My shop does not have central air and does not have operable windows. There is a steel door in the back and cinderblock walls. My landlord is against me cutting a venting hole in either the steel door or the wall…any wonderful ideas, anyone, for how I can use a portable air conditioner here…it was murder here last summer!!!
How to vent a portable air conditioner when there’s no window
hvac
Related Solutions
Any or all of your ideas will help, it largely depends on your climate and how long of a below freezing stretch you can expect. The drain outlet is supposed to be within some distance of the ground, 18" I believe, which is why it was configured that way. In areas subject to freezing, all piping carrying water should be run as far as practical inside the heated envelope, so the drop to within some distance of ground should have been done inside. If possible, rerouting the run inside, with only a very short run outside should solve the problem.
As BMitch suggests, routing the drain through trap would comply with plumbing codes and is the best solution.
Shortening the pipe could fix the problem entirely since the water may not have time to freeze. In frigid climates though, any water outside will freeze. The high outlet could damage you outside wall finish and be an annoyance to passers by.
Widening the pipe will require more build up before blockage, so if the freeze periods are not too long, this could work. In frigid climates, it will still block up eventually.
Insulating the pipe would probably be all that's needed, it has the same effect as shortening the pipe, without wall damage. Actively heating the pipe would certainly work, but is probably only needed in extreme cases. Heat tape that wraps around the pipe and is plugged in to an outlet, with a thermostat to turn off the current above freezing is a common hardware store item in cold climates.
You only have to worry about the attic if it gets below freezing in there. Attics, though ventilated with outside air, tend to stay a fair bit warmer than the outside. I would guess that unless you have good runs of outside temperatures consistently below 0F(-18C), you shouldn't have a freezing problem in your attic.
I'm not sure, but I suspect there is not an override. A blocked drain can cause significant problems if the furnace continues to run. By shutting off the heat, it is good incentive for the owner to solve the problem.
It's a waste of money to try. Especially if you're the guy who pays for the electricity.
Captain Kirk didn't beam the Freon out.
First, you'll want to fix your Freon leak. After all, air conditioners are generally sealed units, with only electrical wires entering the envelope that contains freon. However, they use a lot of aluminum, as it is a superb themal conductor, and cheap. Accumulated dust in the cooling coils and fins tends to hold water, a perfect storm for aluminum corrosion. Good chance you have a pinhole in the condenser.
Likely you have a foreign made pile of junko, so there is nothing in the unit designed to help you. Every inch of tubing in the unit is welded, and there are no spare parts to be had for the mechanical package. (Control board, yes.)
If you have an old school solid American unit, it most likely takes the long-discontinued R12 or R22 Freon, so you are paying top dollar for old stocks.
Refilling is dangerous
Contrary to what comic books say, a Freon accident will not turn you into Mr. Freeze. Cold is not like fire, you don't instantly feel the pain, you can expose yourself long enough to do damage before you realize it.
And there you are, using third party parts of dubious quality, since no manufacturer endorses even authorized repair of the Freon containing machinery - it is not economical even if they made it easy, which is why they don't.
Who pays the electricity bill?
If it's you, you're paying again to run an old inefficient unit. Ten years ago I bought a solid Sears unit that did 5600 BTU and drew 5 amps. My friend just bought a private label no-brand junko unit that did 8000 BTU for 5 amps. His unit runs 1/3 less often, so he's saving about 200W or 1 KWH every 5 hours. An older unit would be even worse. This is due to Federal laws requiring ever-increasing efficiency. Do the math... Then imagine what a quality unit would do.
Even if you can get 5 more years out of your old unit, the new unit will pay for itself in electricity costs alone, to say nothing of all that other stuff.
So fixing an old unit is a false economy.
Best Answer
Do you have a budget in mind for adding the ac? You can use a water-cooled unit, but plan to spend $1500 and up. These units can be hooked up to a water supply (sink, garden hose, etc.) and drained back to a sink, outside, or wherever is available.
The heat from the air is transferred to the water - much like a geothermal ac or heat pump works. We use these a lot in restaurant food storage rooms and for portable ac's at public events.
The so-called vent-less ac units work by dripping cool water over a screen in front of a fan. The humidity becomes unbearable and people will feel very uncomfortable quickly. Avoid these systems entirely.