Vent in wall for portable air con unit

[CrazyBatLady66]

Hi, I’ve got a portable air conditioning unit which I’ve been using a lot obviously with the hot weather. The problem is the hose needs to go out of the window and I don’t have a small casement type window only a large one and due to ill health I sometimes go to bed in the afternoon but when I try using the unit for a while to cool the room down it’s struggling as bedroom is south facing and with this very hot weather the heat is coming in the window even with a curtain pulled round it. I’ve been thinking of getting a vent put in the wall for it, however I’m a bit worried about this in the winter! Has anyone done this and presumably there is some way of closing the vent in winter, Also how much did it cost ? Any advice welcome please. Oh and has anyone actually had a permanent unit put in their house ? When my husband bought this thing a few years ago I said it wasn’t worth it as we only have a few very hot days! I stand corrected now as it’s been very hot for what seems like ages here in South UK

I was thinking of a cat flap as a PP said.

OP

I don't do heat so I've had portable air con for a while (renting so I can't put in permanent) don't wait until it is hot, if you can get up while it is still dark and open your windows, I use a fan to blow hot air out.

As it gets daylight switch the air con on and close blinds / curtains, this will get the room cool, ideally cold. You should be able to switch the aircon off after an hour or 2, then you only need to maintain the cool.

Obviously this is easier if you are at home all day, if you are at work then it's more difficult.

We used to have one unit in each bedroom in our old house. Ex-BIL fitted them for free as that’s his trade. I flipping loved it.

The heat function works really well
in a single space like a bedroom, but the same as cooling, it would struggle with a big area unless you had a powerful enough unit, or multiples. My ex-PIL had two floor-standing units in their downstairs and no central heating and they found that was fine (and their house was always warm).

Energy prices weren’t as keen then as they are now so I didn’t pay much attention, but they must have been pretty economical or they wouldn’t have been used. Plus they can be carbon neutral in operation if you can get zero carbon electricity, and won’t be affected when household gas is phased out/priced out.

@Letsnotargue Thank you. He was thinking along the lines of phasing out gas use where possible. We have solar panels plus a battery that can be filled up with ‘cheaper’ night time electricity. Sounds like it might be worth going ahead with then. Thanks for your reply.

OP good luck with getting your vent fitted.

I'm in Australia, where the split system/reverse cycle units are common. Yes, they have the unit that blows the hot/cold air on the wall, and the external unit that draws in air outside, so you have to get to the outside through the wall. My house is timber, so easy to do. I have them in every room bar the the laundry and bathrooms.

They are very effective, but rely on closed doors/windows, so open plan would eat up electricity. My house has tons of doors, so I can cool just the one room. The bigger the room/higher the ceiling, the more powerful the unit you need.

www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/cooling/air-conditioners/articles/what-size-air-conditioner-do-i-need

I still cool the house in this order:
Exterior blinds and closed curtains
Opening doors and windows
Ceiling fans
Aircon - always the last resort.

I'm using a piece of cardboard the size of the window, taped on, hole cut out for the vent and tape to hold it in place.

Then as the blind can't go over it properly now. I've hung a dark duvet cover from the top of the blind that covers the window completely. Would that work for you?

I poke mine out of the cat flap when I use it in the kitchen - work a treat but does mean you’re limited on where the unit can go, as it’s restricted by the length of the hose, but I’m sure you could get a longer one. I think some sort of window fitting would be better than making a massive hole in the wall though

Hi I am the OP name change 😁
thank you so much everyone for your replies. @echt I’m interested in what you said about exterior blinds, I’ve not heard of this. I’ve seen shutters in the Mediterranean they are very expensive here in UK as not popular. This would be good for me if I had the money as I’ve got a bungalow so can’t keep windows open wide at night.

Ooh, just wondering if you could do something similar to this but using the silver insulation bubble wrap stuff, to reflect the heat out and the cool in. We have some up at one of our windows - converted garage gets really hot - and it really helps. Although the room is then very dark.

Amazon silver bubblewrap insulation

Maybe combine bubblewrap stuff with some of these magnets if you don’t want to keep taping in place

Fly screen magnets

@sashh Thank you for that, I am the OP (change of name) I will try that as sounds like I’m leaving it too late by the time I put the AC on

OP

Don't forget to close the door and other windows.

When you think about it keeping something cool ie easier that making something colder.