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Tiny House Air Conditioner – These Are – Best Options In 2024

If you want to know more about tiny house air conditioner of 2024, the read on.

Even though tiny homes have limited spaces and are easy to cool, you still need a reliable air condition system to make living in your tiny home as comfortable as possible.

As with traditional housing, a reliable AC unit can either make your summer a pleasant experience or a nightmare, which no one likes.

From top AC options for tiny homes to brilliant tips on how you can pick a suitable AC unit for your residence, rest assured that you’ll get all the answers to the questions you’ve been asking in today’s post.

What are the options available to you?

When it comes to tiny house AC systems, there are many options available for tiny home enthusiasts, and today, we will take you through all of the options you can explore.

Hopefully, one of these options will tick all your boxes.

Mini-Split air conditioner

If you desperately want to resolve your tiny home air condition needs, you’ll not be disappointed to check out mini-split air conditioners.

Without mining words, this is arguably one of the most common types of AC systems you’ll see in tiny homes.

And because this AC option doesn’t cost a fortune, it’s easy to see why it is a popular choice for tiny homeowners.

For starters, mini-split air conditioners feature two parts.

There is the indoor mounted unit and, of course, the compressor that is mounted outdoors.

Comparing this AC unit to window air conditioners, mini-split air conditioners don’t require big holes.

And because they are pretty inconspicuous, you’ll only need to drill a small hole to accommodate the wiring.

Even though the cost of installing this type of AC system for tiny homes can reach up to five figures, mini-split air conditioners are easy to install, and you can decide to get your hands dirty and do it yourself.

If you’re looking for some ideas on how to install a mini-split AC, you can simply browse YouTube for some great videos.

For tiny homeowners interested in a portable air conditioner for their tiny homes, you’ll be hard-picked to find anything better than a mini-split AC system currently on the market.

Window air conditioners

If you don’t want to dig too deep into your savings to solve your tiny home AC needs, then now is the best time to consider low-cost units like window air conditioners.

Even though this AC system doesn’t cost a fortune, it still does a brilliant job of keeping your tiny home cool.

If you decide that a window air conditioner is best for your home, get set to spend anything from $150 to $500 for a decent window AC unit.

Compared to what you would have spent buying a mini-split AC, opting for window air conditioners will definitely save you some money.

The not-so-cool part is that window air conditioners aren’t as sleek as mini-split air conditioners that let you install the compressor outside your home.

More so, you’ll need to bore a hole that is as large as the AC unit to install.

All these contribute to making window air conditioners unattractive.

With window AC systems, half of the unit is inside your home, while the other half is outside.

What we love about this tiny home AC system is that installing it is a walk in the park.

While you can get a professional to install the unit, you can also do it yourself without sweating it.

With great tutorials on YouTube, you can have your window air conditioners installed within a couple of minutes.

After installing your window air conditioner and sealing the side, you can go ahead to switch it on and allow it to cool your tiny home.

Unfortunately, if you’re looking for the smallest air conditioner on the market, window air conditioners aren’t for you, and that’s because these units tend to take up quite some space.

Air coolers

Air coolers, or portable air coolers as they are fondly called, belong to a whole different niche.

They work pretty differently from your regular air conditioners.

These air cooling units work by drawing in the air, cooling the air internally, then releasing it to cool your home.

To deliver on its promise of cooling your home, air coolers leverage ambient temperature and humidity.

Unfortunately, if you live in a location with humidity levels higher than 50%, you won’t get the best out of air coolers as they simply do not work well in such conditions.

Even though air coolers are great for spot cooling, i.e., cooling a portion of your tiny home, they don’t perform as well as air conditioners.

Nevertheless, if you live in climates where cooling isn’t much of a problem, you’ll find air coolers worth giving a try.

On the flip side, if you still love the convenience and portability that air coolers offer and you don’t mind having one in your home, you can simply install a ceiling fan in your home to complement your air coolers.

And because ceiling fans don’t cost much, aren’t difficult to install, and don’t take a toll on utility costs, we are sure you won’t mind going this route.

That said, if you don’t want to go through all these hassles, you can simply opt for air conditioners for your tiny homes.

With air conditioners, you don’t have to spend extra bucks getting complimenting units like ceiling fans to cool your home.

Roof Vent Fans

If you vent your tiny home properly, you may not need to install a tiny house air conditioner to keep your home cool.

Thanks to heat rising naturally, roof vent fans for RVs will help keep your home cool even during the excruciating heat of summer.

The only problem is deciding how many roof vent fans are needed to cool your tiny home.

If you made an error while building your tiny home and didn’t factor in AC systems, you can simply cut some sections of your roofs and install RV vent fans.

However, you need to be careful if you decide to go this route, and that’s because if you don’t seal up the holes properly, you may have to deal with leaks, which is a nightmare most tiny homeowners dread.

