How to install an air conditioner in a window with jalousies.
September 2, 2007 11:52 PM Subscribe
How do I install an air conditioner unit into a window with jalousies?
Well, after a particularly hot August, my wife and I finally decided to break down and buy and air conditioner for our apartment, specifically for the bed room. We measured the room to calculate the correct BTUs, measured the window, and found an air conditioner that was correct for us at Costco. Good price, too.
We get it home today, I break out the instructions and discover that the instructions are exclusively for wooden sill double or single hung sash-type windows.
I had a similar air conditioner unit in this apartment six or seven years ago (installed by a previous renter). When I removed it (it died a rather unpleasant death), I discovered that the previous owner had created a rather extensive (and by now termite ridden) balance system using loose pieces of wood and a towel. So, while I have no idea how to replicate this system, I know that there must be ways to do it.
So any ideas? Obviously, I need to take some of the jalousies out, but beyond that, I'm rather at a loss. Thank you!
Well, after a particularly hot August, my wife and I finally decided to break down and buy and air conditioner for our apartment, specifically for the bed room. We measured the room to calculate the correct BTUs, measured the window, and found an air conditioner that was correct for us at Costco. Good price, too.
We get it home today, I break out the instructions and discover that the instructions are exclusively for wooden sill double or single hung sash-type windows.
I had a similar air conditioner unit in this apartment six or seven years ago (installed by a previous renter). When I removed it (it died a rather unpleasant death), I discovered that the previous owner had created a rather extensive (and by now termite ridden) balance system using loose pieces of wood and a towel. So, while I have no idea how to replicate this system, I know that there must be ways to do it.
So any ideas? Obviously, I need to take some of the jalousies out, but beyond that, I'm rather at a loss. Thank you!
I agree with drjimmy11.
I had similar situatuation.
It would save u time, headaches, and money by getting portable unit.
Home Depot has great selections of portable units. They may be a little less powerful but.. they do their job.
If you live in somewhere with not too much humidity, I would go for portable water cooler unit. It does not require heat vent and saves a lot of lectricity. Most of them also filter your room air with HEPA type filter.
I think portable units look nicer and more functional than fixed ac units especially if your home never really had specifically designed one before.
posted by curiousleo at 4:48 AM on September 3, 2007
I had similar situatuation.
It would save u time, headaches, and money by getting portable unit.
Home Depot has great selections of portable units. They may be a little less powerful but.. they do their job.
If you live in somewhere with not too much humidity, I would go for portable water cooler unit. It does not require heat vent and saves a lot of lectricity. Most of them also filter your room air with HEPA type filter.
I think portable units look nicer and more functional than fixed ac units especially if your home never really had specifically designed one before.
posted by curiousleo at 4:48 AM on September 3, 2007
I've never had to do this myself but I've seen it done. The person built a wooded frame around the brace of the air conditioner (the part that fits inside the window and keeps it from falling out). It basically extended the brace so that it fit against the window. They had beveled it slightly so that it tipped toward the outside to allow the water to drain. It didn't look too hard to do but you probably will need some power tools to work the wood. Depends on the size of the jalousies also.
posted by crios at 5:45 AM on September 3, 2007
posted by crios at 5:45 AM on September 3, 2007
There are many commercially available supports that you can install in you window to hold up the air conditioner. I would head back to Costco or Home Depot to find one that will work for you particular situation.
As long as your windows open up or to the side, you should just have to remove enough of the jalousies to fit the air conditioner through and then install the above mentioned brackets.
Without pictures and measurements, I can't really devise a home built solution for this problem.
posted by davey_darling at 6:43 AM on September 3, 2007
As long as your windows open up or to the side, you should just have to remove enough of the jalousies to fit the air conditioner through and then install the above mentioned brackets.
Without pictures and measurements, I can't really devise a home built solution for this problem.
posted by davey_darling at 6:43 AM on September 3, 2007
So I've tried to type up what I did to fix in our two ACs, but fail every time. We don't have jalousies, but we do have windows that lack a flat strong surface on which a heavy AC can rest.
So what I did was to use scrap wood from Home Depot to build up a platform around the lip of the window. Then, depending on the location of the AC, I either extended the frame out the window and added on supports that come down diagonally to help brace the weight of the AC; or I screwed the AC to a two by for and used clamps to fix it to the windowsill inside. A healthy dose of wooden shims to help keep stuff level and a bunch of towels and cardboard for sealing, and everything works fine.
It took maybe an hour to sketch out and measure what I wanted to do and another hour to put it all together, but my system has lasted for at least three summers and is pretty easy to remove in the wintertime!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:44 AM on September 3, 2007
So what I did was to use scrap wood from Home Depot to build up a platform around the lip of the window. Then, depending on the location of the AC, I either extended the frame out the window and added on supports that come down diagonally to help brace the weight of the AC; or I screwed the AC to a two by for and used clamps to fix it to the windowsill inside. A healthy dose of wooden shims to help keep stuff level and a bunch of towels and cardboard for sealing, and everything works fine.
It took maybe an hour to sketch out and measure what I wanted to do and another hour to put it all together, but my system has lasted for at least three summers and is pretty easy to remove in the wintertime!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:44 AM on September 3, 2007
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it worked great for about a month. then i went to press the "on" button and it fell halfway out the window. now i'm stuck with a fan in this awful shitty heat.
I would advise taking it back and getting the portable kind with the hose that goes out the window. it costs a bit more, but it'll save you headaches in the long run.
posted by drjimmy11 at 12:28 AM on September 3, 2007