Ordering a window seal panel for an air-conditioning vent.

[David001]

Every year for a few weeks the bedroom in the timber-framed part of our house is too hot to sleep in.
We have a small portable Pifco air-conditioning unit with a flexible (but somewhat unbending) vent which is about one a half metres long.  So we ought to use this AC more effectively.

 

So, when it's hot, I'm sold on the following method of air-conditioning:

1. opening the window (our windows are outward-moving casements),
2. attaching a solid panel to the inside of the window-frame (by way of window-clips),
3. inserting one end of the "flexible" hose through a circular hole in the panel,
4. switching on the air-conditioner.

 

There are a few challenges:

 

There will be considerable drag from the weight and pull of the ventilation hose.  This drag will pull on the panel.  The panel will be kept in place against the window frame by two window-clips along each edge of the panel (the panel will be 82cms high and 44cms wide), but the clips are small things which ought to suffer from as little backward pulling as possible, otherwise they eventually come out of the uPVC frames

. 

Also, if the panel is cut from a sheet of clear acrylic (to let in light during the day), the panel could bend a bit in the area where the vent is dragging on it.  It seems that some people use a 4mm acrylic sheet to make such panels, but I'm inclined to pay more and order a 10mm-thick sheet.

 

An alternative would be to order a sheet of plywood and paint it.  It wouldn't let light in during the day, but given that the panel would only be in position for a few weeks in summer, that wouldn't be a problem.

 

However, the length of the shaft of available window-clips has to be considered.  I've found some on Amazon which would hold a panel which is 10mm thick firmly in place.  What is the thickness of the thinnest plywood?

 

Any advice on any of this?

 

[Nickfromwales]

It would be a serious compromise to security, plus it’s going to kill your window beads from taking in/out seasonally. 
 

I’d core drill a hole down low, to match exactly where the outlet exists the AC unit, and just blank the hole off when not in use. Simple blanks with EPS plugs to insulate through winter and be draught-proof would be simple to make, and no unsightly hose or flimsy plastic panel to contend with.

[David001]

@Nickfromwales, thanks, as ever.

Our window is on the first floor and miles from humanity, so there will be no security risk, but thanks for the thought.

The room's exterior is timber-framed, insulation panels, with horizontal boarding, so a bit messy to create a hole beneath the window.

Other thoughts?

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, David001 said:

@Nickfromwales, thanks, as ever.

Our window is on the first floor.

 

Other thoughts?

Yes, won’t it be quite dangerous to be swapping out a glazed unit if you’re above the ground floor?

 

2 hours ago, David001 said:

The room's exterior is timber-framed, insulation panels, with horizontal boarding, so a bit messy to create a hole beneath the window.

I’d still say this is your best bet tbh. Saves the risks of juggling the glazed unit and (eventually) buggering up the seals / beads.