Another thing you want to consider is running electricity to power the RV-style vent fans installed in your residence.

But we doubt if this will be a problem, primarily since roof vent fans use minimal energy, especially when operated at night.

All you need to do to bring out the best in roof vent fans is to open up a few windows in your home, fire up the fan, and allow the cold night air to sweep through your home to make everywhere cozy.

While roof vent fans aren’t commonplace in tiny homes, you’ll hardly find an RV without one.

Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners

If you frequent hotels, we are sure you must have come across packaged terminal air conditioners.

These AC units tend to sit on the floor just beneath the bedroom window.

The cool thing about packaged terminal air conditioners is that they cool and heat up your space.

The unfortunate thing is that they come at a high cost.

Besides using more energy than traditional air conditioners, packaged terminal air conditioners require you to frame a four-foot hole to install this type of AC unit.

Considering the amount of space you might end up losing, this isn’t such a great idea for many tiny homeowners.

Note: When shopping for the perfect home cooling system for your small home, there are tons of options on the market for you.

So, don’t just opt for the first option you come across.

Do your due diligence to figure out which options best work for your tiny home.

At the end of the day, you want to go for an AC unit that doesn’t only do a brilliant job of cooling your space but is also suitable for your budget.

How to choose the right air conditioner for your tiny home

Like every other appliance you have in your tiny home, your tiny house mini-split air conditioner is a pretty permanent option.

So whatever air conditioner unit you decide to opt for will likely remain in your home through many winters and summers.

To this end, you must go for an air condition unit that ticks all your boxes.

For tiny home enthusiasts who have no idea how to choose a suitable tiny home AC, we have Some brilliant suggestions to make things easy for you.

Read on for some things to consider when shopping for an AC unit for your tiny residence.

Weather

A reliable AC cooling system is just as great as a reliable heating system.

And to be honest, during those excruciatingly hot days, especially in the dead of the summer, having your windows and doors open won’t get the job done.

Plus, if you failed to do your due diligence and opted for a less-than-fit air conditioner for your tiny home, you’ll have to live through sweaty summers, and no one likes that.

To be on the safer side when shopping for a reliable AC system, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of your state’s weather conditions.

Also, if you plan on moving from one location to another, it will make sense to consider the average highest temperature in your proposed new location.

For tiny homeowners who live in primarily cold regions, you may be able to go by with just a ceiling fan.

However, if you live in states like Florida and Arizona, where the heat can be almost unbearable, you’ll need to go for something with better cooling power.

BTUs and Square Footage

BTU is an acronym for British Thermal Unit.

It is a standard used to measure the energy needed to convert 1 pound of water 1°F.

In real terms, the BTU is a standard used to estimate approximately how much energy is required to cool or heat a room, assuming that your AC unit comes with a heating function.

On the flip side, going above the required BTUs for a small residence isn’t such a great idea.

Any disproportion between your room size and BTUs will result in faster cooling, which may cause your AC unit to cycle on and off far too often.

And because your AC is working beyond its threshold, don’t expect it to last long.

So you don’t go above the recommended BTU for your tiny home; you can simply leverage online BTU calculators.

This should give you a general approximation of what should work for your tiny home.

Energy efficiency

Just like the tiny house refrigerator you have in your home, your AC unit also has an energy efficiency rating.

What you want to focus on here is either the EER rating or SEER rating.

And for the benefit of those who have no idea, EER is an acronym for energy efficiency ratio, while SEER stands for season energy efficiency ratio.

These rating systems describe how remarkably an AC unit can cool your home based on its power usage.

Energy-efficient ratios are a great deal if you’re interested in a low-power, higher-performing air conditioner unit.

This is pretty important for people going off-grid.

More so, the rating system allows you to compare different air conditioners and how much you’ll save on utilities based on the units you opt for.

Besides EER rating, it’s also a smart move to consider the AC unit’s energy-saving settings.

Most modern ACs come with a feature that allows the unit’s compressor to work based on the temperature.

With these options, your AC unit won’t run all day.

Not just that.

Your AC unit will automatically power down when it reaches peak cooling.

Thanks to these types of cooling units, you’ll use less power while also saving more on electricity bills.

Design

Even though modern AC systems are sleek and inconspicuous, window-mounted air conditioners tend to make your space look dull.

That said, If you’re interested in something that adds some ambiance to your home, both inside and outside, a tiny house solar air conditioner, a portable air conditioner, or a mini-split air conditioner will fit your space perfectly.

To ensure that your AC system blends perfectly with the rest of your home, feel free to mount it above your door where energy is lost.

Also, you can fit it in just about any area that works for you.

Reasons why you should opt for the right AC system for your tiny home

The right AC system for your tiny home should provide both heating and cooling options.

