![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So, in the time before our heat pumps, we had a window air conditioner. (Still have, actually, just not in use.) Except our windows open the wrong way except a very few in the wrong place: sideways instead of up and down.
This can be solved with Engineering! Note: you may have to make special provisions if you have People Within The House Who Must Not Exit, such as Alex's late Escape Calico, who examined the cracks and crevices around the AC with great interest because she could smell the outside air and she longed for the Wild Places. We used a web of string on the outside in addition to friction; I could also see using a strong elastic cord around a handle anchored somewhere.
Materials:
Air moving device
Foam insulation sheet
Padding (I used the stuff you use to fill stuffed animals & spare fabric scraps)
Cover for padding (I used rags)
Securement for padding cover (I used duct tape but gaffer tape is probably better)
(Optional) Aesthetics cover (especially if you have someone monitoring the outside of your home, such as a rental office or HOA) -- a thrift store fitted sheet in the color of the outside of your blinds, maybe
Something to make sure it stays in and your bowling ball of a cat won't body-slam it out
Step 1. Insert your air-moving device into the window or whatever.
Step 2. Measure the empty space. You are going to be filling this empty space.
Step 3. Obtain a sheet of insulating foam that can be cut down to fit this empty space, with just a little wiggle room so it's just smaller.
Step 4. Around the outside edges of the foam, start attaching padding until it can be squished into place but it doesn't overflow the space
Step 5. Attach the cover for your padding.
(5b. Attach the aesthetics cover, with the nice side pointed out and the side you've pinned or tied into the right shape on the inside.)
Step 6. Set your space filler into the space.
(6b. Adjust if needed.)
Step 7. Do whatever you're going to do to secure it in place.
Step 8. If you have a fan shroud or some other thing to block any gaps in the air-moving device itself, attach those.
This can be solved with Engineering! Note: you may have to make special provisions if you have People Within The House Who Must Not Exit, such as Alex's late Escape Calico, who examined the cracks and crevices around the AC with great interest because she could smell the outside air and she longed for the Wild Places. We used a web of string on the outside in addition to friction; I could also see using a strong elastic cord around a handle anchored somewhere.
Materials:
Air moving device
Foam insulation sheet
Padding (I used the stuff you use to fill stuffed animals & spare fabric scraps)
Cover for padding (I used rags)
Securement for padding cover (I used duct tape but gaffer tape is probably better)
(Optional) Aesthetics cover (especially if you have someone monitoring the outside of your home, such as a rental office or HOA) -- a thrift store fitted sheet in the color of the outside of your blinds, maybe
Something to make sure it stays in and your bowling ball of a cat won't body-slam it out
Step 1. Insert your air-moving device into the window or whatever.
Step 2. Measure the empty space. You are going to be filling this empty space.
Step 3. Obtain a sheet of insulating foam that can be cut down to fit this empty space, with just a little wiggle room so it's just smaller.
Step 4. Around the outside edges of the foam, start attaching padding until it can be squished into place but it doesn't overflow the space
Step 5. Attach the cover for your padding.
(5b. Attach the aesthetics cover, with the nice side pointed out and the side you've pinned or tied into the right shape on the inside.)
Step 6. Set your space filler into the space.
(6b. Adjust if needed.)
Step 7. Do whatever you're going to do to secure it in place.
Step 8. If you have a fan shroud or some other thing to block any gaps in the air-moving device itself, attach those.
