On Mar 2, 10:14 pm, ART Vanderlay itscritter[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote:
I'm looking to make the best of a bad situation and was hoping to hear advice from creative experts.

Here is the situation.

I live in a two room apartment on the fifth floor of a twelve story 1905 brick building.

My front room has two large five foot high windows that slide open horizontally.

They open out onto what is essentially a cauldron-like chimney tube about 20 x 20 wide.

Who knows? Perhaps in the old days they burned logs down below and it helped heat the apartments?

Anyway, it's intolerable in the summer here and even though there is a forty pound air conditioner in each room that vents out, they really only bring the temperature down from about 98 degrees to maybe 94 degree-and at a significant cost.

Are there other ways to cool the apartment?

Since I notice in the winter that I can feel cold air coming in from around the window area, that there is significant airflow even with the windows shut.

Should I try to line the windows with tin foil? Would that help?

Perhaps I should station a de-humidifier somewhere in the unit as well?

Thanks,

There are other ways, but if you don't own the apartment, they
probably don't make sense. Also, part of the problem is probably the
lack of insulation in your place. Also, 40 lbs as a "rating' for an
air conditioner doesn't make much sense. How many Btu's are they?

Finally, you haven't said how big your apartment is. If it is a 2,000
sf 2 Br, you probably are expecting too much out of your window
units. If it is 500 sf, it is a different story.

Where does one buy "tin foil" these days, and why wouldn't you get a
"window film" kit instead, so you can see through it?

JK