Compare Coolzy with other Portable Air Conditioners

Australian customers awarded Coolzy best portable air conditioner for 2022.

Coolzy produces more intense local cooling than other portables. We will explain why on this page.

Coolzy is the only truly portable cooling solution because it is small and easy to move or carry. Traditional portable room aircon units are large, heavy, and difficult to carry.

Coolzy is much quieter and provides the lowest cost, most environmentally responsible cooling solution in the world.

Comparison Table

Here is a summary table comparing Coolzy with other cooling solutions. We assumed three months operation in summer, 12 hours daily with a typical capital city electricity price. Read more explanations to follow.

Comparison TableAverage purchase priceAverage monthly costApparent Cooling
Coolzy {340W)49,9003,9003 – 6 °C (8 – 12 °C with tent)
Ceiling Fan {130W)17,5001,1002 °C
Water Cooler {150W)20,0001,5003 – 7 °C
Cheap Portable {1200W)45,0008,1003 – 4 °C
Split {1000W)95,00012,1008 – 10 °C
Split (large) {1800W)120,00015,6008 – 10 °C
Split (already installed) {1800W)08,1008 – 10 °C
Average purchase priceElectricity/monthRepayments/monthAverage monthly costApparent Cooling
Coolzy {340W)49,9003,6002,4003,9003 – 6 °C (8 – 12 °C with tent)
Ceiling Fan {130W)17,5001,4005001,1002 °C
Water Cooler {150W)20,0001,6008351,5003 – 7 °C
Cheap Portable {1,200W)45,00012,9002,7008,1003 – 4 °C
Split {1,800W)95,00019,4004,00012,1008 – 10 °C
Split (large) {2,400W)120,00025,9004,90015,6008 – 10 °C
Split (already installed) {1,800W)08,10008,1008 – 10 °C

Split System Air Conditioner

Understanding just a little about a split system air conditioner will help you to better appreciate the difference between Coolzy and a portable room air conditioner.

A 1.5 ton wall-mounted split air-conditioner creates 18,000 BTU every hour, enough to cool a 12 ft x 15 ft (17 square metre) room by 10 – 12 °C (18 – 22 °F).

100 BTU cooling per spare foot.

The wall unit cools room air and transfers heat to an outdoor unit with a compressor and fan.

 The fast-moving cool air mixes with room air and spreads through the room.

The air-conditioner uses about 1,600 – 1,800 Watts electricity.

A normal 1.5 ton portable room air-conditioner creates 18,000 BTU cooling every hour and uses about 1,800 Watts electricity.

However, it provides much less room cooling, only 3 – 4 °C (5 – 7 °F).

Why?

A: About 4,000 BTU offsets heat radiating from the hot exhaust pipe.

B: About 9,500 BTU offsets heat from outside air sucked into the room. This outside air replaces the room air sucked into the machine and pumped outside through the pipe.

C: Only 4,500 BTU remains to cool the 180 square feet room: that’s only 25 BTU per square foot, about one quarter the room cooling from the split AC.

(numbers change slightly, depending on temperature, humidity, window kit installation, door opening, building structure, and the characteristics of the aircon model)

Coolzy creates about 3,500 BTU cooling every hour and uses only 340 Watts electricity.

Coolzy focuses the cooling on one or more people nearby, over 40 square feet maximum floor area. That’s nearly 90 BTU per square foot, so the cooling is much more intense compared with a portable air-conditioner.

The small amount of warm air rises to the ceiling, just like warm air from your kitchen refrigerator. It escapes through the open window (or doorway).

The cool air jet provides up to 300 BTU per square foot cooling intensity at three feet distance.

The apparent cooling inside the optional Igloo tent is 8 – 12 °C (14 – 18 °F), much the same as with a split air-conditioner, but with 80% less electricity.

Now consider size, weight, noise and the total cooling cost.

Coolzy is smaller, much lighter, and easy to carry. You can use it anywhere, even outside in sheltered places.

A normal ‘portable’ air-conditioner is too large and heavy to carry without help, and must be near a window or doorway.

A ‘portable’ air-conditioner makes about the same noise as a kitchen juicer. It is too loud for most people to sleep with.

Coolzy makes much the same sound as an electric fan, ideal for sleeping.

When and where do you need cooling?

A split air-conditioner is great for cooling a crowd.

However, using a split AC all the time costs more than most families can afford, and you install one for every room where you need cooling (or heating in winter).

Coolzy is great for one or two people sleeping.

Coolzy is fine for chatting or watching TV together.

Coolzy is great for working at a desk or in a large space like a warehouse.

Coolzy allows cooling and privacy.

There’s no need to be in the same room as everyone else to be cool.

Coolzy is the only truly portable cooling solution.

What’s the total cost?

For five months cooling in summer Coolzy costs just Rs 47,000 a year including purchase repayments and electricity.

For five months cooling in summer, each single split air conditioner costs about Rs 97,000 – 140,000 a year including purchase repayments, installation, and electricity.

A portable air conditioner provides much less cooling, and still costs Rs 100,000 a year, of which 80% is the cost of electricity.

Coolzy is the least expensive, simplest, most sustainable cooling solution.

