On Monday, we’re taking the first steps toward a project we should have completed long ago – removing a couple of wall-mounted window air conditioners from the sunroom and master bedroom.

In the Sunroom / Family Room

In the Sunroom / Family Room

In the Master Bedroom

In the Master Bedroom

(Yes, that’s Haley’s no-longer-used cradle in the corner of our bedroom.  I still haven’t figured out how she got old enough to not be using it any more and I’m so not ready to put it in storage.)

Other than being old and not so efficient, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with having window air conditioners in these two rooms – in theory – but they were there when we bought the house 5 years ago and we’ve never used them.  We aren’t even sure that they work.  Aside from being an eye sore, they also aren’t very weather tight or critter tight – they’re usually home to a nest of something or other and we’re pretty sure the one in our bedroom has let a few unwelcome bats in.  On top of that, they’re just plain loud.  It sounds strange, but it’s true.  We can hear everything that goes on outside like it’s happening in the bedroom because of the stupid air conditioner.

Having said all of that, I suppose there was a time when they made a lot of sense.  The sunroom used to be a screened in porch that was closed in sometime in the 50s.  The master bedroom is located right over the sunroom and used to be an open sleeping porch that was converted to living space around the same time.  Before the house had central air, it was probably a great feature to have air conditioning in these two rooms … but now that we have central air, there’s just not much of a need for them.  We’ve been ready to say goodbye for quite a while and just haven’t done anything about it, but that’s about to change.

So, the project starts on Monday with a visit from the electrician to remove the middle-of-the-wall outlet in the master bedroom since that would be pretty a pretty awkward location once the air conditioner is gone.

Up close and personal.

(And, yes – in case you were wondering, that is window film covering the air conditioner in the bedroom.  It’s our attempt to make the thing a little more weather tight.  It also collects dead bugs – ick.)

Our expectation is that it shouldn’t be a problem for the electrician to remove the outlet and associated wiring completely so that we can patch the wall and pretend it was never there.  If not, our second choice will be to just relocate the outlet lower in the wall so that it’s at a more normal height and won’t draw so much attention.  Either way, it’ll be an improvement.

Once the outlet is removed, the next step is taking out both air conditioners and patching the wall, inside and out.  We’ve hired this part also – largely because the second floor air conditioner is up high and that side of the house borders a pretty steep ravine so there’s really no safe way to do the work without setting up scaffolding.  Plus, it really wasn’t that expensive.  This is loosely scheduled for when the weather gets a little better, but we’re hoping for sometime in March.

It seems like such a trivial change – I mean, it’s just a couple of air conditioners – but we’re both so happy that they’re on their way out.  No more nights spent listening to birds or squirrels or whatever else is living in the air conditioner, more comfortable (less drafty) rooms, fewer bugs/bats/mice making their way in.  I am sooo ready to say goodbye!

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