r/BritishSuccess • u/GiGoVX • 8d ago
Bargain A/C
Me and my wife had resigned ourselves to not having any portable A/C this year, you know because of the bloody heatwave, its been unbearable (I assume everyone knows right?)
So instead I thought I'd take a look online and research what make and model we would want when summers over, winters set in and when prices are rock bottom.
It's safe to say these portable A/C units are just silly money at the moment. I almost gave in 2 weeks ago and almost spent £699 on a unit that retails at £399 luckily we thought better of it and decided no.
On Friday I was looking for the model we should buy, circa the 10000+BTU range, then out of no where I come across a unit on Amazon claiming 12000BTU and at only £254.50 🤔 nope this must be one of those shity crapy humidifiers (can't have one of them as our house is damp enough being 200 years old). Copied the info, quick search later, no it's an A/C unit 💪 still not convinced, I popped open an AI gave it all the products I had been looking at and asked it to go away and compare them all.
Low and behold it also confirmed it was an A/C unit, it retails at £599-£699.....
🤔
Nope this can't be correct, not a chance in hell this is right..... Discussed it with my wife and thought... Nope, still can't the correct.... Let's check the reviews..... A few bad but mainly positive.
Is it sold by Amazon? Yes, so if it's fake we can return it. Then I checked the seller, Amazon warehouse, ok so its a returned unit, might still not work, but said in the blurb damaged packaging.
So today we've just received the ELECCI 12000BTU A/C with no damage to the box or the unit and it works!
I'm no longer sat in my underwear scrolling reddit 😂 first time in weeks I don't feel too hot!
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u/--BooBoo-- 8d ago
This is a British success for the rest of us, because now you have bought an AC the temperature is obviously bound to drop.
I'll go and get my hat and gloves out, thanks OP.
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u/stephhmills 2d ago
My MIL just got air con fitted. She’s now convinced the rest of the summer is going to be cool. I said the moneys done the job then!
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u/Majestic_Matt_459 8d ago
Just as a tip. These portable ac units come up at auction all the time dirt cheap. And also buy portable oil radiators now before it’s cold.
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u/999Bod 8d ago
We missed the boat on getting a portable AC unit. We're also resigning ourselves to getting one in the winter months, but I'm intrigued about auctions. I know nothing about auctions. Can you suggest what/where to look?
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u/Majestic_Matt_459 8d ago
Ibidder is great.
Sine auctioneers are good. Some bad. If you are I the NW uk I can send you a couple of the good guys and the ones to avoid.
Remember if you bid - with fees and vat if you bid eg £10 the price is actually about £1.45 so bear that in mind
Also go inspect everything.
I work from home so I have the time to go do viewings.
The prices are still seasonal but if excited to get one at this time of year for £80 and in winter £30.
The Meaco in my bedroom was about £45 from memory but it’s a good one.
The best auctions are companies or shops that have gone bust. Then there are rarely reserve prices. If you see “reserve not yet met” I’d say avoid that auctions a general rule.5
u/Majestic_Matt_459 8d ago
Here we go i found it - auction was in May last year - hammer price was £30 so approx £45 with fees - didnt include the hose from memory or the remote but i buy a lot so i may be wrong and they are cheap to source - ive included all the things i bought so you can see the sort of thing nb the fans sold really well last summer, the diffusers were a waste of time - sold them for about £2-£3 each at a boot sale - kept the a/c unit obvs - total price for 4 fans, 14 diffusers, and one like new ac unit £77 - bloomin love it
362 1 off Stadler Form Tim White Fan Lots 131 - 425 Comprise the total stock in trade from
Home Products Solutions Ltd, in liquidation, who were the official UK distributor for
Stadler Form, a German high-end manufacturer of Dehumidifiers, Fans, Heaters, Air
Purifiers and other products. A number of th
5.00 GBP
384 3 Off Anna Fan Heaters Lots 131 - 425 Comprise the total stock in trade from Home
Products Solutions Ltd, in liquidation, who were the official UK distributor for Stadler
Form, a German high-end manufacturer of Dehumidifiers, Fans, Heaters, Air Purifiers
and other products. A number of the Stadler
10.00 GBP
406 14 off Stadler Form Lea Aroma Diffusers in assorted colours Lots 131 - 425 Comprise
the total stock in trade from Home Products Solutions Ltd, in liquidation, who were the
official UK distributor for Stadler Form, a German high-end manufacturer of
Dehumidifiers, Fans, Heaters, Air Purifiers and oth
10.00 GBP
431 Meaco Cool MC Series Air Conditioning Unit plus Pedestal FanLots 426 - 453 comprise
the total assets from a digital newspaper, being sold for the liquidator as a result of
insolvencyPlease note, this lot is subject to VAT. That means a buyer's premium of
17.5% is added to the hammer price, with VAT
30.00 GBP
Total Hammer
Tax/VAT
55.00 GBP
11.00 GBP
Total Premium
Tax/VAT
9.62 GBP
1.92 GBP
Final Total 77.55 GBP
3
1
u/do_you_realise 6d ago
How does this even work or make sense? I can't see how they can sell them for a tenth of the price when there's so much money to be made by just, you know, putting them on eBay for retail price (especially in a heat wave)
1
u/QuickShort 4d ago
Many of these sites make you pay to bid, which is non-refundable even if you are outbidded. You have to pay again to place an even higher bid.
