What is Reddit's opinion of Gulrear Portable AC Window Seal, Window Seal For AC Unit, Air Conditioner Window Kit White 400CM/158Inch Hot Air Stop Air Exchange Guards With Zipping And Adhesive Fastener?

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Buy an extra long portable AC hose from Amazon if you need it, and hire a handyman to install the kit as best as possible. No need for a contractor, and I can't think of a store that would send help for this type of thing.

You could also just let the hose hang outside the window, and the AC will probably be able to overcome the infiltration from the window. That's all the kit is for, to seal up the window from letting extra heat in from the outside or the hose itself. Alternatively you could prevent infiltration by pointing a fan at the open window with the hose hanging out of it, to keep the air moving from inside to outside. You'll want to put the AC away in a couple months anyways. It's a tricky situation.

Edit: I also found this thing. A handyman could install that for you.

There's a kit you can buy for $20 on amazon that's basically airlock sheeting with velcro on it. That's what I used for my side opening window. Plexiglass would better I guess but obviously expensive.

Something like this

Okay good idea. Any tips for insulating the windows with our portable units? We’re currently using these and I’m wondering if they are just letting in too much hot air?

https://www.amazon.com/JOYOOO-Portable-Conditioning-Air-Conditioning-Exchange/dp/B01IXWL72G/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3C7IA13NAWIHZ&keywords=ac+tube.+window+crank+out+window&qid=1660174269&sprefix=ac+tube.+window+crank+out+window%2Caps%2C125...

Product similar to this might help you. There are many in Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/JOYOOO-Portable-Conditioning-Air-Conditioning-Exchange/dp/B01IXWL72G/ref=sr_1_6?crid=11SEJ33WECO5O&keywords=portable+AC+windows+adapter&qid=1656787891&sprefix=portable+ac+windows+adapter%2Caps%2C49&sr=8-6

This?

Gulrear Portable AC Window Seal, Window Seal For AC Unit, Air Conditioner Window Kit White 400CM/158Inch Hot Air Stop Air Exchange Guards With Zipping And Adhesive Fastener https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IXWL72G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HZMYGQF0ZS9FZBPX57EJ

For the AC, if I'm seeing this correctly, the hose goes out through an open window. This usually works poorly because the hot air that comes out the hose gets sucked straight back in by the negative pressure that these mobile units create. Solution: Use a windows kit: Amazon.com: Gulrear Portable AC Window Seal, Window Seal For AC Unit, Air Conditioner Window Kit White 400CM/158Inch Hot Air Stop Air Exchange Guards With Zipping And Adhesive Fastener: Home & Kitchen

For the fan: Two choices. If your window remains open, you might as well go all the way, open the window, place the fan by the window and use the fan as an intake fan for cool air from the outside.

Otherwise, (if you use the window kit) it would be best to place the fan right in front of the graphics cards. This way, you could cool at least one of the rigs very effectively as this looks to be a 100W fan.

When I was working at university in a non-technical environment with some serious servers (good-guy-boss :) ), we had the janitors to install holes in the windows to fit the air outtakes of a portable AC.

If cutting circles into glass is not an option (which I assume), why not at least try some window seals like this (no recommendation for this product, just my first hit)

They make fabric kits with adhesive. I got one of these

Gulrear Portable AC Window Seal,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IXWL72G?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Maybe try this

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TURBRO-118-in-300-cm-Universal-Window-Seal-for-Mobile-and-Portable-AC-Units-for-Tilting-and-Casement-Windows-707-90-001/318503561

Or this

https://www.amazon.com/JOYOOO-Portable-Conditioning-Air-Conditioning-Exchange/dp/B01IXWL72G/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=3L7USCIUZFSM8&keywords=portable+ac+casement+window+kit&qid=1655936487&sprefix=portable+ac+case%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-5

Can't vouch for if they work well. Good luck

They actually sell a kit for this online. It’s a weird tent like material. This is a USAmazon link but I feel like It would be easy to find. Amazon link

There are better solutions for windows that open at an angle! Venting into your existing return will end poorly.

>There are plenty of companies that install ACs. But again, since they aren't really necessary in germany you won't find them in "grocery stores".

I wasn't talking about an AC here at all, I was talking about decent fans. You don't need an AC to get your house to the outdoor temperature, and it's a terribly inefficient way to do that. You shouldn't need to hire a company to install fans for you, but given the mess German fans are I can see why someone would need to.

This is usually the first choice to keep houses cool without using an AC - use fans to force cool outside air through the house. When it's cool outside this will cool your house much fast than an air conditioner would, while using much less energy. If you do this right you can cool your house down to the night time low every day, then close everything up shutting the cool air in during the day. This can also be really useful on higher floors where a room stays hotter than outside most of the time. Since moving air takes much less energy than cooling it, you can cool your house or apartment much faster this way than you could with an AC using much less power.

In most German weather this works well because it cools off at night, and as you said, German houses are well insulated. The problem with this is that the house warms up all day and gets nice and stuffy as the day goes on. The house warming up through the day would be an issue even with perfect insulation because people produce heat, and so do our computers, refrigerators, lights, televisions, etc. If you avoid cooking indoors, use cool/cold water to shower or only shower before you need to close the house, keep your keep your curtains and blinds drawn this can work well in most German weather.

However, fans that are designed to pull/push outside air into your house, not just blow hot air around, is hard here too. Finding a proper window fan here is even harder than finding an AC, I don't think I've seen one yet. Box fans, the cheapest, most common type that can easily be set up in a window and would work great with German windows, but don't seem to exist here at all. Last year I ended up placing my fan on my balcony to blow cool air in at night, because placing it as close as possible to the window wasn't close enough for the full cooling effect.

If you are doing what described above, fully cooling the house at night and keeping it closed while avoiding doing much that generates heat during the day and you're still miserably hot indoors, the only solution left is an air conditioning.

>German houses are way, WAY better insulated than US houses, so I don't really see the point you are trying to make?

They way the widely available ACs are designed in German you have to leave the window open and most people seal it with a thin sheet of waterproof cloth, something like this. As you can imagine it's horribly inefficient especially with a single hose AC that creates a sucking effect. It's not hard to DIY something much better, but there really should be much better commercial solutions to this problem. Even something that looked similar but was better sealed and insulated would make a huge difference. I might have to sew something like that for myself at some point, but there should be easier better solutions off the shelf.

500 people died in Berlin during the 2019 heatwave, and those deaths could have been prevented with wider use of air conditioning. So, yes, even here it is a life saving technology.

Fucking weird ones - no, there is no way to retrofit a window-mounted one on these. I'll have to use something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/JOYOOO-AirLock-Window-Mobile-Air-Conditioning/dp/B01IXWL72G/