I live in Texas, where air conditioning is an absolute must for modern folks like us. We all have them, but most of us are pretty ignorant when it comes to how they truly 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 between 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 incompatibility between the two spaces.
Portable air conditioners are no separate in basic function, but have separate concerns because the whole unit resides in the room being conditioned. All other types have a component outside, including window and through-wall air conditioners, which are half in and half out of the room. So a portable air conditioner needs a association to the outside. This is done with 5 foot long, 5 inch ducts, one or two depending on the type of unit. All portable 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 enhance the seal and derive the adapter in place. These vent kits come with the unit at no additional cost. Since they use an existing window, they do not need changes to the buildings of the building. But what about the room without a sliding window?
Ac Adapter
Several options are available, and I'm sure that a puny ingenuity could provide more. What is needed is just a transportation to somewhere surface the room, to which the hose can be attached. One option is to go through the ceiling. For rooms with a acceptable 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 adequate (9 feet) to reach the port. The panel replaces a singular 2 x 2 tile, or half of a 2 x 4 tile. The hose is attached to the port and to the portable ac, and wallah! Ventilation established! These kits are favorite for computer server rooms, which commonly have no windows, but could be used in any room with an acceptable ceiling. The steel panel has only one port, so if a dual hose setup is desired, two kits would be required. There are portable air conditioners, such as the EdgeStar Server Cool, which can be used in whether singular or dual hose setup. Now this kit is designed for drop tile ceilings, but I see no hypothesize it couldn't be used for other ceiling types. With a sheet rock ceiling, for example, if a hole was cut just large adequate for the association 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 ordinarily 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 derive and can ceiling tiles to discolor or even sag and fall. Units that re-evaporate and blow out condensate do best here, but it brings up the second issue, space. One will only want to use this formula if the available space is large adequate 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 need 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 an additional one type of problem, and I know of no commercially available products to ventilate a portable air conditioner through a casement window. But I have seen plexiglass panes habitancy 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 important to seal it. As you can see, sliding windows are not required to use a portable air conditioner. Alternate methods of ventilation need a puny more work and cost, but should succeed in years of relieve without additional issues.
Installing a transported Air Conditioner in a Room Without Windows
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