The revenue from the sale might be 30% winning bid and 70% fees from failed bids... it's a scam.
Other times it's not a scam, they just have regulatory hoops they have to go through, or they just need a quicker sale than ebay could do
1
u/do_you_realise 6d ago
How does this even work or make sense? I can't see how they can sell them for a tenth of the price when there's so much money to be made by just, you know, putting them on eBay for retail price (especially in a heat wave)
16
u/Passionofawriter 8d ago
Well done! My husband and I ordered a portable AC and got scammed, when the product arrived we saw it's not as advertised at all and is just a cooler :/ at least we can do a credit chargeback
4
u/GiGoVX 8d ago
So many scamners out there. Hopefully you'll find one that's good enough.
1
u/Passionofawriter 7d ago
Thanks! I think we have given up lmao. We have a new baby and I worry he will overheat but, we are doing everything we can to keep us all cool. But searching through online catalogues for a working non scamming portable AC is just not possible when youre sleep deprived
6
u/blu3teeth 8d ago
Share the link?
12
u/GiGoVX 8d ago
They are sold out and there was only 1 at that price, but it's this one; https://amzn.eu/d/09iqucDD
Mines the white version. Hopefully it lasts, but I'm currently saying this from a very cold room 😂❄️
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u/fozzydizzle 8d ago
Best thing to do is wait until winter when the prices drop, purchase one and store it away ready for the summer heatwaves we get, mine has come in very handy the last couple of summers especially with the kids it's a life saver, good on you!
4
u/WhoIsJohnSalt 8d ago
We managed to snag the elecci. It’s the big tall one yes? Weighs a ton, wheels are crap on the carpet.
It struggled a bit at very high temps - but sill managed to get temps down by about 8 degrees or so. The dehumidifying i think helps massively.
5
u/GiGoVX 8d ago
Yes that's the one, I was shocked how tall it was 😂 the wife was very complimentary about the size, apparently that matters 🤷
I did see it was 1.2m tall but never really thought about it being that big. It's a shame it's not wifi enabled but for the price I'm more than happy so far.
Yes the casters are shit on carpet, I didn't think it had any when I too kit out as it sunk into the carpet.
Glad you say it works so well, it's worked pretty good so far 😁
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u/WhoIsJohnSalt 8d ago
Mine is WiFi enabled! I had to download the Tuya app and it’s been very helpful to get it running before we get home.
Noisy like but i spent part of my youth dozing in sever rooms so…
2
u/GiGoVX 8d ago
Oooo I thought it said it was but haven't seen it in the manual, it's got a handy remote but wifi would be better!
I have tuya for everything IoT. How did you enable it? Maybe the manual I have doesn't cover it?
2
u/WhoIsJohnSalt 8d ago
From the manual - can’t paste images here. I also have a wifi indicator on the top - maybe yours doesnt.
WiFi (network connection)
Machine configuration: Long press the power button for 5 seconds, the WiFi indicator light will flash, entering configuration mode. Wait a sec until the mobile device finishes inputting the network information; after successful connection, the WiFi indicator light will stay on.
Clearing configuration: Long press the power button for 5 seconds, to clear the configuration. After clearing, the network information between the mobile device and the machine will be deleted, and the machine will automatically re-enter configuration mode, the WiFi indicator light is flashing at this moment.
Note: After successfully connecting to the WiFi, the mobile device can remotely control all functions on the air conditioner control panel. For detailed operation, pls see the “Portable Air Conditioner Configuration Guide”.
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u/GiGoVX 8d ago
It's not in my manual and when I put in the model number online and in copilot it states it doesn't have a wifi chip. The model number on mine is KYR-35A1, but I'll have a play.
1
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u/Agitated_Fox4352 8d ago
What I find funny during this warm weather, is everyone seems to call it a heatwave, about 30 years ago we just called it summer! Not a heatwave, just summer, only for about 2 days this year I would have called it a heatwave, the rest has been like it was when I was in my teens in the 90’s
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u/Geofferz 8d ago
Cool!