Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

JustJason

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Here's what I got....

Have 2 ac's, newer, and they work fine. They are your typical mount in a sliding window variety.

Moving to florida, need to add AC to a utility room that doesn't have it.

Room has 1 window and the best I can describe it is as a louvered (sp?) window, has multiple panes that open and close like a louver.

What i'm thinking is I can build a box to mount the AC into and stick in the corner of the room. But i'll have to vent, and probably power vent, the box to the outside somehow.

Has anyone ever tried something like this?
I'd hate to dump the AC's I have to buy one of those self contained AC's that already have the hose you pop out the window, they are big bucks.
 

Bob_VT

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

Why not remove a few panes of the jalousie window (proper name ;)) and mount the ac in the window?
 

bigskiohio

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

portable ac might work
 

JustJason

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

The window is 4 or 5 larger panes. I'm in MA now and don't have it in front of me to measure, but if I removed some of the panes and mounted the ac somehow i'd still have a huge gaping hole, and i don't think I can plywood up the rest of it from the inside as it's a rental house.
In a normal window the ac sits on the sill, and the bottom of the top sliding window slides down on top of the ac, and then you drive a couple screws through the ac into the wooden window frame. With the panes of teh jalousie window, there's nothing to screw into.
 

hrdwrkingacguy

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

how big is the unit and how big is the window...If it were me I would build a transition out of sheet metal from the size of the unit to the size of the window opening, make it as short as possible, paint it black or whatever and rock on...:eek:

any problem can be solved...jut make sure however you do it that the part of the unit that draws air before the outdoor coil has access to air...window units have intake holes also that need outdoor air...
 

tx1961whaler

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

I have done it once or twice
Big pain in the butt.
I built a sturdy (I believe 2x4 and 3/4" exterior ply) wooden frame the width of the window and taller than the AC with an opening in the center to receive the AC unit, which had one of those metal, slide in types of mounting arrangements
The frame had to be masonry-screwed to the walls (they were cinder block) on the inside, and the AC then mounted into the frame. Of course the bottom panes of the window were removed......seem to remember putting some foam seal between the frame and the remaining glass. Measure it so there some overlap between the last remaining pane and the from so you can get a good seal to keep the lizards and roaches out.
 

JB

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

I wouldn't call it a redneck A/C, but what I did was create a utility "window" in the wall of the correct size and location to mount a "window" unit to cool the utility room. I also added full panes of lexan over the jalousie windows for draft control and insulation.

Mine was in a typical uninsulated Florida cinderblock wall. It would be a lot easier in a stud and siding wall like daughter #2 did when she enclosed a porch to make a workout room here in Texas, but there are Florida residents who just love to eat stud and siding walls.
 

PGFISHER

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

Had the same problem. Finaly had to get out my trusty angle grinder with a cut off wheel and make a hole the cinder block. Framed it with 2x4's and stuffed it with foam. Guess that's not a good idea on a rented house though.
 

Beefer

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

Whatever you do, just make sure you can properly discharge the condensate that will develop, and with the wonderful humidity levels here, you will have LOTS of it.
 

xxxflhrci

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

A portable AC doesn't have to cost big bucks, if you shop around. I have a 8k BTU unit that I use in my camper. I picked it up on sale for less than 150 bucks a couple of years ago.
 

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j_martin

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

I thought you were talking about a redneck air conditioner. I used to cool the house with a 54 chevrolet radiator bolted over the window, well water running through it, and a box fan inside pulling air through.

My present cooling is a modified A coil in the hot air furnace, well water running through it, cools the whole house adequately, and a lot less electricity is used than an equivalent whole house air conditioner.

And yes, there's duct tape in the installation.:D
 

JB

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

That sure sounds like a Red Green contraption to me. Hmmmmm, j martin even looks a little bit like Red Green. :)

When I lived in IL in an older home without CA/C I had a cool, damp basement. I mounted a window unit in a basement window and rigged it to draw in cool basement air, chill it further and ducted it into the hot air furnace ducting to cool the whole house. It also dried the basement a bit.

Red Green would have loved that one, too. :)
 

Tig

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

Has anyone ever tried something like this?

Yes, in my son's dorm room to work around the "no window AC rule" This was small AC unit. He was on the top floor in a corner, full afternoon sun above the laundry room. Pretty well the armpit of the dorm.
I started with a $30 Wally world microwave stand and caulked the interior seams with silicone to slow down water damage. I sat the unit on a drip pan and partitioned off the interior of the cabinet with 3/4" styro SM. That created cool and hot chambers. I then used cheap 6" plastic flexible dryer vent to plumb each chamber to a window mount fan. The fan had two blowers. Each could be controlled individually for speed and direction. I set one to suck air out of the hot chamber and the other to blow air into the cool chamber. I shrouded the blades to increase efficiency and also tried to direct hot air up and draw to cool air from below. You want to try to avoid an air flow loop where the hot air gets sucked back in.
It worked great. Water in the cabinet is an ongoing concern but after 12 months the cabinet was still in good shape. Later, when I tore it apart I found some water damage inside but I think it could have gone 5 years before it started looked ratty.
 

Tig

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

I thought you were talking about a redneck air conditioner. I used to cool the house with a 54 chevrolet radiator bolted over the window, well water running through it, and a box fan inside pulling air through.

My present cooling is a modified A coil in the hot air furnace, well water running through it, cools the whole house adequately, and a lot less electricity is used than an equivalent whole house air conditioner.

And yes, there's duct tape in the installation.:D

My last ground source heat pump cooled without the compressor. It was basically the same thing. I considered the radiator thing for the dorm room but it would have been a bit too conspicuous since I figured I'd have had to feed it from the shower.
 

j_martin

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

My last ground source heat pump cooled without the compressor. It was basically the same thing. I considered the radiator thing for the dorm room but it would have been a bit too conspicuous since I figured I'd have had to feed it from the shower.

Where I part ways with brother Red is that the control set for my ground water and wood boiler heating, cooling, water heater, and clothes dryer system looks about like the inside of a pinball machine.:D
 

Tubingluvr

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

They make metal sleeves that go in the wall all you need is a hole in the wall
I would say this is probably your best bet.
 

Tubingluvr

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Re: Has anybody ever made a redneck AC before?

Redneck AC: A couple bags of ice on the backside of a box fan
 
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