How to hide an air conditioner on your facade without spoiling the look of your house

An outdoor air conditioning unit is usually a grey or white box with a visible fan grille, either hung on the wall or standing beside it. It does its job beautifully, but it does nothing for neat render, timber cladding or a crisp modern silhouette. Below we go through how to screen it, and what to watch out for so you do not hobble its performance along the way.

Why screen the outdoor unit at all

There is more than one reason, and looks are only the first of them.

• The look of the facade. A cover tidies up the view from the garden, the terrace or the street, so the unit stops pulling the eye.
• Protection from damage. An enclosure keeps footballs, mowers, branches and animals at arm's length.
• A shield from leaves and debris. A panel above or to the side cuts down on the leaves and rubbish that land on the unit.

One thing matters above all: a cover should screen the unit from view, not seal it into a box.

The most common mistake: a sealed enclosure

An air conditioner draws air in and pushes it back out. Shut it inside a tight, sealed box and it starts breathing its own, already-used air. The result is noisier running, higher electricity use and a compressor that wears out sooner. That is why a good cover always has an open back and leaves room around the unit.

Lamelvio covers keep the back open in every version, and with aluminium slat infill you decide how much of a gap to leave between the slats. That lets you have two things that usually rule each other out: the unit out of sight, and a clear path for air.

Ways to hide an air conditioner

An open slatted cover

A frame made from aluminium profile and filled with horizontal slats screens the unit while still letting air and light through. The narrower the gap between the slats, the more thoroughly the unit is hidden; the wider it is, the freer the airflow. Slats come in several widths, and there are diamond profiles as well, so it is easy to match the character of the cover to the facade.

A patterned steel panel

If you are after something more decorative, a steel panel with a laser-cut pattern is the answer. A cover like this reads as part of the finish of the facade rather than a purely technical screen. The cut-outs in the sheet double as openings for air.

Choosing how much to enclose

You do not always need to box in the whole unit. If it is only visible from one direction, screening the front, perhaps with one side, is enough. The range runs from a full enclosure of the front with both sides and the top, through versions with a single side, down to the front on its own. Less material means not only a lower cost, but also less restriction on airflow.

Matching the style of the house

A cover looks best when it works with the rest of the facade. A few simple rules:

• Colour. Anthracite (RAL 7016) suits most modern facades and dark joinery, white (RAL 9003) goes with pale render, and black (RAL 9005) with minimalist forms. On request we will paint the cover in any other RAL colour.
• The direction of the slats. Horizontal slats stretch and calm the form visually, while a pattern on a steel panel adds character. It is worth lining it up with the lines of your windows and cladding.
• Repeating the motif. If you already have aluminium fencing or slatted panels, using the same family of profiles on the cover will make the whole thing hang together.

Before you order

Before you head to the configurator, gather a few details:

1. The dimensions of the unit: width, height and depth, measured at their widest points.
2. How it is mounted: whether the unit hangs on the wall or stands on the ground or a flat roof.
3. The surroundings: what sits next to the unit and which sides it is seen from.
4. A few photographs of the installation spot.

With that in hand you can settle on the technology, the extent of the enclosure and the colour, and the cover will be built to your exact dimensions. Detailed measuring instructions are set out on a separate page, and if anything is unclear, simply add a note to your quote request.

Durability and upkeep

The cover sits outdoors all year round, so material and finish matter. Aluminium does not rust, and the steel in the Design line is powder coated, which protects the surface against the weather. Powder coating gives an even, hard-wearing finish that copes well with sun and rain.

Looking after the cover is straightforward. Wipe the surface down from time to time and clear away the leaves and dust that settle between the slats or in the cut-outs of the panel. While you are at it, check the unit itself: a cover limits how much debris gets in, but it is no substitute for cleaning the heat exchanger. Access to the unit is preserved, so servicing or washing never means dismantling the whole structure.

What to avoid

• A solid box with no openings. Closing the unit in on every side chokes it and pushes up your electricity bill.
• A cover pressed right against the unit. With no gap there is no airflow, and servicing becomes awkward.
• Blocking the air outlet at the front with a solid panel. The stream from the fan has to have somewhere to go.

In summary

Hiding an air conditioner on a facade is not about shutting it in a box; it is about screening it from view while air still moves freely. A cover with an open back, built to the dimensions of your unit, in a colour that suits the facade, does exactly that: the unit disappears from view and carries on working the way it should.