Just recently A friend of mine told me that he had a window air conditioner sitting in the garage but he didn’t have a window that it would fit in.
Him and his wife decided that they would just bring it in the house and sit it on the table. Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well for them. Let me explain why.
Table of Contents
Can a window air conditioner be used inside?
Exhaust
A window AC is not meant to be used inside of a house.
Just placing a window air conditioner on a table and turning it on will not give you the intended result of cooling off your room.
The reason you can’t use a Window AC inside is that window air conditioners exhaust heat from the rear of the unit.
If you have ever walked behind a window air conditioner while it is running, you probably noticed that the air was hot directly behind it.
It is the same thing if you have walked by a large compressor sitting next to somebody’s house while it is operating.
The air coming off of the compressor is hot.
Just sitting a window AC on top of a table and turning it on will cool the air from the front and heat the air from the back which will essentially cancel out each other.
The entire reason a window air conditioner is meant to sit into a window is the fact that it needs a place to exhaust the heat.
Condensation
Another reason why you can’t simply place a window air conditioner inside besides the heat exhausting from the rear is the condensation that drips out oh the bottom of the unit.
Window air conditioners pull the hot air out of your room and drag it across refrigerated coils that condense the air and remove the humidity.
The humidity exits the air conditioner as liquid out of a drainage hole on the bottom of the air conditioner.
If you run a window air conditioner inside of a room, it will exhaust heat out of the back and drip water onto your table or surface that you put it.
Portable Air Conditioner
A portable air conditioner runs on the same type of technology but it has the added advantage of being able to move around the room a little more freely then a window air conditioner.
But even a portable refrigerated air conditioners have to have a hose running to a window to exhaust the heat out of the room.
Evaporative Air Coolers
The only type of air coolers that do not require any type of way to exhaust the heat coming over the air conditioner is evaporative air coolers.
Evaporative air coolers use water to cool off a room. Very much like the way the wind blowing over a body of water like a pool or lake cools the air.
But even though they do not require a way to exhaust the heat, they are maintenance heavy machines because they require water to be refilled frequently.
They also must be cleaned frequently to avoid mold and bacteria that can easily grow inside of them if the water is allowed to be standing for too long.
Summary
Can a window air conditioner be used inside?
A window air conditioner will not cool a room by bringing it inside and sitting it on a table or other surface.
It is because a window AC exhaust heat out of the rear and cold air from the vents.
Without a way to exhaust the heat through a window, the heat will cancel out the cool air.
Window air conditioners also dehumidify as they run. Which means that they pull the water out of the air as a means of cooling the air.
When the humidity is pulled out, it becomes liquid that needs a place to drain to.
Which in normal situations is outside because the window AC is sitting in a window.
But bringing a window air conditioner inside means the condensation will be dripping inside of the house or room.
