Air Conditioner Intake/Exhaust Passthrough for Glass Block Windows

Note: This model is an adapter for a specific air conditioner and ventilation hose. There's no guarantee that it will work with your unit- but if you're handy, feel free to use this design as a jumping off point and modify it to suit your needs.

Portable air conditioners, floor model air cons, uprights, I've heard them called a few things over the years. They are all referring to the same thing: an air conditioner meant to be “portable” in the sense that it sits on the floor, has ductwork to exhaust hot air outside and bring in cooler air, and a mount for the ductwork to be placed in the opening of a double-hung window.

So… portable? Need to cool a different room? Remove the ductwork from the window, roll the unit to another room with a window, replace the ductwork. Presto!

The problem is, the design is only really meant for double-hung windows, at least in the case of our air conditioner. In the heat of summer, we found ourselves retreating to a basement, and we thought it might be nice to condition and dehumidify the air down there.

Pro: The air conditioner, while heavy, IS technically portable, and I'm (mostly) coordinated enough to carry it down a flight of stairs without concussing myself.

Con: We still needed to get the ductwork mounted somehow, and in this case, we only had glass block basement windows. 

Fortunately, several of the glass block windows have two block wide “vent” windows that hinge open. After some careful measuring I created a passthrough adapter that accepts the mounting brackets from the original duct hoses, but fits into the smaller profile of the vent opening, once the vent window itself is removed.

As a bonus, I designed the adapters to actively deflect the exhaust and intake away from each other, a mild improvement on the original mounting mechanism.

I printed each half of the full passthrough adapter in PETG, oriented with the large hole aligned with the plate (almost like you're printing a drawer with a hole in the bottom). Each half is designed to fit on a Prusa Mini / Bambu A1 Mini sized printer.

PLA might work okay, as long as it doesn't get too hot. I recommend a brim to hedge against warping/lifting if using PETG. Target .2mm to .3mm layer height, 5% infill, and at least two to three wall perimeters for strength.

The beveled edges on each half (the intake and exhaust) are so that the two halves can be plastic welded together back-to-back. (A cheap 3d print pen is GREAT for this purpose.) Glue, epoxy, or careful use of mechanical fasteners would work as well.