# Freestanding air conditioners? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672 "2002-06-12T17:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/21 "2002-06-13T01:37:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*His point was misleading, irrelevant and poorly worded but not “patently false”. \*\* My background is in public relations, so you’re probably right on all accounts.😉 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/22 "2002-06-13T01:38:38Z")
Now now kids we all know what he ment to say so get off you high horse. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/23 "2002-06-13T01:46:35Z")
So there. neener [sup]_neener_[/SUP] **NEENER** ---
**Author:** ![Dieter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dieter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dieter)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/24 "2002-06-13T05:49:06Z")
[http://www.worldairconditioners.com/displaycat.asp?cat1=Finished+Goods&cat=Portable+Unit](http://www.worldairconditioners.com/displaycat.asp?cat1=Finished+Goods&cat=Portable+Unit) That site has a list of freestanding conditioners. They all have a venting hose. I would suspect they also have a window insert of some sort for the hose. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/25 "2002-06-13T06:49:07Z")
I’m actually looking at buying one of these. My house is electrically heated, hence no ducts to install central air. Also, all the windows open sideways, pretty much ruling out a window unit. With the portable unit ( yes, they all have exhaust hoses) I can just buy a small sheet of plexiglass to cover the open part of the window above the hose. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/26 "2002-06-13T11:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > actually looking at buying one of these. My house is electrically heated, hence no ducts to install central air. Also, all the windows open sideways, pretty much ruling out a window unit. A while back I saw one of the ‘this old house’ programs with the same problem. They installed a form of central air where you have an outside compressor/heat exchanger and run freon lines to the rooms in the house where the other heat exchanger is (along with a fan). This way you just have to run small copper tubes instead of air vents. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/27 "2002-06-13T12:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Hup the Fool_ > Also, all the windows open sideways, pretty much ruling out a window unit. Several companies produce air conditioners designed to be mounted vertically. [Here’s one example](http://www.fedders.com/catalog/appliances/roomac/fed_v.htm). > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by k2dave \* > \*\*A while back I saw one of the ‘this old house’ programs with the same problem. They installed a form of central air where you have an outside compressor/heat exchanger and run freon lines to the rooms in the house where the other heat exchanger is (along with a fan). This way you just have to run small copper tubes instead of air vents. \*\* It’s called a “split system”. Expensive, but worthwhile if you have no alternative. Incidentally, the outside portion (the hot side) is called a condenser, and the inside piece (the cold side) is the evaporator. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/28 "2002-06-13T13:01:35Z")
The free-standing units (with only the hose exhaust showing in the window) were pretty popular at NYC housing projects and older apartment complexes in years past - the reason was the apartment wiring generally wasn’t designed for A/C current loads, so the Housing Dept (or the complex management) banned (all) Air Conditioners. However, it still got hot during the NY summer, and people wanted to be cool in their apartment, and since a common window unit would be way too visible to the inspectors… They finally got around to re-wiring my friend’s apartment (in the Parkchester complex in the Bronx) last year, so he finally could get an air-conditioner - alas, he gets a choice of one type of unit only. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/29 "2002-06-13T17:23:04Z")
> [@](#): > > My house is electrically heated, hence no ducts to install central air. Also, all the windows open sideways, pretty much ruling out a window unit. When I lived in California, one of the houses in my neighborhood had a window air conditioner mounted in a hole in the exterior which was cut just for the AC. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/30 "2002-06-14T07:41:01Z")
**K2dave, Running with Scissors,** I looked at the split system set up, way too expensive for the few days a year I need to use it. The estimate was about $3,500. \*\*Running with Scissors, \*\* Thanks for the link! I found a local dealer, am checking it out tomorrow. 🙂 **ZenBeam,** Your suggestion was my original idea. My girlfriend nixed the idea because she would have to move her collection of about a million owls that take up the entire wall. :rolleyes: Thanks for all the help! ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672/31 "2002-06-14T11:45:52Z")
Also why not get an in-wall a/c? Some places will install them for nothing or as low as $50 when you buy the unit from them? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freestanding-air-conditioners/113672.md?page=1)