Air conditioning and aesthetics can sometimes be at odds with each other. Enclosing the condenser unit to blend with your garden theme may add beauty points to your home but may also seriously affect airflow. If you insist on making sure your air conditioner cools your home while in the shadows, Dee Dee Eustace of The Globe and Mail suggests taking function into consideration.
"Any way you disguise the unit will help with aesthetics but not with air flow: Staying cool and having a good-looking interior is tough and usually something has to give."
On the bright side, a Toronto ductless air conditioner is easier to hide than a window-type unit. The system comes in two separate components: an indoor cooling unit and an exterior condenser unit. The cooling unit doesn't stick out unlike a typical window-type AC, while the condenser unit can be hidden from plain sight.
Landscape expert Judy Weightman also suggests planting around the condenser unit to provide a sort of green camouflage. Some methods won't cost a cent, provided you already have potted plants in your home. However, it's best to take the heat emitted by the unit into account. After all, heat stress is just as harmful to plants as it is to humans.
Many condenser units blow out heat horizontally, which is bad news for certain landscaping techniques as the heat is blowing directly toward perimeter plants. You may opt to install either a fence or a trellis, although bushes and shrubs still provide better coverage.
As for the indoor cooling unit, Eustace suggests the default position, which is above the window. There are ways to hide the unit without affecting its cooling ability. One way is to enclose it in a frame that blends in with the room's theme. Just remember to leave the outlet and control panel unimpeded.
In any case, make sure your ductless AC’s indoor and outdoor units remain accessible to a Toronto ductless air conditioning repair contractor such as Laird and Son for easy troubleshooting. While a condenser unit may prove hard to conceal, you certainly don’t want to compromise its performance.
(Source: "Is there any way to make air conditioning units look attractive?" The Globe and Mail, July 11, 2014)