The Best Air Conditioners for Casement Windows

Installation

• Portable air conditioner units come supplied with window installation kits. Inside some of the unit kits is an encasement window component. The casement component screws onto the end of the supplied exhaust hose. The component is skinny and flat enough to fit as discretely as possible between the two casement windows. The other end of the exhaust hose screws into the back of the unit into the exhaust hose portal. The exhaust hose is necessary for any cooling or drying air conditioner functions. You can use the fan by itself to circumvent the need for an exhaust hose, but this function is only able to circulate the air within the room and not cool it.

Security

• After the casement window component is seated vertically between the two casement windows, you can secure the windows with a rubber band or string. The windows should be as tight as possible against the component to keep the component from falling out of the window. The string or rubber band can be wound around the two window latches to keep them together. It's possible that the casement windows contain one window latch between the two of them. For this situation, some window kits come with a rubber sucker. You can apply the sucker to the window with no latch and then tie the string to it and the latched window to keep them closed.

Seal

• With window air conditioner installation sometimes comes openings created by the air conditioner parts. The casement component doesn't allow the windows to close flush to the wall as they normally would. If the windows are left this way, cold air escapes from the room, plus debris and other stuff can blow in from outside. You can use weather seal strips to plug up the openings made by the install. Don't forget the space between the windows surrounding the component and around the tops and bottoms of the windows. Weather seal strips feature a backing that can be pealed off to reveal a sticky side that can be pressed to clean parts of the window.

Function

• A portable air conditioner works similarly to a central and window unit air conditioner. It features a thermostat setting, a fan speed and a cooling mode. It even features a small, reusable filter at the back of the unit, behind the intake grille. The unit also contains an internal drain tank or pan, which must be emptied from time to time.