In the 1990s I had a window air conditioner in a room that bore the brunt of serious summer storms. This was a closed-in porch that was built poorly in the 1950s. We had serious water come in through the window with the air conditioner- soaking and rotting the drywall and insulation at least 4 times over a period of years. imagine water puddling on the window sill and streaming into my house. At one point ice formed underneath the siding.
I had the entire back of my townhouse rebuilt and 9 new windows installed. However all contractors refused to build eaves/overhang onto the house, so I still can get rain pretty hard against the glass.
Call me irrational, my wife sure does, but I have such a fear of water coming in again that I never put the air conditioner back in and keep the windows closed at night and whenever I'm out of the house. Result: no more water problems.
Now, It's clear I need to get a window unit back in there.
I want something with absolutely the smallest opening we can get and preferably something I can pull out of the window in case of severe weather. The old unit struggled at 5000 btus.
I like the idea of the portable AC unit. I know traditional AC people cringe. I saw brands like Royal Sovereign and WindChaser in the $300 range. Anyone know about reliability with these brands?
Are there other options for someone looking for the smallest possible chance for water to get in the house? I don't want to focus on one solution if others exist.
thanks,
Don