You might show the full front of the house? Removing an ac is no different than removing a window. Yes it must be done correctly, insulation restored, and ALL.

If it means replacing siding, you do that, or you paint.

But again.......show the entirety. All angles

Talk to contractors about what it will take. You don't want the painter's handyman to do the work.

Does the space upstairs need that AC for comfort or is it an old and non-functioning unit?

It is still functioning- but I felt I’d rather have one coming out of the window a few months of than year instead of year round

This is more of the front of the house

I would remove it and do whatever it takes to get it all repaired. I agree, it isnt all that nice to look at. I would much prefer to use a window one, for the few months you need one, if its even necessary. It should have been put in a wall on the side, rather than where it is.

I think I would definitely have that closed up. If you use a portable united instead of a wall unit, you'll only have a small opening in the window for the tube to bring in air instead of an ugly unit hanging out of the window that you need to pull out every year.

Portables are less efficient, and the bring all the bulk and the noise inside. Use some nice landscaping to keep the eye down at the first level, away from the window unit. And then, if your window dimensions allow, use a GE Clearview unit. Efficient cooling, motor noise is outside your house, and you lose only a tiny amount of the light and view out of the window.

The full front view from the street...........remains a mystery.

When you post the FULL context, the way your home is seen at some distance, just as most homes are? You will receive ideas to LOWER the focus, rendering the problem to less a problem. Go stand back, please?

We have to make a lot of changes but this is the full front of the house, this is the only picture I have without holiday decorations on it

More photos

With the new pictures you just posted, where you can see the whole house from the road, it appears, the ac unit is the very least of your worries. The house itself looks nice, but, the landscaping needs some serious attention. It takes away from everything else right now. It would be worth the money to talk to a landscape design company, and even if you cant afford to have everything done now, you would have a plan, to do it yourself, little by little.

Yes, this is something we are addressing this spring, the a\c is one thing I don’t know what to do with

If you remove it and patch the siding, what will you do for A/C? Would you consider/have the budget for central A/C? If not can you move the unit to the side of the house? What room is it cooling?

Unfortunately, we do have a very small budget so central air isn't an option for us right now. This A/C is for our bedroom. We only need It a few months out of the year so I am comfortable with having a window unit for the summer.
With all of the other projects we have planned this a/c is the last thing I couldn't find a solution for.
I wasn't able to find a lot about removing it online, considering the responses I've seen so far, removing it should be done by a professional, so this is something I plan to look into next year. But in the meantime what I was looking for were just some ideas to help either draw attention elsewhere, or disguise it in some way.

Is there a reason your home doesn't have central air?

Thank you @3onthetree I'm new here and felt some of the responses were a little out there- I do not know how to delete the thread but I appreciate everyone trying to help

If you just want to disguise it when it's not in use, you can buy a cover for it until you have the funds to totally remove it and replace it with a window unit. There are soft and hard covers, just google "cover for air conditioner on exterior wall" and you'll see lots of possibilities.

I'm sure that the home doesn't have central air, Beverly, since it's probably not in the south. Most older homes up north do not have central air, just as many in the warmer climes don't have central heat.

The only time I have lived in places with central air was when I lived in Los Angeles for several years or when I’ve stayed in hotels. Having grown up in, and having spent the majority of my life in NYC (and 12 years in NJ on the Palisades, right outside of NYC) none of the places where I've lived have had central air. Btw, I’m still alive.

When I see people on here freaking out about AC window units and such, I really feel like I’m in the twilight zone.

I didnt have central heat and air, either all the while growing up and even when all my kids were growing up. The last few years, we lived up north, we did put AC units in the wall similar to the one the op has, but, ours were on the sides of the house. There was never central air in the main areas of the house. They just were not needed, but, upper floors, get much warmer than lower ones. Where I live now, they are a necessity, not a luxury item .

When staying at the family lake house, not having central AC made sense as the house was old, it had plenty of windows and a site blessed with breezes.

In my own home my central AC died, and I lived without it for many months not realizing how the irregular levels of humidity aged and damaged everything in the house.

I've lived my whole life in Minnesota and North Dakota, and central air is very common here. We have humid summers, and can top 100°F. Most homes that have forced air heat have central air, since the same blower and ductwork serve the AC and the furnace. Homes with steam, hot water, or electric baseboard heat have window AC.

