Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Weather Hot Tip
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 2:05 PM
Slog tipper Zack says you can build your own air conditioner!
In an attempt to beat the heat (and avoid spending $200+ on an ac), a friend of mine and myself spent last night researching and constructing a homemade air conditioner. Here are our technical specifications and documentation, so you too may enjoy a luxuriously comfortable life.The project was surprisingly successful, with our "AC" blowing VERY cold air. After a follow-up call with my colleague this morning to see how the longevity of the unit held up overnight, he recommended getting a larger and insulated bucket (the ice was all melted by early hours of the morning).
Total cost of the project: ~$40
Heater core: $20 - Shucks
Aquarium pump: $10 - on sale at The Fish Store
Hoses, fittings, duct tape: $10 - Home Depot
Two bags of ice: $3 - SafewayThe fan and bucket we had on hand [along with, apparently, the frozen pizza box—that is, Airflow Directional Constrictor Device].
*note: The pictures were taken with my phone and came out all blurry, so for that, I apologize.
Enjoy!
More, larger photos (including "Snowflakes, bitch!") after the jump.
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2
Bethany,
Here's a tip for a brief respite from the heat. If one has a fan and immediately after drinking a HOT drink (preferably something with water in it for example coffee or tea), wet your hands and face (especially your ears) and place your face (and rotate it L-R) in front of and about 2 feet from the fan for 5 mins or less. Wow, it feels SO good.
BTW, drinking a warm or hot drink makes you sweat more than a cold one. Notice that peoples of the desert Arabs, Berbers and Central Africans drink hot tea for refreshment.
Here's a tip for a brief respite from the heat. If one has a fan and immediately after drinking a HOT drink (preferably something with water in it for example coffee or tea), wet your hands and face (especially your ears) and place your face (and rotate it L-R) in front of and about 2 feet from the fan for 5 mins or less. Wow, it feels SO good.
BTW, drinking a warm or hot drink makes you sweat more than a cold one. Notice that peoples of the desert Arabs, Berbers and Central Africans drink hot tea for refreshment.
3
This quote:
"He recommended getting a larger and insulated bucket (the ice was all melted by early hours of the morning)."
Is half right and half wrong. Your bucket of ice is basically a heat sink. It has the capacity to absorb a certain amount of heat from the air before it melts. An insulated container makes the ice absorb heat from the air slower. The intricate radiator/tubes/fan/pump infrastructure makes the transfer of heat quicker. Neither changes how much heat the ice can absorb. So an insulated container will help not at all. But a bigger bucket of ice will help.
BTW, if any of that ice comes from a freezer that is in the same apartment, the ice is frozen at the cost of making heat, which is vented into the room. So for this whole thing to work, the ice must be sourced from outside the space that is being cooled.
Nature always balances her checkbook.
"He recommended getting a larger and insulated bucket (the ice was all melted by early hours of the morning)."
Is half right and half wrong. Your bucket of ice is basically a heat sink. It has the capacity to absorb a certain amount of heat from the air before it melts. An insulated container makes the ice absorb heat from the air slower. The intricate radiator/tubes/fan/pump infrastructure makes the transfer of heat quicker. Neither changes how much heat the ice can absorb. So an insulated container will help not at all. But a bigger bucket of ice will help.
BTW, if any of that ice comes from a freezer that is in the same apartment, the ice is frozen at the cost of making heat, which is vented into the room. So for this whole thing to work, the ice must be sourced from outside the space that is being cooled.
Nature always balances her checkbook.
4
@3
I was coming to say the same thing. You can either keep pumping in cold water from the tap (presumably coming from the colder sewer system) or you can buy a bag of ice. One is easier, the other more effective.
I was actually thinking of emptying out my fridge and turning that bitch off, but it's too full of things right now.
I was coming to say the same thing. You can either keep pumping in cold water from the tap (presumably coming from the colder sewer system) or you can buy a bag of ice. One is easier, the other more effective.
I was actually thinking of emptying out my fridge and turning that bitch off, but it's too full of things right now.
5
When I was living in my car I discovered the multiple uses of two leter pop bottles. In winter I fill them with hot tap water and snuggle up. In summer, fill one up about four fifths full and freeze. Keep checking to see it doesn't totally freeze. I break up the ice until it becomes slush and rest it on my neck or stomach or groin. Cool and collected.
6
@3 By insulating your heat sink from the ambient temperature, are you not slowing the rate of heat transfer to your coolant source, thereby allowing it to last longer? Also, the refrigerator/freezer is going to be running anyway, maybe slightly more frequently due to opening/closing the freezer, but I doubt it'd be enough to really make as big a difference as you're proposing.
7
A swamp cooler is when you suck air using a fan thru wet pads of cloth or other material (I liked the straw pads when I lived in NM, it made a nice hay smell in the house)
I was using the personal swamp cooler concept last night by taking a shower and not drying me or my hair off...
