Renting a mobile split AC: quiet summer cooling instead of roughly €100 a day
One event company rents these by the day at roughly €100. A whole KlimaLegal season costs about eleven of those days. Here is the maths and what is included.
Yes, you can rent a mobile split air conditioner in Berlin and Brandenburg, including the device class the Midea PortaSplit made famous: KlimaLegal's Sommer-Abo (Summer Rental) Premium costs €199 a month on a four-month minimum term, plus a one-off €299 for delivery and professional installation by a two-person crew. The whole 2027 season comes to €1,095. The only other rental source we found is a Munich event company charging roughly €100 a day, and at that rate a full summer's budget is gone in about eleven days.
There's a reason almost nobody rents these out. Mobile splits are new on the market and heavy, and renting one out only works if somebody delivers it, mounts it and comes back for it in autumn. That somebody is us. First the technology, then the maths. Buying gets its own honest section further down.
What is a mobile split air conditioner?
A mobile split comes in two parts: a quiet indoor unit in your room and a compressor box that hangs outside on a window bracket. A flexible refrigerant line connects the two. It's filled and permanently sealed at the factory and never gets opened, which is why no certified refrigeration firm is needed to set one up. A classic split system, with lines drilled through the wall, is a different story.
- The compressor, the loud part, hangs outside. Indoors you hear little more than a fan.
- Nothing gets drilled and nothing is fixed to the facade. The bracket clamps onto the window frame.
- When you move out, the unit moves with you. Or we collect it, if it's rented.
For contrast: classic and quick-connect split systems, where refrigerant lines are joined or opened on site, may only be installed by a certified firm under the EU F-Gas Regulation. KlimaLegal doesn't offer those systems and won't advise anyone to self-install one.
Can you rent a Midea PortaSplit?
Short answer: by the season from us, by the day from an event company. When we searched the market, the results were thin. A Munich event outfit rents comparable units at roughly €100 a day, aimed at trade fairs and film shoots. Perfectly sensible for a weekend. For a whole summer, the arithmetic falls apart, more on that below.
KlimaLegal rents the device class for the full season instead: a mobile split with a factory-sealed refrigerant line, delivered and mounted by two installers, quiet enough for a bedroom. That last part is the whole point of the Premium tier, which is literally subtitled 'Leise', German for quiet.
The maths: roughly €100 a day versus €1,095 a season
Our season runs from 1 June to 30 September, which is 122 days. At roughly €100 a day, the event-rental route would cost over €12,000 for the same stretch. The Sommer-Abo Premium costs €1,095: four months at €199 plus the one-off €299 for delivery and installation. Put differently, the entire season costs about as much as eleven event days.
| Event rental (day rate) | Sommer-Abo Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | roughly €100 per day | €199 per month + €299 one-off |
| Cost for the 122-day season | over €12,000 (rough figure) | €1,095 |
| Installation | depends on the provider | always by two KlimaLegal installers |
| If the unit breaks | depends on the provider | replacement within 3 working days |
| Deposit | depends on the provider | none |
Electricity comes on top either way: expect roughly €20 to €50 in a properly hot month, depending on how long the unit runs. That estimate applies whether you rent or buy.
What the Sommer-Abo Premium includes
The Premium tier exists for people who want to sleep with the window shut and know exactly how loud a monoblock gets at 2 a.m. The compressor hangs outside on its bracket; the bedroom stays quiet.
- €199 a month, four-month minimum term
- €299 one-off for delivery and professional installation by two installers
- Installation is always done by KlimaLegal, never by you. The outdoor unit belongs on that bracket properly.
- If the unit breaks, a replacement is with you within 3 working days
- No deposit
- Collection from mid-September, appointment agreed in August
Should you buy one instead?
Honestly, if you're staying in the same flat for several summers and have somewhere to store the unit in winter, buying is cheaper. A new mobile split costs roughly €700 to €1,000, and a single rented season already costs more than that. What the rent buys you is everything around the box: someone carries it up the stairs, mounts it, swaps it if it breaks, and takes it back in autumn so nothing sits in your cellar all winter. Anyone who has hauled 30 kilos of air conditioner up four flights of an Altbau staircase knows what that's worth.
A couple of footnotes. KlimaLegal never sells devices. If you want to buy, we point you to a partner link, and the retailer is the seller and carries the warranty. We'll still do the setup if you want it, as the Aufbau-Service for a one-off €149. And on the Standard plan, a rent-to-own takeover (Mietkauf) is possible after two rented summers, so renting doesn't have to be forever.
How the 2027 season works
The season runs from 1 June to 30 September. We deliver and install before it starts, agree your collection appointment in August, and pick the unit up from mid-September. You store nothing and haul nothing. There are 30 Sommer-Abo slots for 2027, only 6 of them Premium, and the waitlist on klimalegal.de decides who hears first.
FAQ
- Can you rent a Midea PortaSplit?
- Yes. KlimaLegal rents mobile split air conditioners with a factory-sealed refrigerant line, the device class the Midea PortaSplit belongs to, in the Sommer-Abo Premium: €199 a month on a four-month minimum term plus a one-off €299 for delivery and installation by two installers. Event companies also rent similar units at day rates around €100, which only makes sense for single days.
- Do I need my landlord's permission for a mobile split AC?
- Usually not. A mobile split isn't fixed to the building: nothing is drilled, the bracket clamps onto the window frame, and everything disappears without a trace when you move out. Under general German tenancy principles that keeps it within normal use of the flat. Permanently installed split systems, which do alter the building, are a different matter and need the landlord's consent.
- How loud is a mobile split AC in a bedroom?
- Noticeably quieter than a monoblock, because the compressor hangs outside on the window bracket. What stays in the room is mainly the indoor unit's fan; manufacturers quote roughly 30 to 40 decibels for that, about the level of a quiet fan. A monoblock, with the compressor inside the room, is audibly louder.
- What happens if the rented unit breaks?
- If a rented Sommer-Abo unit breaks, KlimaLegal provides a replacement within 3 working days. That's part of the subscription price; there are no repair or swap fees on top.
- Is there a deposit for the rental?
- No. KlimaLegal takes no deposit for the Sommer-Abo, neither for the Standard tier with a monoblock nor for the Premium tier with a mobile split unit.
