Has anyone out there come up with a good option for running the exhaust outside a window, which also having it well insulated? Im in Maine and it’s cold. I bought a portable AC set -up, but I feel like that’s going to be much colder than my current set up… foam insulation with a hole cut through it, and a towel around that to try to fill the leaks.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. THANKS
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What have you tried? Have you searched the forum yet? I don’t want to cover the same things that come up every year, I assume you have some sort of specific setup issue that makes the other solutions [blast gates, louvers, quick disconnect hoses, insulated duct] not work for you?
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Btw if you were having trouble figuring out how to search for these topics here’s one I just pulled (“cold vent”) that had a bunch of threads like what you’re asking:
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=Cold%20vent
Searching this forum can be difficult. You might like #12 here:
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Thank you! I had no idea what to search!
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Not cold here, we have a lot of critters that live in holes, so cutting off the path into the house seemed like a grand plan. This scheme would work for cold as well though.
There are shutter slide gates to shutoff the path to the outside, but my setup would work as well , since the outside hole can be capped instead of trying to insulate the tubing. Same scenario would work without the fan, but that extra vacuum is awesome.
The exit hole is a magnetic coupling and the GF end is a Rockler coupling. When shut down, Pull the GF away from the wall an inch and put in the plug. Easy.
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We have that on the outside of our window too. Not only does it help keep drafts out when not in use, it keeps bugs and critters out, as ours is in our basement and at close to ground level.
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That is on the other side of the magnetic coupling. Disconnect from the outside is guaranteed to stop invading critters.
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I am not in Maine but can get pretty cold here in Colorado. I only connect my vent hose to the outside when it’s in use.
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I took the bottom window out and replaced it with foam board and taped it up with duct tape. then I cut a hole in the foam and had a plug I could put in and take out as needed.
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I did that with my basement window. Now that we’re going to be moving I have to find the glass section again & I have no idea where I put it. That was like 7 years ago. 
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We replaced our bottom window with thick plexiglass that we cut a hole in, and then sealed it with clear silicone around the vent. We put an outside dryer vent cover on it, which closes automatically, to help keep out drafts, buts and critters. I wanted to be able to still see out, as my GF is in the basement which is half underground, so the window is just above ground level.
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That’s a nicer installation than mine. I figured I’d be putting the window back in when my filter came. Seven years ago we didn’t know the filter wasn’t going to come as planned and the one they eventually got me wasn’t what they had originally promised. So the foam hack job just stayed in the window and the filter is in its box and used as a side table in my shop 
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For what it’s worth, I’m in New York, where it gets cold in the winter (not as cold as Maine). I’ve never done anything special apart from having those louvers, and my Glowforge has survived for quite a few years without any condensation or notable cold air coming in (not that I would notice it easily in my drafty house).
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Same. Like exactly the same. Drafty and just louvers. Zero problems.
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