I was using the personal swamp cooler concept last night by taking a shower and not drying me or my hair off...
8
@3 I see what you're saying about the insulation; whether absorbing heat through cool water in the radiator or the air itself, the cooling effect is the same (but at different rates).
In regards to the ice, it was purchased at Safeway for about $1.50/bag. We started with only two, but I would recommend going as high as four ($6 seems like a BARGAIN for a comfortable night of sleep at this point!)
In regards to the ice, it was purchased at Safeway for about $1.50/bag. We started with only two, but I would recommend going as high as four ($6 seems like a BARGAIN for a comfortable night of sleep at this point!)
9
@1: No. A swamp cooler cools by evaporation. A fan pulls air through or past something wet and absorbant, like a towel or sponge or something. As the air is blown through or past the wet thing, some of the moisture evaporates off, which cools the air (evaporation is endothermic, that's why you sweat).
This cools by having ice in a bucket. A fan is blowing air past a heatsink (something with a lot of surface area, made out of a heat-conducting material), which absorbs heat from the air, and deposits it into a bucket of ice water.
In a sense, this solution is just redistributing coldness brought in from an outside source (i.e., the gas station where they boght the ice) whereas a swamp cooler uses evaporation to create new coldness.
This cools by having ice in a bucket. A fan is blowing air past a heatsink (something with a lot of surface area, made out of a heat-conducting material), which absorbs heat from the air, and deposits it into a bucket of ice water.
In a sense, this solution is just redistributing coldness brought in from an outside source (i.e., the gas station where they boght the ice) whereas a swamp cooler uses evaporation to create new coldness.
10
My simple redneck solution was to buy a block of ice and put it in front of a fan in a large baking pan... Works great. Doesn't cool the entire apartment but cools down an area large enough for two people and two cats to enjoy. Already had the fan but the ice melts in about 2 and a half hours so bascially it cost you $1.89 every 2 to 3 hours to replace the block of ice... although if you just add ice cubes to the baking pan that works as well...
11
But ...
if we use up all the ice, what will the polar bears and penguins use?
Besides, aren't they in plastic bags that will kill the dolphins?
if we use up all the ice, what will the polar bears and penguins use?
Besides, aren't they in plastic bags that will kill the dolphins?
12
@6 You may have a point if the goal is not to cool the whole apartment, but rather to create a small cool zone directly in front of the device, where you could sit and enjoy the cool breeze. If you are trying to cool the apartment (implied by the designer who said he was trying to build an air conditioner substitute), it doesn't matter whether heat is absorbed from the air via the radiator or the walls of the bucket.
As for the freezer thing, you are all crossed up. It may be running anyway, but it will have to run extra to suck the heat out of the room temp water you put in, and turn it to ice. How much extra? The amount of extra heat that the freezer will generate is exactly (and I mean exactly) the same as the amount the ice will later pull out of the air plus (!) the significant inefficiencies of the freezer's motor, compressor, etc. Over all, more overall heat will be generated, no matter what. The key thing to remember is that we can't make cold. All we can do is move heat from one place to another. A freezer moves heat from the inside of the freezer to the outside. For every bit colder it makes the inside, it makes the outside that much warmer. An air conditioner moves heat from inside the apartment to outside. The OP is fine though, since s/he is buying the ice, and that heat has already been generated (in tacoma or wherever the ice was made).
As for the freezer thing, you are all crossed up. It may be running anyway, but it will have to run extra to suck the heat out of the room temp water you put in, and turn it to ice. How much extra? The amount of extra heat that the freezer will generate is exactly (and I mean exactly) the same as the amount the ice will later pull out of the air plus (!) the significant inefficiencies of the freezer's motor, compressor, etc. Over all, more overall heat will be generated, no matter what. The key thing to remember is that we can't make cold. All we can do is move heat from one place to another. A freezer moves heat from the inside of the freezer to the outside. For every bit colder it makes the inside, it makes the outside that much warmer. An air conditioner moves heat from inside the apartment to outside. The OP is fine though, since s/he is buying the ice, and that heat has already been generated (in tacoma or wherever the ice was made).
13
or you can spend a bit more and get an energy star ac window unit that'll be more energy efficient than that aquarium pump, especially if you seal it correctly and use a timer
or better yet, open your windows and get a box fan pulling in from the bottom, then open another window from the top to vent hot air which has risen
or better yet, open your windows and get a box fan pulling in from the bottom, then open another window from the top to vent hot air which has risen
14
Why don't you just call Trane, or Carrier to come put a big ass AC unit on your home? It's amazing, I just go to the Thermostat, turn the degree indicator down, and it's like magic, a nice cool, big house....all the rooms mind you.
I swear, you all must be a bunch of lilly livered liberals
I swear, you all must be a bunch of lilly livered liberals
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