I would like to install a 24" wide wall mount AC unit in the wall shown in this picture, however notice the giant beam right above. This beam is the backbone of the entire house! I haven't cut into the wall yet, but would you expect to find a steel beam or another giant wood beam down the middle of the wall? If I went to the right then aesthetically it might not look that great, all pushed up against the door. The far wall is the garage. Could I maybe build some sort of exast chamber going out of the garage and outside? Or maybe I should just scrap the whole wall mount AC idea and go with a portable AC unit that connects with a little round tube to extract hot air? Are portables just as powerful as wall mount AC units? What are your thoughts? How would you do this? [ATTACH]56014[/ATTACH]

After reading for about the last 3 months on the different types of a/c to retrofit a house with, I have decided on a wall mounted a/c. I want to eliminate a window a/c unit and put in a wall mounted a/c in an odd shaped, upstairs living room. It is the larger room in the drawing. It is approx. a 3,458cu ft room. I plan to use a 14,000 or 15,000 btu unit. The two rooms to the left are bedrooms with window a/c units. The other room is a bathroom with no a/c. I currently have a window unit in the living room window but want to eliminate it. I have narrowed it to two locations that I would like to install. I have placed a box fan on a stepladder to see if there was any real difference as to where the air flow originates from and while there is some difference, my preference is where the #1 is. Second preference is where the #2 is. There are other factors: location #2 would be directly above a tv. Location #1 is directly above a stairwell. North, South etc are marked at the corners of the drawing (which is not to scale) I really need an opinion from someone who knows more about this, before I start cutting holes into walls. Any help would be greatly appreciated [ATTACH=CONFIG]56329[/ATTACH]