You might be thinking about your air conditioning options as summer gets hot. The entire house is kept at a pretty constant temperature thanks to central air conditioning, despite their high running costs. However, you may have areas in your home with no windows, or the window isn’t suitable for use as a window air conditioner.
This can lead to the question; can you use a window AC unit inside instead of it in a window? A window AC unit works to take warm air from inside your room and pass this over the cooling vents. Then, the cooling unit blows this cool air back into your room. Hot air is forced out from the rear of your AC and the side vents, and condensation is running through a thin pipe.
In our guide, you can find the answer, can you use a window AC unit inside the house? The answer to can a window AC unit be used inside a room is yes, yet here you’ll see you need to make some modifications as they don’t work to cool room air as intended. (Learn How To Stop Particle Board From Crumbling)
Can You Use a Window AC Unit Inside The House?
It is possible to use a window air conditioner inside with some modifications. However, expecting window units to work as portable AC units is unrealistic. A basic window AC unit replaces warm air with cool air. Without releasing this air, you’ll heat inside a room rather than fill it with cool air.
If you’re handy, you can run pipes, a flexible duct, and a blower from the back of your window AC without a window to vent it outside. Even without a window, an aperture can let the hot air escape, such as a garage, attic, or roof.
Alternate between heating and cooling one room. Use one room with a window and put your AC unit between the two. The window room gets warm while rooms further within get cooler. The negative is that condensation might damage the room you’re pumping hot air into.
Portable air conditioners are preferable to specific smaller window air conditioners without a window. Most come with ventilation and air vents, so you may move them as needed.
These portable AC units are more convenient than window air conditioners. Remember that a window air conditioner without a window must vent hot air outdoors to work.
Can You Use A Window Air Conditioner Inside A Room?
Yes, you may use a window air conditioner inside a room without having a window. Although no professional conversion kit is available for purchase, there are some excellent DIY options. You need to understand how a window air conditioner works before you can make it work without one. The most important things to know are how to vent and capture the condensate.
The first thing you need to know is that heat is generated and expelled from the entire back when the unit is running. That is to say, you will not bring the unit inside the room, place it on the table, and then switch it on to cool the space.
The heat will overpower the cool air, resulting in a hotter room everywhere except where the air conditioner is located. You’ll need to devise a way to capture and vent the heat escaping from the back. Ideally, outside. (Learn How To Attach A Porch Roof To A Brick House)
Can You Use A Portable AC In A Room Without A Window?
A window air conditioner fits in a window. The window is a venting point for the AC, letting the hot air out. The machine will release hot air into the room, increasing the temperature if it is not positioned in a window. An air conditioner window comprises two parts. While the other portion of the AC is outside, one portion is inside the room.
On the inside of the appliance are a fan and an evaporator. This lowers the humidity and cools the local air. In addition, the unit has a compressor and condenser outdoors, which helps with hot air exhaustion. A window air conditioner kept running within a room heats the area since it produces hot and cold air.
Therefore, the room will cool down if a hose can remove the hot air. Unfortunately, most window air conditioners lack a hose hookup mechanism. Therefore, you must contact experts to construct a system to vent the hot air. Portable air conditioners are a much better option for use within a room. The hose attached to the portable air conditioner must vent the hot air.
With ventilation, an interior window AC will work like the real thing. The performance will be slightly lower than the original design, but this shouldn’t make a difference because the machine may release heat internally. A ceiling fan can help cool air reach more space.
Smaller window AC units can be overloaded as they struggle to cool the compressor using the inside air rather than outside air. (Read Can A Window AC Unit Be Used Inside)
How To Use Window Air Conditioner Without a Window?
There are many approaches, one comparable to the standard installation of a window unit without vented out of a window or door into a garage. There are, however, some creative techniques that you or your family may not like. Keeping in mind how a window AC works, here are ways to use them without a window to keep the temperature down in your home.
You can use a window air conditioner (AC) without a window as long as you exhaust hot air and catch the condensate.
Note: The methods can also work for a portable air conditioner, yet even with modification, an air conditioner without a window is more efficient and comes with a larger size for effectively cooling and controlling your space’s humidity.
Through Thick Walls
Through-the-wall ACs are available if you don’t have a window inside. These come with a steel wall sleeve, and the AC slides into the sleeve.
If you have a window air conditioner, you can modify it to a wall AC rather than buying a new unit.
Cutting a hole in an outside wall, making a “frame” for the AC unit, and installing it like a window but without expandable side panels is how to use a through-the-wall AC. (Learn How To Cut Copper Pipe Close To Wall)
Vent Hot Air Up the Chimney
If you have a fireplace that won’t be used in the summer, you can use it to exhaust warm air from your window air conditioner.
There are two things to keep in mind:
- Hot air must be sent up the chimney. Create a shroud to prevent hot air from escaping sideways—plastic and duct tape work.
- Gather and discard the condensate. This can be done by elevating the air conditioner and catching the water drips out the back.
House Your AC Inside a Tote Bin
To gather the hot exhaust air before venting it somewhere else, place a sizable storage container on its side.
Using the rear of the AC as a template, a hole is made in the tote’s lid so that the AC may fit through it. Duct tape can then fasten to the lid and unit’s back.
A big exhaust hose is firmly taped over a hole cut out of the side of the tote (facing upward).
An exhaust pipe is fed through a door, wall, or another opening into a well-ventilated area to get the heated air out of your living space.
The exhaust hose can be made more heat efficient by being insulated. And don’t forget to include a means of collecting the condensate that will be generated.
Alternative AC Venting
Once you grasp the need to vent hot air from the outside part of your AC and collect condensed water, you may be able to use a window AC without a window.
Other places to vent exhaust air to blow the hot air into your range vent or your wood or pellet stove chimney. (Read What Size Duct Do I Need For A 12×12 Room)
Can A Window AC Be Used Inside Negatives
There is another “con” that you should know besides the odd appearance of having a window AC sitting in your living room with whatever funny-looking method you have come up with to vent it.
This is referred to as “negative pressure.”
The heated condenser coil is typically cooled by drawing outside air into the unit’s exterior and blowing it out the back. This air will be brought in from the indoor room if the entire device is indoors.
Because of the negative pressure, this produces, “make-up air” will be drawn into the area from adjacent rooms, beneath doors, and a variety of other locations.
The ultimate effect is that the AC may not work efficiently and could fall below what it was intended to be by up to 50%.
However, suppose you don’t have a portable unit. In that case, you can use it, and you decide that an air conditioner running at half its efficiency delivering cold air is preferable to sitting in more hot air, with no AC at all.