Katinparadise, my Mom had a portable AC until when she lived in a nursing home (her wing of the building did not have AC, and her COPD made it a necessity). It was loud, and there was a drain out the window, which would be rather unsightly coming off a 2nd floor window.

As Diana commented above, if you just want to disguise it, there are soft covers that you can use over it (when it's not in use) or there are "hard covers" (some which can be left on year round).

Here is an AI rendering of what a metal cover would look like on an apartment/condo building with outdoor AC wall units:

Here is an actual cover used on a commercial building:

The photo is a little blurry - I took a screenshot from seller's video (seller is on Etsy).

Here is link below:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4335046122/decorative-metal-ac-cover-privacy-screen?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=wall+ac+cover+outdoor&ref=sr_gallery-1-10&sr_prefetch=0&pf_from=market&pro=1&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=1ef290a2-614a-4601-b87b-27dcb68e75c9%253ALTe641055f9e932fb21a1260b635f23feab9b23328&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=1ef290a2-614a-4601-b87b-27dcb68e75c9%3ALTe641055f9e932fb21a1260b635f23feab9b23328

I am sure that there are many other ones. I did see some plans that were for sale on Etsy. I assume that they are for use with a CNC that cuts metal. I know that there are places where you can bring in a CNC file and they will make it for you (costs less than buying a finished unit that is then shipped). There are also community workshops in many cities where you could have access to a CNC machine in order to have it made (if you are handy - typically, there are instructors there who will assist people on how to learn to use various tools/machines).

Thank young

Good point @annekh. Condensation dripping out onto the roof probably wouldn't be the best idea. I had no idea the GE Clearview existed as I haven't had a window air conditioner since 2013! Seems a better option for the OP.

It gets very hot and humid during summer months in NYC, NJ, etc. At times, extremely so. But people here deal with it. I grew up in NYC in a house that was built in 1910. No central air. We didn’t even use window AC. We had fans and we had a swimming pool. We were fine and the house was fine. I currently live in a townhouse in NYC that was built in 1940. No central air. I use window AC units. And everywhere that I have lived in NYC (and NJ) has heen in older buildings that did not have central air. There were never any conversations with people that I know/ have known here regarding AC window units being some kind of a tragedy- or any other AC installed on a building being an issue, for that matter.

Thank God for AC window units. And thank God many folks here have other things to think about.

In the early 70s I lived in a newly built townhouse in ND. No AC. A very portable window AC saved us from the heat and humidity! We actually moved it to the upper floor at night! I don't recall any issues, but I probably wasn't outside looking at dripping water at night. 🤪

In Iowa, older homes only have central AC if they've been converted. When we bought a home built in the late 50s, it had central air; however, I don't know that it would have, originally. I had to check....

Very few people I know have central air where we live so this is an interesting thread

I just found out that a law was recently passed in NYC, which will require landlords to supply and install AC window units- if requested.

https://www.planetizen.com/news/2026/01/136797-new-nyc-law-requires-landlords-provide-ac-units-not-public-housing

I would say the time to address it is when it fails!

Good point!!

There's a massive hole in that new NYC law; A/C units are not required for public housing. And, having endured NYC summers my whole life, I can attest that they are needed, and this is just one more reason NYCHA is overdue for massive reform Maybe a body can do without central A/C here, but no A/C at all is a genuine hardship, more so each successive year as climate change gets worse.

I'm old enough to remember seeing folks sleeping on fire escapes in the summer. Not safe, of course, but neither is lack of sleep due to living inside an oven. It's romantic through the rosy light of nostalgia. It wasn't so great for the folks who had to do it.

I agree, Amy. I had the same thoughts. I heard about it yesterday and then researched it, and when I saw the fine print- I was like ??

It keeps going through my head.

If you read the NYT, there are some recent articles (within the last week or so) on public housing that might interest you. I don't want to highjack this thread with this tangent any further, as it doesn't help C L.

For what little it's worth, C L, I don't think your A/C is as much of an eyesore as you do, though it does seem unusual to me. You've already gotten much better advice from others than I could provide. I see no need to delete this thread, BTW. Those of us who've been following it can just stop following it as and when we like.

I agree, C L. It really doesn’t look bad and the main thing is: if it keeps your place cool- that is what matters! The heat will be making an appearance in the not too distant future.

