Spot coolers actually work very similarly to air conditioners. They relocate the heat by bringing in warmer air and having it pass over the cooled coils in the unit. The unit then pushes that air back out into the room. Since the air passed over those coils, it is much cooler, and this helps to lower the temperature in the room. One of the big differences between air conditioners and spot coolers is that they can only cool a relatively small area.