I live in Texas, where air conditioning is an absolute must for contemporary folks like us. We all have them, but most of us are pretty ignorant when it comes to how they actually work. That knowledge is beyond the scope of this article, but we should all understand that ventilation is vital to any air conditioner. Basically, ventilation means air movement in the middle of the room being conditioned and somewhere surface of it. The air conditioner itself moves the air, and should be able to without too much resistance. Free air movement is not desirable because that would allow the climatic characteristic inside and out to equalize too quickly, and what we are trying to do is create a climatic characteristic contrast in the middle of the two spaces.
Portable air conditioners are no different in basic function, but have different concerns because the entire unit resides in the room being conditioned. All other types have a component outside, along with window and through-wall air conditioners, which are half in and half out of the room. So a transportable air conditioner needs a relationship to the outside. This is done with 5 foot long, 5 inch ducts, one or two depending on the type of unit. All transportable ac's come with window adapter, basically a flat piece of foam or plastic with one or two ventilation ports, which will fit into a sliding window. The hose then attaches to the adapter and the ventilation pathway is established. This is the typical recommended setup. It is easy to setup and works well. Duct tape may be used to heighten the seal and acquire the adapter in place. These vent kits come with the unit at no added cost. Since they use an existing window, they do not require changes to the structure of the building. But what about the room without a sliding window?
SLIDER CASEMENT WINDOW AIR CONDITIONER
Several options are available, and I'm sure that a little ingenuity could contribute more. What is needed is just a communication to somewhere surface the room, to which the hose can be attached. One selection is to go through the ceiling. For rooms with a thorough nine foot high office-type ceiling with 2 x 2 or 2 x 4 drop tiles, kits are available consisting of a steel panel with a ventilation port and a hose long sufficient (9 feet) to reach the port. The panel replaces a particular 2 x 2 tile, or half of a 2 x 4 tile. The hose is attached to the port and to the transportable ac, and wallah! Ventilation established! These kits are popular for computer server rooms, which ordinarily have no windows, but could be used in any room with an thorough ceiling. The steel panel has only one port, so if a dual hose setup is desired, two kits would be required. There are transportable air conditioners, such as the EdgeStar Server Cool, which can be used in whether particular or dual hose setup. Now this kit is designed for drop tile ceilings, but I see no suspect it couldn't be used for other ceiling types. With a sheet rock ceiling, for example, if a hole was cut just large sufficient for the relationship port, and the panel settled above the ceiling, that should work too. The main problems with ceiling ventilation are twofold. First, if the ambient humidity is high, a lot of moisture is going to be pulled out of the air. This would commonly be blown or pumped outside, but in this setup, it's going into the attic. In the case of a unit that pumps out condensate, the drain tube should be diverted somewhere else, like into a plumbing drain or through a wall, because otherwise it will acquire and can ceiling tiles to discolor or even sag and fall. Units that re-evaporate and blow out condensate do good here, but it brings up the second issue, space. One will only want to use this formula if the available space is large sufficient to allow the humid, hot air to dissipate and leave the attic. Otherwise you will be pumping a lot of heat and moisture into a small space, and wind up with an attic even warmer than normal, and may still have problems with wet tiles.
Another alternative is a dryer vent, installed just like it would be for a dryer. Two can be installed side by side for dual hose units. This is a nice setup, because it establishes a ventilation portal that is inconspicuous, permanent, and easy to reach and use. Of course, it does require a hole in the wall. With this setup, the unit can be settled pretty much where desired, unlike with the window kit, where the unit must sit near the window since the hose supplied with most units is only 5' long.
Casement windows create someone else type of problem, and I know of no commercially available products to ventilate a transportable air conditioner through a casement window. But I have seen plexiglass panes population have constructed, cut to fit into the casement window frame with the window open, with a hole cut in the plexiglass for the hose to connect. The pane is screwed in place to the window frame, and caulked as vital to seal it. As you can see, sliding windows are not required to use a transportable air conditioner. Alternate methods of ventilation require a little more work and cost, but should result in years of comfort without added issues.
Installing a conveyable Air Conditioner in a Room Without Windows SLIDER CASEMENT WINDOW AIR CONDITIONER
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