If your goal is more curb appeal, I think enhancing your lawn and adding a bit of visual interest with some plantings and or pots could go a long way.

For example: In this visual that I created, the AC on the front of the house is more obtrusive; yours is more low profile in comparison. But putting some pots to flank the bay window- and having a lush lawn, etc.- brings the eye down- and enhances the curb appeal, in general.

Thank you ! We will definitely be doing more for the lawn now that it’s spring. This photo was right after all the snow melted

You’re welcome. :)

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs without central AC. My parents installed a whole house fan in the attic. At night, we closed the windows downstairs, opened the upstairs windows, and turned on the fan. Worked quite well. Lots of whole house fans in New Orleans, not to replace central AC, but to pull the hot air out of the attic. They are quite inexpensive and not terribly intrusive looking. I really miss having one (I'm in Biloxi, MS, with central AC but a hot second floor and cold first floor. Sigh)

Some of these answers are appalling. C L, your a/c isn't really as awful as you think. That said, if you want to remove it, it's not really a big deal to close it in and replace the siding. Personally that's what I would do, then just a window unit in the summer. If you do keep it, have the painters paint it the same color as the house.

Its hard to tell without the whole front view but a round, square or stained glass window may look cute there

Perspective: This would be worse.

From @PleaseHateTheseThings.

(I found a more apt one last night, but now I can't find it again. It's shocking how many A/C "fails" there are out there.)

Hi CL, your home is beautiful, it has those fabulous, classic lines! Ok, so you've got a beautiful "face" (the front of your home) but it has a mole on the forehead that need some attention from an aesthetician. You can treat it with a little make-up and a cute hat, or you can go full on Botox, Fillers and plastic surgery.

If you're not ready to remove the unit, but just want to hide it, you can install a fabric awning just above the unit, wide enough to stretch across both windows, and have the bottom of the awning fall just around the middle of the windows. It will provide some shade for the unit AND the top of the windows, which you need in the heat of summer--it will help cool down your room and not make the AC unit work so hard. The metal scrollwork covers that Dani posted above are gorgeous, but they still draw attention to the unit---and I think you want to NOT draw attention to it--yes? No?

When you are ready to remove the unit, you're going to have to do a bit more than Botox. The siding looks kind of warped above and to the right of the unit...is it vinyl siding? If you remove the unit, the siding MIGHT be able to be flattened out--I'm thinking whoever installed the AC unit just didn't cut back enough siding so that it would lay flat when the unit and trim were installed. If that's the case, it's a fairly easy fix, just cut the vinyl back to where it will lay flat.

As for covering the hole, insulating and re-siding, whew, that's going to be a major project. Vinyl siding fades over time, so even if the previous owners left you with some of that siding, it probably won't match perfectly, and you'll have 6 rows (or 3 pieces) of siding that will stand out against the rest of the siding. Of course if it is wood and painted, easy peasey, paint can be matched!

If it is vinyl siding, and you don't want to take on the huge project of covering, insulating and residing that entire 2nd floor front, from the top of the porch roof to the top of the roof peak, then you could keep it open... just install a double-paned insulated, non-operating window in it's place. Have a piece of double-paned glass made to fit the opening, glue it in place and install trim around it. You can make it opaque, or put up a decorative shade (pretty side facing OUT) or put on some decorative film. On the inside, you can install a piece of plexiglass to help insulate a bit more, or put up a shorter version of the window coverings on the other windows. You could even put up blinds or a shutter to mimic the vent cover at the peak of the house.

I'd do a bit of concealer and a cute hat, and go with that for a while before going under the knife.

Hire a pro.

Don’t forget that window ACs are heavy! twice a year! lol!

OMG, partymusic! Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the AC fell out of the window and landed on the dog that bit Elaine! AND after we saw that episode the SAME thing happened to us! Minus the dog. Art imitating life or life imitating art? I hate window units.

Personally I would remove it. I agree with you, it’s an eye sore. Patch the hole with matching siding and get a sleek interior
A/C unit hung high on the wall. It is remote controlled and much quieter.

I love window units. They are saving many lives.

@Hunter Hampton gave you a great suggestion, C L- you could have the painters paint it the same color as the siding.

That is a wild coincidence, Diana.

So many great Seinfeld episodes...