the carpet

Well, I don't use this as often as I want to because of lack of time, but it is good to deep clean the carpet every so often...

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

D. Hand Vacuum. I have something similar to this. First I thought that it was handy, but now I don't use it at all. If you have only one or two chins, this may be useful...

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...ages?q=hand+vacuum&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&tbs=isch:1


2)
- Air Purifier

And! I ditched cheep air purifiers from Target, I just purchased this purifier. It's costly, and you will have to buy a filter, which is $250, too, but, I think that it would be worth it... I have many chins and bunnies and developed asthma earlier this year. So, this is a good investment to my health....

http://www.austinairstore.com/product/pet-machine

 

[Chubi32]

Wow thanks for the list of stuff hkkjstwcl! That first vacuum you talk about sounds great! Now when you say "sucks up hay and bedding off floor without clogging" do you like pick up a majority of hay the before vacuuming or just go right through vacuuming all the hay?

 

[hkkjstwcl]

That's the great part of this vacuum cleaner! You DON"T HAVE TO picking up big hay mess before vacuuming! This magical machine would suck up everything!!! I highly recommend this to all the chin owners. They come with many sizes. There is a smaller one, too, as well as big one. Last nigt, I used three of my machines, (Magic vacuum, Dyson, Carpet cleaner) and am feeling pretty good about my place!

 

[Chubi32]

Oh my gosh! That is a magical machine.. well it looks like we have a winner then. If I can get a vacuum where I don't have to pick up hay you have me sold! Thanks so much! And just to make sure it's the vacuum you have pictured first right? I clicked the link you said went with it and it just brought me to the home page of Home Depot so I typed the name of it in the search and it came right up.

 

[Chubi32]

I just thought of another question- is it bag less or do you just buy huge bags for it?

 

[hkkjstwcl]

They sell bags for the vacuum cleaner. The bags are pretty strong. They also sell different shapes of tips. But, most of are too narrow, so only one or two of them are useful.

 

[Chubi32]

Okay got it- thanks!

 

[monarch]

About the air conditioners that don't need a window - aren't those "swamp coolers"? I was under the impression those give off an insane amount of humidity.

 

[Rescue Momma]

I go the info from Essentia and apparently alot of people on here have this vacuum cleaner so I bought one.
It is the Ridgid 14 gallon 6.0 peak performance with the noise reduction and I LOVE it! It looks alot like the one pictured. It was on sale for $99.00 at Home Depot.
I use it to clean out 5 chin cages and a Prairie dog cage. It will suck up just about anything! Very seldom does it get clogged and if it does I just pull the hose off turn it around and it unclogs itself.
And I don't have to empty it as often as the smaller one I have. The noise reduction is fantastic too. I can use it in the cage with the chins and it doesn't scared the life out of them. They actually are kind of interested in it.
I'm afraid I'm going to suck one of them up with it.

It is the BEST $100 I have ever spent. The downsize is it is rather large but I use it so much I just leave it in the chin room. And I use it for everything not just the chins.

I need to invest in a air conditioner that doesn't have to be in a window too.
The window in their room is not the typical window and I can't put a unit in it.

 

[xnatebearx]

Portable ACs do require a window for an exhaust hose to blow hot air out of. Like this:

How big is the room that you want to cool? For an average bedroom most portable ACs will work but for a larger room you will want a unit with dual hoses. The dual hose models are superior in efficency and work better hands down. Single hose models take air from inside the room and blow it out of the window, which creates a vacuum, which pulls in (warmer) air into the room from under the door or anywhere it can enter the room.

Had one of these before. They are relatively expensive but they work really good, and quite and hardy machines!

 

[Chubi32]

Ooh okay good! My hubby is getting me one of the Rigid vacuums for Christmas and I'm still looking into the air conditioners, it's good to know that they work good though!