PTAC louvers

Glazed into
the frame.

One bay, two windows one above the other. In each, a fixed lite sits over a louver in the same black frame, with wood slats beside it. The louver reads as one more pane of the window, not as a grille in the wall.

One bay of a building, two floors: in each black window a fixed lite sits over a louver in the same frame, a narrow lite beside it, between wood-look slats and light brick

A black window seen square on from outside: a large fixed lite over a louver in the same frame, and a narrow lite beside it between wood-look slats

The product

It reads as part of the window grid.

From the street it is one more pane in the frame, not a grille in the wall. The finish follows the window. Inside, the PTAC sits behind it. Around the blades, a 1″ (25 mm) insulated blank-off panel closes the rest of the louver, and we cut it to the unit: to the model of the sleeve and the PTAC in it, the airflow that unit needs, and where and how it drains.

Built for air, not rain. As is common for PTAC louvers, this one has no water rating; its job is airflow, about 52% free area. Rain that gets past the blades runs into the PTAC sleeve and drains out through weeps in the louver sill or to an inside drain. Specification says drainable or storm-proof? Ask us.

LouverArchitectural, fixed blade

Blade42°, extruded aluminum

Blank-off1″ (25 mm) insulated panel, R-4, sealed on all edges

Made toYour sleeve and PTAC or VTAC model: airflow and drainage

DrainageWeeps on the face, face and rear, or an internal drain

Net free areaStated as a number for the size you order, on the submittal

SizesA louver up to 120″ × 84″ (3048 × 2134 mm) per section · the smallest common PTAC cut-out is 42″ × 16″ (1067 × 406 mm)

SeriesVi6 · Vi5

FinishMatched to the window frame

Sizing

The louver is sized to the sleeve, not the sleeve to the louver.

We start from the cut sheet for the unit and its sleeve. The louver is the sleeve plus about 2-1/2″ (64 mm) above it and below it. A 16″ (406 mm) sleeve gives a louver about 21″ (533 mm) tall.

The sleeve sits at one end of the louver or in the middle. The insulated blank-off fills the rest of the louver. The sleeve bolts to its back.

PTAC or VTAC. A VTAC, the vertical unit that stands in a closet, needs the same louver and the same coordination. The blade can differ for a VTAC, so ask.

The window and its louver seen from the street at an angle from below, gray, with a long ground shadow — From the street: the louver at the foot of the window, in the same frame.

The window from the room at an angle, with the gray sleeve box in the blank-off cut-out at the left end of the louver — From the room: the blank-off closes the louver, cut to the sleeve at one end.

The window from the room at an angle, with a white PTAC unit in its sleeve at the left end of the louver — The PTAC in place.

How it goes in

Into the glazing pocket, then the beads go on.

The louver goes into the window frame on site, the way a fixed lite does.

From our 3D installation instructions: the louver is set onto its two setting blocks in the glazing pocket, then the glazing bead goes on.

A louver in a white window frame seen from the room side, the insulated blank-off panel drawn forward off the blades, the sleeve opening shown as a see-through box — What goes into the pocket, seen from the room: the insulated blank-off in front, the blades behind it, the opening cut to the sleeve.

The louver sits on setting blocks in the glazing pocket and is held by gaskets and glazing beads, like a pane of glass. The frame around it is anchored as a window.

The mullion between the glass and the louver is engineered for the opening, like any other mullion, and shown with its reinforcement on the shop drawings.

Clip angles, sleeves and anchors into the structure are by the installing contractor, and the anchor design is by others. Where the louver sits outboard of the wall framing, the wall does not carry it.

Installation instructions ›Shop drawings ›

Drainage

A weep slot near each corner, and along the sill.

Water that gets past the blades leaves through weep slots in the sill of the louver frame: on the outside face only, or on the face and the rear. Where the unit drains inward, the louver is made with no rear weeps, or with an emergency overflow for the PTAC.

The bottom corner of a gray louver in its window frame, with a weep slot in the sill channel under the blades — The weep slot in the louver's sill, near the frame corner.

Ordering

What we need to size it.

The louver submittal carries the net free area as a number, for the size you order, and a plain sentence on the water rating.

The opening size, width by height, verified in the field.
The PTAC or VTAC model and its sleeve, with the cut sheet.
The drainage: weeps on the face, on the face and rear, or an internal drain.
The color, matched to the window and confirmed by the architect.
Anything other than the standard 1″ (25 mm) insulated blank-off.

What the louver submittal should carry, and a checklist before shop drawings, are in the article.

PTAC louvers brochure (PDF) ›Windows with a PTAC below ›All options ›

In the grid

A brick elevation, a louver at the foot of every window.

The same window on four floors. Each has a louver at the foot of its left-hand lite, inside the same black frame, so the louvers line up with the glass across the whole elevation.

A brick elevation seen flat on: four floors of black windows, each with a louver at the foot of its left-hand lite — A brick elevation: every window has a louver at the foot of its left-hand lite, in the same black frame.

PTACs on your project?

Send the plans and the unit cut sheet. We size the louver to it.

Send plans

Glazed intothe frame.