Can you rent an air conditioner at OBI or Bauhaus?

No, you can't rent an air conditioner at OBI, and Bauhaus doesn't rent them either (as of August 2026). OBI's tool rental service, run with Boels Rental Germany, covers drills, garden machines, construction dryers and even heaters, but no AC units. The Bauhaus Mietpark with its LOXAM stations is strictly tools too. There are real alternatives though: professional equipment renters will lease you a portable AC by the day, and in Berlin and Brandenburg you can rent one for the whole summer. Here's what works where, and what it costs.

What German hardware stores actually rent out

If you're new to Germany: OBI and Bauhaus are the two big DIY chains, roughly the local answer to Home Depot. Both run rental programmes, and both are genuinely useful, just not for cooling. OBI's Mietgeräteservice works through the rental company Boels. You reserve online or in the store, sign a rental contract at pickup and leave a deposit. The catalogue is project gear: rotary hammers, plate compactors, garden tillers, carpet cleaners, dehumidifiers.

Bauhaus does the same through its Mietpark and the LOXAM rental stations inside around 30 of its stores, with over 300 machines on offer. Search either catalogue for an air conditioner and you get nothing. Both chains will happily sell you a portable unit from about €250, but renting one is not on the menu.

Why don't the big DIY chains rent air conditioners?

Neither company explains it publicly, but the economics are easy to guess. A rotary hammer rents year-round. An AC unit earns money for maybe six hot weeks, and everyone wants it in the same six weeks. After the heatwave, a rental fleet would sit in a warehouse until next July. Returned units also need filter cleaning and a function check before the next customer, which is more work than wiping down a drill. Selling pallets of portable units in the first hot week is simply the better business.

Where can you actually rent an AC in Berlin?

That depends on how long you need the cold air.

• Professional equipment renters such as Boels or Loxam (booked directly, not through the hardware store) rent portable AC units by the day or week. They price for offices, server rooms and events. Expect roughly 25 to €60 per day depending on cooling power, plus transport and a deposit.
• Event tech companies rent mobile coolers for parties and film shoots, usually with delivery included. For a single weekend, often the easiest route.
• Seasonal rental: KlimaLegal rents air conditioners across Berlin and Brandenburg for the entire summer. The Sommer-Abo Standard runs €89 per month with a 4-month minimum term plus a one-off €189 for delivery, setup and collection, so €545 for the 2027 season (1 June to 30 September). The window seal comes fitted, there's no deposit, and a broken unit is replaced within 3 working days.

Renting vs buying: the honest maths

A decent portable monobloc costs roughly 300 to €500 at the hardware store, plus 30 to €60 for a window seal kit, without which the hot air simply walks back in. Spread over five summers, buying wins. The catch is everything around the purchase: you store a bulky box for eight months a year, and you haul 25 to 30 kilos up the stairs yourself. In a fifth-floor Altbau without a lift, that's a workout you only sign up for once.

Electricity is the same either way. A monobloc draws roughly one kilowatt-hour per hour, about 35 cents at typical German rates, so four evening hours of cooling cost around €1.40 as a rough ballpark.

If you buy but don't fancy the setup, KlimaLegal installs a customer-bought unit for a one-off €149. They never sell the device itself; the retailer you bought from is the seller and handles the warranty.

What to check before you rent a unit

• Window seal: without one, the unit fights its own exhaust heat. Pro renters often don't include a seal, so ask.
• Noise: portable units typically run at 50 to 65 dB. Read the spec sheet before putting one in the bedroom.
• Deposit and return condition: professional renters expect the unit back clean, or they bill the cleaning.
• Transport: rental monoblocs weigh 25 to 35 kilos. Confirm whether delivery is included or you are the delivery.
• Stay permit-free: as a tenant you can plug in a portable unit without asking anyone. A fixed split system is a different animal: landlord permission plus a certified installer under the EU F-gas rules. Nobody rents those out anyway.

In short: the Baumarkt lends you a drill, not a cool bedroom. A pro renter covers a few hot days. Anything longer, and a seasonal rental wins the maths. If you'd rather buy, do it in late April while the shelves are still full. For summer 2027, KlimaLegal has 30 Sommer-Abo (Summer Rental) slots. Once they're gone, the season is booked out.