I'm wanting to cover our ac/heater, which sits on the roof over our garage. It's huge and ugly. What would be the easiest approach to doing this? I haven't done any measurements yet, but I think the angle of the roof where it sits is around 45 degrees. The unit is probably about 7' across and 3' deep. I was told (when we bought the house) that it's a great unit and should be kept, so I want to make it look less unsightly!
I understand your concern about the appearance of this unit, however, you must also consider several things before you enclose or cover the unit.
1. This unit needs to be able to have lots of free air access to function properly. Enclosing or covering it may severely impact its performance.
2. Units like yours need service periodically to maintain peak performance. Enclosing it may make servicing the unit very difficult, unless you design the enclosure/cover in such a way to be easily removed.
3. Your roof is the protective covering home. Any enclosure/cover you put on your roof for this unit will need to be anchored securely with excellent waterproofing techniques to maintain the integrity of your roof.
4. In addition, the enclosure/cover will need to be anchored securely to deal with the various elements of wind etc your area receives.
5. Designing an enclosure/cover to meet all these needs will require very careful consideration.
What you might do is simply build a frame somewhat like a cupolas with louvered sides without the top. This would allow plenty of air movement while hiding the unit from view. It would need to be anchored securely to the roof and also easily dismantled for ease in servicing your unit. Below is a link to a site which has diagrams of various cupolas to give you an idea of what I mean.
However, with your roof on a 45 degree angle and the unit being 7'x3' this would make the enclosure huge as well as difficult to dismantle when the unit needs service.
This may be of some help. Others may have additional ideas.
Thanks for the response. The info is definitely useful. Obviously I have a lot of thinking to do! I wonder if I could just cover the two sides that show the most; maybe make an l-shape, or half of a cupola to cover the outside edges? Not sure how I would secure this, though.
Whatever you put up there will grab a lot of wind so it must be very secure and sound structurally, otherwise it may be a major headache. In addition, if you have an issue with trees and falling leaves, it may become a gathering point where they may collect and interfere with the air system and thus require more maintenance and cleaning.
You are correct in thinking you will need a secure method of anchoring but also one which doesn't interfere with water flow from rainfall and is waterproof and doesn't cause issues with your present roof. As well, it must easily be dismantled and set aside to allow for easy maintenance. On a roof slope of that angle and the size of your unit, this covering will be difficult to manage both in size and its location.
Much careful thought and design will be needed to overcome all issues favourably. Then of course is the expense and time. It may be easier and cheaper to relocate the whole unit and forgo these issues or accept it as it is.
You might consider building an enclosure which is substantially larger than the unit and allows easy access and movement by a service tech to all sides of the unit from within the structure. You might design it such that it appears as a dormer, with a good sized access door which allows the tech and tools in without problems. Building a structure of this size though may require internal changes to your roof to support this change. It may be an alternate manner of looking at it. This structure though would not have a roof so it must be built in such a way to be up off the present roof to allow water to flow through and out unimpeded as well as being waterproof where it is anchored and securely anchored to withstand the elements. Much planning, thought and consulting with professionals is needed before going forward.
That's a thought. I know nothing of a/c - heating units, though. If we relocate the unit, what happens with all the duct work? It's sitting directly over the attic right now and the ducts run from it to each room in the house. I believe this unit was installed by a previous owner himself. Not sure what he had in mind when he did it this way.
Moving the unit to the ground and locating it such that it may be tied into the original duct work may be part of the issue. The other will be insulate these feeds properly and possibly putting a new fan to accommodate the increased distance as well as covering the ducts on the exterior of your home so they blend in appropriately. You don't wish to make a new problem by relocating.
