About Portable Air Conditioner Installation

Portable air conditioning units are often referred to as window AC units. These types of units are commonly used in homes that are not equipped with central air. You can add a portable air conditioner to any window in your home to quickly cool down the surrounding areas.

Location

Determine a good location to install a portable air conditioner unit; this is the key to it efficiently cooling off the home. You want to place the air conditioner into a window that has outside access and is located in a central part of the home so that it can easily cool the room where it is installed as well as surrounding rooms.  This will depend on the BTU (British thermal unit) of the portable air conditioner you are installing.

Electrical Access

Make sure that the window where you choose to install the portable air conditioner is close enough to an electrical outlet that has a 3-prong plug, as most units require one. If the electrical outlet that you wish to use does not have a 3-prong outlet, you can purchase an adapter that will convert the outlet to 3-prong so that you can plug in the power cord of the portable air conditioning unit.  

Air Tight

It is important that the area around the air conditioner is airtight so that the cool air that is produced is not allowed to escape from surrounding openings. Most air conditioners have an accordion style sliding panel that closes off the area of the window where the outside would be exposed. If the portable air conditioner you are using does not have these sliding panels, you should cut down a piece of cardboard or other material to insert into these areas to make the area airtight.