Question:
I have a room in my house that contains computer and electrical
equipment that runs on a constant basis. Through the winter, there was
no problem with the temperature in this room - the heating ducts were
closed however the heat given off by the equipment was enough to keep a
comfortable temperature. Now that summer is near, I would like to put
an air conditioner in this room, however the room has no windows, and a
portable air conditioner costs approximately 3 times that of a window
mounted unit.
Is it possible to place a window mount unit on a self, using a tray
underneath to catch any condensation, without having to have the back
end sticking out a window? Getting fresh air from outside does not
matter to me unless the lack of a fresh air intake has other adverse
effects. This room tends to get very warm in the summertime and keeping
it cool is quite important.
Answer:
You are doomed by the second law of thermodynamics. An air
conditioner just pumps heat from one place to another, while
converting a bit of electrical energy to heat in the process.
If you set up a window unit in your windowless room, you will
just pump heat from the front side to the back side. Even
worse, if the AC unit pulls a thousand watts, it will be
equivalent to running a thousand watt heater in the room.
The portable units have large tubes to carry the exhaust
heat outside. You could use one of these, or if your room
has an outside wall you could cut a window-like hole
for a window air conditioner.
Another possibility that you might consider is to substantially
increase the air flow to the room. Run more ducts to the
room and put in a separate blower for them to exchange air
continuously with the rest of the house. This may be the
cheapest approach.
