I tried to hide the window unit on my shop with a trellis that was 18" from the back of the unit. The heat burnt up three different vines, a Spanish Flag vine, Mexican Flame vine, and then a Blue Sky vine. There is a lot of heat coming out the back of a window unit. I finally decided I would rather have a vine covered trellis than have the AC. I put an exhaust fan in the gable at the back of the shop and just leave the doors open when I work in there. It's still very hot, but I have the vine. Jim

Hi weedmeister. Yes I did try that. The one we were able to look at from inside the apartment had the unit resting on the channel on the sill. From what I could see from looking out an adjacent window, there were some sort of brackets attached to the bottom of the unt frame which beared on the exterior metal window frame. I could not tell if the brackets were screwed into the exterior metal frame. I also don't know if these brackets came with the LG unit they had. I have a call into the fellow that re-installed it this season (his girlfriend did not know the details). I thought the recommended way was to put a spacer on the sill to bring the mounting elevation above the obstruction. Problem is I don't want to mess with the marble sill to attach the spacer. There was no answer at the other apartment we tried.

To more directly answer the question, yes most window units are designed to collect condensate water and use it to help cool the condensor. The rear fan typically has what's called a "slinger ring" around its circumference, which serves to pick up the water and throw it against the condensor (rear) coil. There's typically a hose or two or a drain channel molded into the bottom of the unit, leading from a collection pan beneath the evaporator (inside) coil to a pan beneath the condensor coil. In cases of very high humidity, the condensor pan can overflow, resulting in water in the bottom of the unit, which will likely find its way out through any slots or holes in the bottom, around screws, from side vents, etc. If one is handy and up to the task, a small hole can be drilled into the bottom (CAREFULLY, in a strategic location AWAY from the compressor and condensor coil -- one does NOT want to put a hole in them!*), and a catch-pan attached beneath the unit with a hose to divert the flow away to a specific area, away from sidewalks, flower beds, etc. My grandfather did this with a unit that extended over their back porch, so the water would drain out to the yard instead of across the porch. (*One of my uncles attempted to drill a drain hole in a window unit many years ago, and put a hole in the compressor. I don't recall now if they had the compressor replaced, or trashed the entire unit for a new one.)

Well, if you want to do a lot of studing you might discover some things that are not right. An exceptional tech can usually find ways to improve the AC system's performance including ways to reduce the radiant & other heat gain. Considering the kind of heat you have (Temps & large City?) & perhaps air infiltration of fair amounts of humidity, etc., 76-F at 60% Relative Humidity might be okay. Get a humidity gauge & follow the temperature taking directions in my pages & get back to us with that data. udarrell Here is a link that might be useful: udarrell.com