Learn Me: Portable Air Conditioners

Summer is coming. I'm teaching dance lessons and hosting dance parties. Many of these are in an alcove of the brewhouse, with no air conditioning. Others are in a side room off of our bar that is small and tends to heat up quickly (it has A/C, but doesn't cool efficiently). Looking for decent, relatively affordable options to not broil my dancers.

The brewery has a rolling "garage" door off the side, that I can open the bottom of to use for venting. The side room has a door to the outside that can be propped open to do the same.

I had one for a summer that was like one of these:

http://www.frys.com/search?cat=-72500&pType=pDisplay&query_search=air%20conditioner&fq=101059%20Portable_Air_Conditioner

It was totally ineffective and annoying. It had an exhaust hose (like a dryer vent hose) that had to be vented to the outside which meant the window was open all the time. I made a piece of plywood with a hole in it to try to seal it but then I had a piece of plywood in my window. But more than that, I was trying to use it in my bedroom. Generally when hot out the bedroom is about 78 degrees. I left the portable AC on all day while I was at work once, and when I got home it was 79. I have a through-the-wall AC also, but it is in the other room so the bedroom never really gets cool, but I had better luck using a fan to blow cool air down the hall.

Last August our AC went out and we used a borrowed portable for the weekend until we could get a new unit installed. We just cooled the master bedroom with it and all 4 cats, the dog and us hung out like in a lifeboat. The unit did a passable job keeping the room cool but we had to run it constantly and keep all the doors and blinds closed. Also, they create a ton of water that, unless you can run a hose drain from, need emptying at least twice a day. Not saying your idea won't work but if you have open doorways, etc. it may be a lost cause with a small unit. Any chance the brewery would spring for an upgraded unit?

My local brewery uses the fabric ducts with ceiling mounted air handlers which work really well. Kinda like this.

Is your climate dry? You could use a swamp cooler.

5 gallon ice bucket with a fan behind it will be your cheapest/most mobile option to be honest. It also uses the least electricity. Those portable ones roast through the power and condense enough water in our humid Midwest summers to end California's drought.

Climate is humid. People dancing makes it more humid. I suppose I could hook up those little outdoor misters inside the brewery...

I have a water cooled portable one that uses water to cool the condenser instead of airflow. If water is cheap and drainage is available, it works a treat. Cold water in, hot water out.

This is NOT a swamp cooler. I had one of those in the building when I moved in here, had it tuned up, and learned just how much sweat one person can generate in a place that's maybe 2 degrees cooler, but way, way more humid. I had it pulled out of the roof when the roof was repaired a couple of years ago.

I have a Delonghi 10K BTU portable that works pretty well. I've used it several times when the house A/C was waiting on the repair guy. I also had it plumbed into my enclosed trailer. It does a pretty good job of cooling and an outstanding job at dehumidifying. I think the trick to them is to get one with dual hoses. Mine uses outside air to cool the condenser coil, rather than sucking the cold air out of the house, and blowing it outside. It also evaporates the water collected and blows it outside. I never have to empty it.