April 20, 2022

As a business or even the average joe needing a spot cooler, you want to be cool, of course, but nobody wants to stay cool at the price of everything in their wallet. Subsequently, you should always aim to keep your spot cooler running at peak efficiency. Unfortunately, that isn’t always a piece of cake.

That’s especially true if you’ve only recently become accustomed to using a spot cooler. Don’t worry, though. Whether you’re an experienced owner or a new renter, we have some tips to keep your spot cooler running at peak efficiency– all the time. That way, you can stay cool during the hot summers in Texas or anywhere else.

And with over 17 years of experience, Preferred Climate Solutions has the expertise that you can solidly rely on.

First, make sure that you’re using the right size.

Despite what you may have heard, size is important. We’ve spoken about choosing the right size unit for your space before, but I’m bringing it here for a reason. That is, in order for you to reach that peak efficiency that we’re after, your unit needs to be the right fit for your needs and your space.

So, if you’re looking for a spot cooler, take the size into account to save yourself some difficulty down the line. Otherwise, if you already have your spot cooler, check that it covers the volume of air in your space to make sure you’re not wasting effort.

There are usually five different sizes of spot coolers, with the first size being able to cool around one ton of air every hour. The rest of the sizes go as follows:

• One ton units = 400 square feet of cooled space.
• Two-ton units = 800 square feet of cooled space.
• Three-ton units = 1,200 square feet of cooled space.
• Four-ton units = 1,600 square feet of cooled space.
• Five-ton units = 2,000 square feet of cooled space.

You may want to knock around the idea of getting a spot cooler that is slightly bigger than your space needs. Doing so can prevent the unit from working at full capacity all the time– a condition that is not productive to high efficiency.

Take the other factors into consideration…

The size of your space is likely the most important. However, the other aspects of your space matter too. For instance, look at the height of your ceiling, the weather outside, the humidity, etc. All of that will help you pick the best spot cooler for your space. And the best spot cooler means the maximum amount of efficiency.

After you have the right spot cooler in mind, your focus should be on maintaining the unit itself. When maintaining the unit, it’s best to consult with the technician or at least the user manual. If, for some reason, you don’t have access to either of those, here are some quick tips that should guide you in the right direction.

1.    Keep the space around your spot cooler clean!

By that, I mean two things. One, don’t crowd the space around the cooler with unnecessary things– give it room to breathe and intake air as needed. Two, dust and clean normally. These units often have filters that can become easily clogged if you let the space around them get dirty– so word of advice, avoid that.

2.    Change the filters as needed. 

It’s unfortunate, but even with the step mentioned above, your filters will eventually need to be changed. So, keep tabs on the status of your filters and change them as soon as needed.

3.    Clean the unit itself.

As you’re cleaning around the spot cooler, you should set aside some time to clean the unit itself. I wouldn’t recommend getting too far into the unit. Yet cleaning the console or surface of the cooler will not only keep it looking its best, but it will also prevent the unit from tracking in dust and debris from itself.

With those three tips, you should be good to go. And your unit will last longer than normal and maintain high levels of efficiency. If you’re looking for some more advice, check out this resource for more information! But remember, there are likely remarkably few people or resources that know more about the spot cooler than the one selling it, so again, if possible, ask the technician!

Then use their tips in tandem with the ones mentioned here.

Congratulations. You’re running at peak efficiency.

That’s all there is to it! To restate a few of the points that we’ve gone over here, clean the unit, clean the filters and ensure that your unit is right for your space! If you can do all that, you have nothing to worry about, and I’m sure that your wallet will be left perfectly intact.

And finally, if you’re in the market for a spot cooler, get it from the best in the business. At Preferred Climate Solutions, we have the knowledge and equipment to set up your spot cooler for success and that maximum efficiency ideal. If you’re ready to learn more about how our experience fighting the tough Texas weather can be applied for your benefit, contact us today or visit the other pages on our website here! 

You can find all of our spot coolers available for rent on that page! But beyond that, we provide the information you need to accurately assess whether or not one of our spot coolers is right for your needs! Don’t miss out on the resource.

If you’re looking into renting your own spot cooler, you undoubtedly already understand what you can gain from it– a more comfortable atmosphere– even with no built-in AC unit or HVAC system.

