Covering your window air conditioner is vital to keeping your house warmer in the winter time. The unit can let in cold air not necessarily directly, but as the outside gets cold the interior of the air conditioner gets cold and then that spot of your house can also become cooler. This will waste your heating energy and heating bills will go up.
If you don’t have the money to buy an air conditioning cover you can fashion your own. A cover is a simple tool that you only have to deal with once every six months depending upon how long your winter weather lasts. Try some of these suggestions for making an effective air conditioning cover on your own.
First, unplug your unit. Secondly, and this may sound crazy, but thoroughly clean your unit before covering it. That way if there are any bugs or water in your air conditioner you can take care of that before it becomes a problem.
Layers
The key to your air conditioning in the winter is to cover it in layers so as to prevent cold air from coming in and warm air from escaping. You will also want to make sure that the edges are sealed so there are no gaps or leaks.
Using a simple plastic trash bag fastened to the edges of your window can be an effective homemade cover. The trick is that you will need to use a few layers worth of plastic bags and not just one. Put one plastic bag over the unit and tape it down with electrical tape along the edges of the unit. I say electrical tape because it will come off easier once you remove the cover in the spring.
Then take another bag and overlap it a few inches over the tape edge on the previous back and tape it around the edges. Finally take your third bag and do the same only tape around the window sill or plastic housing that keeps the air conditioner in the window. Now you have three layers of protection. Feel free to do this same procedure outside for an added layer of protection.
Insulated Inside
If you can afford to get some ventilation duct wrap it will make a great cover for the inside of your air conditioner. A roll of the stuff, called Reflectix by its name brand, costs around $16 at Home Depot. You can cut it to any size you need and tape it together for insulation around your air conditioner. This type of insulation is for interior use only. Cut and tape it to the edge of your unit and one layer is all you should need.
Along the outside of your unit you can cover it with a thick plastic bag. As long as the inside is insulated you won’t need as thick of a layering system on the outside of your window air conditioner.
