Portable Air Conditioners: The South African Buying Guide
No landlord permission, no installation, cooling the day you bring it home — portable air conditioners solve a real problem. Here is how they work, how to size one, what they cost to run, and when a split unit is the better buy.
Published 2026-06-12 · Van Biljoens Appliance Services & Air Conditioning
Need it sorted now? Van Biljoens offers portable air conditioners — assessed and quoted before any work begins.
What a portable air conditioner is — and how it actually works
A portable air conditioner is a free-standing unit on castors that cools a single room. Unlike a split system, nothing is mounted on a wall and no refrigerant piping is installed: the whole machine sits inside the room, and the heat it removes is blown outside through a flexible exhaust duct that you fit to a window or sliding door using the supplied kit.
That exhaust duct is the part people underestimate. The unit must push hot air out of the room for the cold side to work, so how well you seal the duct into the window opening makes a real difference to performance. A loosely draped duct with a half-open window lets warm air flow straight back in.
Most current portable units, including the models we supply, are heat-pump units — they can heat the room in winter as well as cool it in summer.
When a portable makes sense — and when a split is the better buy
Portables exist because installation is sometimes impossible or not worth it. They are the right tool when a split unit is not an option.
A midwall split, by contrast, is quieter (the compressor lives outside), more efficient for the same cooling, and permanently out of the way — if you own your home and plan to cool the same room for years, an installed split is usually the better long-term value. You can compare both options in our catalogue.
- ✓ Renting — no landlord permission or wall drilling needed, and the unit moves out when you do.
- ✓ Body-corporate or heritage restrictions — no outdoor unit on the facade.
- ✓ Rooms you cool occasionally — a study, a nursery on heatwave nights, a server corner.
- ✓ Moving the cooling around — one unit can serve the home office by day and the bedroom by night.
- ✓ Bridging the gap — cooling you can use this week while you plan a permanent installation.
Getting the size right
Portable air conditioners are rated in BTU, the same as splits. As a rough planning guide for typical South African rooms with standard ceilings, a 9,000 BTU unit suits roughly 15–20 m², and a 12,000 BTU unit roughly 20–30 m². Strong afternoon sun, poor ceiling insulation or lots of glass push the requirement up a size.
Be realistic about what one portable can do: they are single-room machines. A 12,000 BTU portable will make a fair-sized bedroom or office genuinely comfortable, but it will not cool an open-plan living area the way an installed system can.
What to look for when you buy
- ✓ Cooling and heating — a heat-pump (reverse-cycle) model earns its keep year-round instead of standing in a cupboard all winter.
- ✓ A proper window kit — the sliding panel and duct adaptors are what make the exhaust seal workable; check what is included.
- ✓ Self-evaporative condensate handling — better units evaporate most of the moisture they pull from the air out through the exhaust duct, so you rarely empty a tank; cheaper units need regular emptying in humid weather.
- ✓ Noise level — the whole machine, compressor included, is in the room with you. Check the rated dB figure if you are a light sleeper.
- ✓ Airflow and modes — a swing/oscillating louvre, a dehumidify mode and a decent fan-only mode all add everyday usefulness.
- ✓ A washable filter you can reach — like any air conditioner, a clogged filter is the number-one cause of weak cooling.
What they cost to run
A 12,000 BTU portable typically draws somewhere around 1.1 to 1.4 kW while the compressor is running. At municipal tariffs in the region of R3 to R4 per kWh, that is very roughly R3.50 to R5.50 per hour of compressor runtime — and less in practice, because the compressor cycles on and off once the room reaches temperature. Your own tariff and how hard the unit must work will move that number, so treat it as a planning estimate, not a quote.
Two habits cut the bill meaningfully: seal the exhaust duct properly so the unit is not fighting warm air leaking back in, and set a sensible temperature — every degree colder than about 23 °C costs noticeably more.
Load shedding and backup power
A portable air conditioner is an appliance-class load: it can run from a generator or a well-sized inverter system, but the compressor's start-up draw is higher than its running draw, and an undersized inverter will trip. If you plan to run one on backup power, have your electrician or solar installer confirm the system can carry the start-up surge alongside your other loads. This is an estimate-and-confirm situation — it does not replace an assessment by a qualified electrician or solar installer.
Portable units from Van Biljoens
We supply portable air conditioners as part of our catalogue, alongside the split systems we have installed across Pretoria for decades — Van Biljoens has been in the cooling business since 1956.
Our current portable range includes the Alliance FOUP12/B and the TCL TAC-12CHPB/RPV, both 12,000 BTU units that cool and heat. Because a portable needs no installation, it is a supply-only purchase: request a quote through the website and we will confirm pricing and availability. If you are weighing a portable against a permanently installed split, ask — we sell both, so the advice is straight.
Ready to take the next step?
Van Biljoens has been supplying and servicing Pretoria since 1956. We are here to help.
Frequently asked questions
Do portable air conditioners need installation?
No — that is their whole point. The unit stands inside the room and the supplied window kit routes the exhaust duct through a window or sliding door. There is no wall mounting, no piping and no installer required, which is why portables suit rented homes and buildings where an outdoor unit is not allowed.
How big a room can a portable air conditioner cool?
As a rough guide for typical rooms, 9,000 BTU suits about 15–20 m² and 12,000 BTU about 20–30 m². Strong sun, poor insulation or large glass areas push the requirement up. Portables are single-room machines — for open-plan spaces an installed split system is the better tool.
How much electricity does a portable aircon use?
A 12,000 BTU portable typically draws around 1.1–1.4 kW while the compressor runs, which at tariffs of roughly R3–R4 per kWh works out to very approximately R3.50–R5.50 per compressor-hour — less in practice as the compressor cycles. Sealing the exhaust duct properly and setting a moderate temperature both reduce the cost.
Can a portable air conditioner heat as well?
Many current models are heat pumps that both cool and heat — including the Alliance and TCL portable units in our range, which are 12,000 BTU cooling-and-heating units. One machine then covers Pretoria's hot summers and cold winter mornings.
Is a portable or a split air conditioner better?
A split is quieter, more efficient and permanent — usually the better value if you own the property and cool the room often. A portable wins when installation is not possible or not worth it: rentals, body-corporate restrictions, occasional-use rooms, or cooling you need this week. We supply both, so we will recommend whichever genuinely fits.