This way, you can live through summer and winter comfortably.

Here are some reasons why you should only go for an AC system that ticks all your boxes.

AC units provide both cooling and heating options

The best AC unit for any tiny home project should offer both heating and cooling options.

This way, you don’t need to install separate heating and cooling systems to cater to winter and summer.

Thankfully, with a mini-split AC system, you have a brilliant appliance that caters to heating and cooling at the same time.

While shopping for the best mini-split air conditioners, always go for units with built-in heating.

Most of the time, these units are fitted with a heat pump that keeps your home warm.

What is Good Cooling and heating power for small homes?

The perfect AC unit for your home should feature an outdoor condenser and an accompanying indoor air handler to cool and heat your home.

And just so you know, each ductless unit for tiny homes provides specific BTUs for cooling power.

To this end, you’ll need to know the number of BTUs that are right for your indoor space.

While you can use an online BTU calculator to figure out the right BTU for your tiny home, we know for sure that 10,000 BTUs or less should be enough to cool and heat your tiny home.

Efficiency is of the essence

One of the reasons most people jump on the tiny home trend is that it is more cost-effective.

Unfortunately, if you opt for the wrong heating and cooling solution, you may be forced to pay more for electricity.

Good enough, you can avoid all of that hassles if you opt for a mini-split AC unit.

This type of AC system offers maximum efficiency as it doesn’t require an insane amount of power to work optimally.

We always encourage tiny homeowners to opt for a mini-split AC system with 13.0 SEER ratings to be on the safer side.

Also, look for mini-split AC systems that have earned an Energy Star rating.

Runs quietly

When you live in a tiny home, you don’t want to deal with all of the annoying noise coming from your cooling or heating units.

If for anything, your tiny home should provide you with some tranquility and peace of mind.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, as many AC units on the market today make an insane amount of noise.

Thankfully, mini-split AC systems are given tiny homeowners less to worry about, and that’s because mini-split units are some of the quietest AC units you’ll ever come across.

Thanks to the unit’s compressor housed outside, you can enjoy some calm in your home.

Simple installation

The best AC units shouldn’t be hard to install.

Unfortunately, many of the AC units on the market today require the services of professionals to have them up and running.

Thankfully, mini-split AC units have resolved this concern, and that’s because they are super easy to install.

Anyone can confidently install a mini-split unit without sweating it.

And if you need some guidance along the way, you can look through some video tutorials on YouTube to guide you every step of the way.

To install a mini-split AC unit, you need to mount the indoor unit to the wall and drill a small hole to connect the indoor unit to the outdoor compressor.

And just so you know, the whole process only takes a couple of minutes or at most an hour.

Top Air Conditioner For Your Tiny Home

Now that we have given you some background on what you should know about tiny home heating systems as well as what you should look out for when shopping for a tiny home heating system, let us give you a list of some of the best heating and cooling systems for your tiny home.

While some of these cooling options are affordable, some of them will cost you quite a fortune.

The all amazing Pioneer WYS012-17 is a popular choice for many tiny house owners.

We love this intelligent cooling system because it comes with complete installation kits, making things easy for DIYers.

Compared to other mini-split air conditioners on the market, this one is quite affordable.

Pioneer WYSO12-71 has unique functionalities designed to keep your home cool and cozy.

In addition to its 17 SEER rating and 12,000 BTU, this air conditioner delivers a quiet operation.

SENA 12HF-Z Mini Split

Compared to other AC systems on our list, the Senville 12HF-Z AC unit is a tad more expensive.

That said, this AC unit for tiny homes comes with a fantastic range of mouthwatering features and perks.

Besides its sleek design, this air conditioner delivers superb performance.

Also, its range of valuable features makes it ideal for tiny homeowners.

Fitted with DC inverter technology, the all amazing SENA 12HF-Z mini-split delivers impeccable efficiency and unmatched performance.

With SEER AND HSPF ratings of 19.5-22.5 and 10.6-12, respectively, only very few AC units can deliver the type of performance you enjoy with this air conditioner from the stables of Senaville.

Mitsubishi MZ-GL15NA Mini Split Heat Pump

The Mitsubishi MZ-GL15NA mini-split is another incredible cooling option for tiny homeowners.

As an inverter-driven ductless indoor unit, this AC unit will make an excellent option for people looking for an eco-conscious AC.

What thrills us about this AC unit is that it is engineered to automatically adjust its power consumption based on ambient temperature.

This makes it possible to save money and energy in the long run.

Being a ductless AC, you don’t have to create a duct system in your walls.

And just so you know, this AC has a SEER rating of 21.6.

Additionally, it boasts of an 11.7 HSPF efficiency.

This makes this AC system one of the best mini-splits on the market currently.