And I’m willing to bet that you’ve already done the research and deduced why renting is your best option at the moment. Meaning that you’ve asked yourself the two vital questions, how long do you need to use the spot cooler, and will your cooling needs change? Okay, great. But that leaves you with just one unanswered question– the title of this post, what kind of spot cooler is best for renting? Which is a good question. After all, you want to ensure maximum efficiency, right?

To help you do that, we’ll give you the essential information you need in this post. So, don’t worry, you’re in good hands.

First, things first.

Match your space with your spot cooler.

I can’t stress how important this step is. In order for your spot cooler to run smoothly and perform optimally, it needs to have a good pairing with the environment it’s being placed in. In other words, you don’t want a small spot cooler for a large space or, the opposite, a large spot cooler for a small space.

If your chosen spot cooler is too small for the space, it may never shut off, which could cause the evaporator coil to freeze up– a frustrating scenario.

Find your fit…

It may seem overwhelming, but trust me. It’s all simple enough.

Now, you need to know that spot coolers are sized by tonnage or British thermal units (Btu)– with a ton describing how much heat a unit can remove in one hour. And the heat is measured in British thermal units with around one ton as the equivalent of 12 thousand Btu.

And the average spot cooler will remove around one to five tons of heat per hour, mainly depending on the size of the unit. As a simple rule of thumb, you can expect the largest, five-ton spot cooler to have around five times the range of impact on your environment as the smallest, one-ton spot cooler.

• One ton units can cool around 400 square feet of space.
• Two-ton units will be able to cool twice that, which is around 800 square feet of space.
• Three-ton units cool an impressive amount of space, around 1,200 square feet.
• Four-ton units will cool 1,600 square feet.
• And lastly, five-ton units will effectively cool 2,000 square feet.

As you can see there, the five-ton unit simply provides five times the impact of the one-ton. So, there really aren’t any confusing measurements here.

Moving forward, you should keep in mind that while the tonnage is an important factor, many other variables come into play. For example, you need to consider the ceiling height of your space, the number of windows, insulation, the outside temperature, humidity– even the number of people and computer systems. All of those factors can greatly impact how truly effective your spot cooler is.

Note: You may want to consider going by cubic feet instead of the typical square footage to ensure the best results, especially in a warehouse with several temperature-sensitive things stored at different heights.

But size isn’t everything. You need to consider the type of spot cooler in addition to how big or small it may be.

What’s your type?

There are several types of spot coolers that all have their uses. I’ll give you a quick overview of most of them here, but keep in mind that your needs may need the expertise of someone who understands your needs and can make a tailored recommendation.

Air-cooled spot coolers

This is undoubtedly the most common type of spot cooler. The unit’s internal components cycle a refrigerant using electricity as its power source. Then the warm air is pulled in by a fan and passed over the cold evaporator coil, cooling it. Finally, the now cooled, dehumidified air is pushed through the ducts to the various spaces.

Heat pump spot coolers

Now, heat pump spot coolers are fairly similar to air-cooled spot coolers. However, they possess one key difference. In addition to providing cool air, they can also work as a heater. But it’s worth noting that you need to have these hardwired by an experienced technician.

Water-cooled spot coolers

As you can see above, the air-cooled units use a condenser to remove hot air. But a water-cooled spot cooler replaces that condenser with a water source, meaning no condenser air discharge. These water-cooled spot coolers do their best work when there isn’t a good way to remove waste heat.

Also, keep in mind that some locations may only carry one or two types of types. That may or may not impact your pick, but be sure to note it.

A final word of advice

No matter where you decide to rent your spot cooler from or what size and type of cooler you have in mind at the moment, I’d strongly recommend speaking with the technician about your needs. Doing so, you can use their expertise and ideally leave having rented the perfect spot cooler for your space– ensuring that your needs are met and that your guests or systems are kept cool.

For example, the technician may suggest using a water-cooled system over the commonly used air-cooled system.

And if you’re not sure where to go for your ideal spot cooler or you want more advice and informed knowledge, come see us at Preferred Climate Solutions. We have over 17 years of experience dealing with the often brutal climate of Texas. And when it counts, no one has a faster response than us.