Portable Air Conditioning Partition - Need Help or Advice

Lsunkissed on 04/01/2020 - 16:36
Last edited 04/01/2020 - 18:29 by 1 other user

Hi, I have just recently purchased a portable air conditioner to deal with the summer heat in Australia.

I have figured the best way to use it would to put the hose thingy outside of the balcony through a small hole partition and planks of wood stacked above and below and patched up with a lot of duct tape. However, as you can probably already guess, it falls apart a lot. What could I buy like that would do the job professionally and how would I go about installing it?

I am based in Sydney, NSW.

Home & Garden Air Conditioner

Comments

  • Blue Suby on 04/01/2020 - 16:48
    +1

    Bunnings used to sell kits to fit vertical or horizontal windows. With a look on their site?

    • lgacb08 on 05/01/2020 - 15:34

      i've used those, not good enough

  • AdosHouse on 04/01/2020 - 16:49
    +8

    Buy a piece of ply from Bunnings, cut it so that it is about 10cm wider than the pipe diameter, and as tall as the door or window you are fitting it into. Cut a hole for pipe, and use a duct joiner to attach it to the plank. Place it in door/window frame and close door/window until its pushing against the wood. Use foam strips on the wood to seal the gaps.

    Most portable air-cons come with a window kit though.

  • toristo on 04/01/2020 - 17:05

    I had the same problem and found this at Bunnings: https://www.bunnings.com.au/brutus-150-x-50mm-x-3m-jazz-buil…

    I cut it to the height of the door and then cut a notch out top and bottom to go over the tracks. The long flat side is then stuck using 3M mounting velcro against the sliding door (you may need to cut a section out of the middle to go over the lock). The short side then butts up against where the sliding door would normally lock to kind of seal (there is a gap you could more tightly seal with foam tape, but mine was pretty straight so I wasn't worried).

    Cut the hole for the pipe attachment and voila! Done.

    I was able to do this with a Dremel and cutting wheel, but the flashing plastic is pretty soft and with enough patience, could be cut with a lot of things.

    Send me a PM with your email if you want to see some photos if this isn't clear.

  • John Kimble on 04/01/2020 - 19:17
    +1

    Pics please

  • outlander on 04/01/2020 - 19:41
    +1

    Professionally? A piece of mdf sized exactly to the window frame, with a hole cut out so that the exhaust tube fit snuggly into it.

    Unprofessionally? The same thing but with a big piece of cardboard.

  • jace88 on 04/01/2020 - 21:26

    I bought a kit off eBay which slot into my window when left a bit open. Not sure if this is what you mean but did the trick for me : https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Set-Air-Conditioner-Exhaust-Hose…

    (note I didn't buy this exact one from this seller)

  • lgacb08 on 05/01/2020 - 15:43

    might try the gorilla duct tape that went on sale on amazon a couple month back? But trust me don't hold you hope too high even if you manage to seal the hose perfectly because of the aerodynamic flaw of your system. Your system will constantly create negative pressure in the room by sucking hot air outside (it draw internal room air and split this bit into 2 parts, one part got cooled and returned to the room, the other got heated further and blow through the hose). Therefore outside air will be drawn into the room (which is hot) and diminishes the cooling effect. I understand your predicament because I've been through the same so my advice is don't invest too much in it. If you're good at diy, better get mdf cutout as someone above suggested to fit in the windows and duct tape the gap.

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