With five fan levels, you can constantly adjust this unit to meet your unique needs.

HomeLabs Window-Mounted Air Conditioner

The HomeLabs Window-Mounted AC is perfect for tiny homes, particularly for rooms that measure up to 150 SQ feet.

We like this AC unit because it comes with all the accessories and fittings needed for installation.

This makes it an ideal choice for tiny homeowners who want to explore the DIY route.

Compared to other options on the market, this AC system delivers a whopping seven temperature options, allowing users to manage temperature changes indoors easily.

In addition, the unit also has two fan speeds and two-way airflow directions, which will enable users to tweak where they want the air to flow too easily.

Thanks to its impressive performance, this unit will cool your room in less than 15 minutes.

Another thing users will love with this air conditioner is the reusable eco filter that comes with it.

Besides your tiny home, this AC also works perfectly for RVs.

ClimateRight CR12000SACH

If you’re looking for an AC unit that meets all your home cooling needs, you’ll be hard-picked to find any AC better than the ClimateRight CR12000SACH unit right now.

Thanks to its quick-connect system, DIYers will love this air conditioner system.

We particularly love the fact that the refrigerant lines and wiring come sealed and protected.

All you ever need to do is drill a hole and proceed to connect the line from indoors to the condenser outside.

Installing this AC system takes only 30 minutes.

Besides its hassle-free installation, this AC unit comes with brilliant heating options too.

So besides cooling your room during the heat of summer, this unit will also keep your home warm during the severe cold of winter.

Senville SENL-09CD Mini Split

If you’re interested in a small mini-split AC that works for your home, you’ll love this brilliant unit from Senville.

Besides its impressive efficiency, this mini-split AC is affordable, making it a brilliant choice for people interested in a decent AC unit that wouldn’t cost them a fortune.

We love the versatility that this mini-split unit offers.

While this AC does a fantastic job of cooling your home, it also keeps your home warm during winter.

Using this 9,000 BTU-rated unit, you’ll enjoy a nice blend of cooling and heating experience.

Additionally, this unit boasts a 16 SEER energy efficiency rating.

Haier ESAQ406T

While most window ACs are hated for their intrusive noise, the Haier ESA 06T defies all expectations as it keeps noise to the barest minimum.

More so, this AC system comes with a compressor blanket that allows it to run with little or no noise.

With a 6,000 BTU efficiency rating, this AC is perfect for your tiny home and will keep your home pleasantly cool.

Using its high-performing wireless remote, anyone can adjust this AC unit to their level of comfort without getting up.

It also comes with a built-in 24-hour timer which allows users to optimize cooling sessions.

It also has an energy saver mode which lets users manage the temperature within their home.

Frigidaire FGRQ0833U1

This AC unit boasts a modern design that allows it to blend with any tiny home seamlessly.

Together with its 8,000 BTU rating, this powerful AC unit will quickly cool any room it is installed in.

Unlike many tiny house AC units, this one offers impeccable three-fan speed options that can easily be tweaked according to your preferences.

Let us also add that it comes with a built-in timer that lets users schedule unit cycles.

The exciting thing about this unit is that it comes with a robust built-in temperature indicator that enables the unit to self-monitor the temperature.

This will let users save up on electricity costs.

​​Colzer 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner

The Colzer portable air conditioner is a must-have for tiny homeowners looking for a decent cooling system that delivers exactly as promised.

This brilliant AC unit comes with fantastic features, including a friendly led touch control panel, selection control panel, and a blend of rich functions that make the unit perform optimally.

If you’re interested in a cooling system that provides a robust humidifying solution, you’ll not be disappointed to give this unit a try.

Besides its four-fan speed option, this intelligent cooling system boasts 14,000 BTU ratings.

This makes it a superb choice for tiny homes.

DeLonghi Pinguino AC, Heater, Dehumidifier, Fan

This portable AC unit for tiny homes offers a nice blend of cooling and heating experience.

It also boasts exciting features, including a robust 4-in-1 unit with heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and fan settings.

Thanks to its Real Feel technology, this AC unit is able to reduce the temperature while also controlling humidity.

If you want a cooling system that guarantees the best comfort level possible, this is the one for you.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need an air conditioner in your tiny home?

Just like traditional homes, tiny homeowners also have to make provisions for AC units.

This is especially important if you live in an area where the heat of the summer bites hard.

With a robust AC unit in your home, you can live through summer without any complaints.

What is the tiniest AC system on the market?

Even though there are many small air conditioners on the market, the Zero Breeze Mark 2 is the smallest air conditioner for tiny homes we have come across.

How can I cool my small home?

When it comes to cooling your tiny home, there are many options on the market you can leverage.

From window-mounted AC units to portable AC systems to mini split air conditioners, there are lots of options you can readily explore.