(assumes monthly payments for 3 years, markup rate 25%, Rs 30 electricity tariff, 12 hours daily use)

Coolzy: 55 cm high x 29 cm x 39 cm, 15.4 kg, easy to carry.

Old Style Portable: typically 80 cm high x 40 cm x 45 cm, 32 kg, hard to move.

In moderately hot weather, Coolzy can be used on its own (as shown) or with a normal mosquito net. We recommend the optional Igloo bed tent in really hot conditions with indoor temperatures consistently over 27°C at night. The tent amplifies cooling over the bed and can also reduce energy consumption by about 30-40% which is ideal for battery and off-grid applications.

Old style portables are unsuitable for bedrooms. They are much noisier and provide only one third cooling performance compared with a split AC using the same power. Also humidity builds up in room with time.

Coolzy: use it anywhere because there is no exhaust hose

Old-style Portable: has to be close to a window to attach the large exhaust hose with the window kit

Coolzy: With a monthly running cost only about Rs 2,500 you will soon save the entire purchase cost

Old-style Portable: Monthly running cost at least Rs 10,000 (12 hours a day)

Coolzy: 800 – 1,100 Watts cooling, 340 Watts electricity (same as a few iridescent light bulbs), 0.25 tonnes CO2 over three years, equivalent to 110 litres of petrol

Old-style Portable: 3,000 – 7,500 Watts cooling, 1,000 – 2,400 Watts electricity, 1 – 2 tonnes CO2 over three years, equivalent to 450 – 900 litres of petrol.

Coolzy: more inense cooling directed around people using it

Old-style Portable: mixes air in room, most cooling directed at ceiling, sucks out more air than it cools and sucks in hot air from the roof space outside. Only 3 – 4 °C (5 – 7 °F) room cooling.

Coolzy: 47 – 54 dB – quiet, like an electric fan

Old-style Portable: 55 – 63 dB – noisy, like a kitchen juicer, can be hard to hear people speak

Coolzy: Open

Old-style Portable: Closed

Coolzy has eliminated the exhaust hose: such a wonderful improvement. It is on caster wheels and can easily be moved where you want to use it. At 15.4 kg it is easily carried too. Take it anywhere you need cooling, even outside in sheltered places.

The old-style portable comes with a hose and window kit which is fiddly to install, and only works with some windows. That means you cannot easily move it once you have installed it. Plus the exhaust hose is ugly, helps to heat the room, and makes lots of noise.

Answer: Coolzy releases only 340 Watts, similar to three people in the room. Coolzy directs its warm air exhaust to the ceiling where the heat is absorbed, just like the warmth from your fridge which you don’t notice (warm air rises naturally). Any excess finds its way out of open windows or doors.

In a humid climate like Lahore, the warmth is actually useful because it makes the relative humidity slightly lower and reduces the tendency for mould to grow on walls and other surfaces.

Without sufficient ventilation, even this small amount of heating can raise the temperature in the upper part of a small room. Learn how to provide extra ventilation for a small room.

Coolzy works in any room, even outside in sheltered places. It creates a micro-climate, a cool zone, up to 4 square metres.

If the temperature inside your bedroom regularly exceeds 27°C at night, the Igloo bed tent provides extra cooling to keep you comfortable, and also provides chemical-free mosquito protection.

We always recommend the Igloo tent for sleeping with Coolzy in Pakistan.

The Igloo bed tent can also reduce the air conditioner power consumption to about 220 Watts average in the monsoon season, a valuable saving.

The Igloo bed tent also provides an ideal place to work from home, or for your baby or small child to be cool and comfortable during the day time.

We recommend keeping Coolzy near you, no more than 1 or 2 metres away. With Coolzy-Go, we recommend our Focus Enhancer accessory which extends the range and optionally directs the cool air flow at a higher angle.

If you need to cool a crowded room for 2 – 3 hours, a split AC is effective. Split ACs provide no fresh air exchange and the doors and windows need to be closed to retain the cool air so carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and body odours build up with time.  Prolonged use of split ACs for sleeping can cause dry itchy eyes and skin irritation from dry air and the running cost can be very high.  Expect to pay Rs 80,000 or more and at least Rs 12,000 a month for electricity if you use it for sleeping and sometimes during the day.

You can use your Coolzy with the split AC at the same time, leaving the split AC thermostat at a higher temperature to save on running cost. Coolzy provides extra cooling where you need it.

Ceiling fans can be effective in moderate heat.

An electric fan on a table next to a window can draw outside air through the open window and blow it across a bed to provide effective cooling for sleeping. Make sure that there is one other open window or doorway tor air to escape.

Fans provide about 2 degrees of apparent cooling. (Coolzy provides up to 10 degrees of apparent cooling, sometimes more).

Evaporative coolers (using water) cost much less than an air conditioner to run and provide cooling in the dry summer heat. Unfortunately they are noisy and relatively ineffective in the monsoon season because the relative humidity is very high, around 75% – 80%. You can use Coolzy with your evaporative cooler.

Coolzy is an Australian and Singapore based start-up company founded in 2007. Inventor James Trevelyan created the concept after experiencing summer heat in Pakistan with intermittent electricity for air conditioning.  He refined the concept with a series of prototypes, assisted by our manufacturers in Taiwan.  Our first commercial models went on sale in India and Pakistan in 2016.