A rented air handler is the indoor half of a temporary cooling system: a chiller outside makes cold water or glycol, the air handler blows air across a coil and pushes it through ducting into the space. Weekly rates commonly run from about $400 for a small unit to $1,500 and above for a large one, with the chiller, hoses and duct quoted separately.
You are hiring half a system, never the whole one
An air handler on its own moves air and does nothing to it. It needs a chilled water source, so the order is almost always a matched pair plus hose, and on a site with no spare power a generator joins the list. Ask the yard to quote the package rather than the box, or the first invoice will surprise you.
Sizing is tons and airflow, and both have to fit
Cooling capacity is quoted in tons, airflow in cubic feet per minute, and a unit can have enough of one and not the other. A tall warehouse needs the air thrown far; a low office needs it distributed quietly. Give the yard the space, the heat load in it and the duct run, and let them size the pair.
Power, water and where the duct goes
Most rental air handlers above the smallest sizes want a three phase supply and a proper connection, not a plug. The chilled water loop needs hose, manifolds and sometimes a pump package if the run is long. Ducting is hired by the length, and every bend and every unsupported sag costs you airflow you paid for.
When a spot cooler is the cheaper hire
If the problem is one hot room or one piece of equipment, a portable spot cooler ducted to the ceiling is far less to hire and needs only a standard circuit. Air handlers earn their place when the load is large, the run is long or the machine has to sit outside the space it is cooling.
Questions people ask about air handler rentals
Can I rent an air handler without a chiller?
Yards will hire one out on its own, and it is occasionally the right call when a building has chilled water available and only the fan coil has failed. On a construction site or an event that is rare. Without a cold water supply the unit is an expensive fan.
What size air handler do I need for a warehouse?
Nobody can answer that from floor area alone. The heat load is the roof, the doors, the lighting, the machinery and the number of people, and a tall shed behaves differently from a low one. Give the rental engineer those details and a target temperature and let them size it.
How long does a temporary cooling install take?
Delivery and setup on a straightforward pair is usually part of a day, once power and a water fill are ready. What stretches it is siting the chiller, running long hose and hanging duct in an occupied building. Book the survey earlier than you think you need to, especially in a heatwave.