Air Con for dogs?

[Sof2023]

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Hello,

The temperature in my flat is quite high these days (26/27 degrees celsius in the flat).
I am considering buying a portable air con to make life easier for Waffle. And I would like to know if anyone has experienced portable air conditioner with their dogs. Any reasons i should avoid buying one?

 

[JoanneF]

I bought one of the small, cheap ones you can pick up in supermarkets (about £30 a couple of years ago). I ended up disposing of it, it didn't work very well and was too noisy to sleep with. So that's one to avoid.

Do you have a cool mat for Waffle to lie on?

 

[Hemlock]

I'd go for the mat too. Dogs' hearing is so much more sensitive than ours, and aircon is noisy to human ears. A dog can choose whether or not to be on a mat, but can't get away from aircon.

Kudos to you for thinking of your dog's comfort.

 

[arealhuman]

I've thought about aircon too. We live in a weird house that holds the heat in the summer, and the cold in the winter! At the moment we're using an oscillating fan and will place that wherever Rusty sits so he has some relief. With most portable aircon units you will have an exhaust that has to go to the outside, usually via a window, and the units typically come with a kit so you can seal the window so the exhaust blows out warm air and it can't get back in again. You can get ones without exhausts, but I get the impression they're not that effective. Of course, you can get a permanent installation, but that is likely to be hideously expensive!

As @JoanneF experienced, the cheaper units aren't really effective and rely on all sort of tricks to give the impression of air conditioning (using water or ice, for example) and I've read that you can only get the benefit of them if they're placed really close to you, or your dog.

You can buy aircon units that claim to be very quiet, but I can't say how quiet that is to a dog.

 

[Tinytom]

We use floor fans with bowls of ice cubes in front of them ...

 

[Feverfew]

It's lovely that you are thinking about Waffle's comfort, but air con is very bad for the environment and is best avoided. 26/27 degrees is not a dangerous level of heat.
I agree with the suggestions above re cool mats and ice cubes. You can also have a practical routine, eg curtains or shutters closed over windows that let in direct sunlight, then open windows in the evening to let cool air in, walking with your dog very early and late evening, do not clip her coat as dogs' coats insulate them from the heat (similar to sheep), and have several bowls of chilled water around the house. I also find it helpful not to use electrical appliances eg tv or stereo when it's very hot - they send out a surprising amount of heat.
These are some of the very simple (and cheap) things you can do, and are much better for the environment, and will keep your leccy bills low.

 

[Sof2023]

I bought one of the small, cheap ones you can pick up in supermarkets (about £30 a couple of years ago). I ended up disposing of it, it didn't work very well and was too noisy to sleep with. So that's one to avoid.

Do you have a cool mat for Waffle to lie on?

yes, I do have a cool mat. Waffle does not really use it and I can't blame him, I am not impressed by it. Thanks for sharing your experience with the small cheap air con as i was considering buying one.

 

[Flobo]

I was using @Tinytom 's suggestion with the ice cubes in a tray under a fan last year when it was super hot. It did make quite a difference, you just need to have a good supply of ice, as one lot melts have another lot already freezing! The ferrets loved it!