drilling into vinyl window frame for air conditioner

What I do is cut two 1 inch dowels or whatever small wood you have and fit it to the top of the window between the frame and the top of the window that is holding the AC. The vinyl window frame has a channel that the window slides up and down in. I don't know why the holes were drilled. This keeps the windows from being opened and prevents the AC from falling out.I have similar AC units and have had no problems with them. I also screwed L brackets on the top of the window and the frame for extra security.Window units that are not secured with metal brackets and often iron bars are regularly burglarized from homes and businesses in our town.William is correct. I was given two brand new air conditioning units for my windows.

It will be very hard for someone to pull the unit out that way :) If you drill into the vinyl frames water will seep in and eventually rot out your wood window frames. There was nothing included with the air conditioner and no instructions on how to avoid fastening the air conditioner to the vinyl. Get shopping advice from experts, friends and the community!

Spring-loaded buttons let you adjust and install the Top Shelf without tools.And that’s really it (though for added security you can put a small screw through the hole in each tab and into the window frame, to eliminate any chance of accidentally unhooking them). He lives in a house in LA with his wife, three boys, a dog, and a lot of Wirecutter recommendations.After 125 hours of research and over 75 hours of testing, we like the You should usually get a window AC unit, but portables are improving; sometimes they’re better in spite of higher cost and weaker performance.An air conditioner is the obvious best fix for a hot bedroom. And third, there is no way this air conditioner is going anywhere, unless the entire window frame decides to exit my house. Wirecutter is reader-supported. If you feel anxious imagining this scene, you may appreciate an AC bracket.We began our search by shopping online and looking through the fairly limited options for window air conditioner brackets sold by Amazon, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. (The company’s own If you don’t want to spend much on a bracket and feel comfortable installing some hardware, the Frost King ACB80H is the best of the brackets that require drilling.If you don’t mind drilling into your windowsill and also having to leave the bracket up during the off-season, you can save some money by getting the Putting in the Frost King is a far cry from the intuitive, no-tools-required installation of the The Frost King’s instructions were more straightforward and easy to follow than those of the competitors. I wouldn't try that with a larger window air conditioner as the weight could cause the broom handle to punch a hole in the window frame and it could also be a safety issue if the AC unit happened to fall out and land on someone. (Our To assemble and install the Top Shelf bracket, you slide two legs and two “wings” into the H-shaped frame the AC will eventually sit on. Support arms, mounting hardware, and a few fasteners: The Frost King is straightforward, but does require tools for installation. He previously worked at This Old House and Popular Mechanics magazines; before that, he restored historic houses and mowed lawns for a living. The Jeacent’s block and spacers are made of a hard, rigid plastic, and seemed more likely to crack after some weathering than the slightly rubbery material of the Frost King. You then drop it into your window frame, in the slot the window nestles in when closed. When installing a window air conditioner, many people simply open the window, slide the air conditioner into it, and close the window as far as it will go. I put them in when it starts to get hot here and take them out in the fall.