Air Conditioner - $8 DIY

[whirlcool]

I came across this video I thought was interesting. Has anyone here tried this? I imagine it would up the humidity in a room rather than the opposite.

http://abc13.com/weather/diy-homemade-air-conditioner-for-around-$8/150681/

 

[foraloysius]

If you freeze the water in plastic bottles, you don't get extra humidity into the room. But I'm doubting the cooling effect of such things, perhaps it's nice to sit in the air that comes out of it.

 

[whirlcool]

I think that using ice containers would be less humid than using open ice, but eventually the containers will sweat as they warm up releasing a small amount of humidity.

Agreed. The air that comes out of one of these may be comfortable to sit in front of in a hot room!

 

[kb0nes]

Remember that 12,000 btu's equal to the heat of fusion of a ton of ice (a block 2'x4'x4').

Interesting experiment but not likely very practical.

 

[philr]

I'm always curious to know what motivates people doing such a thing when Craiglist has plenty of cheap or even free window air conditioners!  I got quite a few for free and good working ones...

 

Even the least effective or energy efficient air conditioner can't be worse than one that needs to be filled with ice!

 

If you use ice from your fridge's ice maker (or from your freezer), you certainly add more heat to your home to produce it than you'll ever be able to remove by melting it!  Nobody would consider having a window-mounted air conditioner mounted through a wall between the living room and the kitchen. While trying to cool the living room, it would put even more heat in the kitchen!

 

And making ice isn't exactly free either, your fridge has to use more energy to freeze water and I bet you'd need a lot of ice to have the equivalent cooling effect of a cheap 4000-5000 BTU air conditioner!

 

So unless you're buying ice (also costly) or you have your ice maker sitting outside, it seems just as silly as leaving your freezer door open to cool your house!

 

[whirlcool]

What I would like to know about this experiment is how long would it take a unit like this to cool down a 12x12x8 size room from 80F. What would the temp be after an hour of running this contraption. Two hours? What would the final temp and humidity be in the room when the last of the ice melts.

 

[ovrphil]

Portable A/C's are expensive and typically require a venting option. This solution bypasses it, but I think you would really need a couple of them working and then...

1) Do you have 8', 9' or 10' or higher ceilings(ours were nine and ten feet).

2) How air-tight is the room - got window leaks or poor R-factor insulation? Good luck.

3) What kind and how many items are heat absorbing in the room(more cloth and wood type furniture and curtains, the harder it'll be to cool the room as these take more time to release heat/become cooler).

With a couple units and some DRY ice to defer a more rapid cooling, you might have a better chance of getting results if 1,2, and 3 above are not dragging it down.

 

[whirlcool]

Or you could have even more fun if you put an inch of water in the bottom of the chest before dropping in the dry ice. Dry Ice Smoke!

I have seen this type of video before online, but nobody ever comments that they did it nor do they mention the results they saw.

 

[ovrphil]

Dry ice

only brings one thing to mind for me - Dry Ice Smoke! I'll grow up...

next year.

 

[retro-man]

This is a basic swamp cooler. There are many of these videos on you tube. Some of them show the temp changes and how well it does in a room or a travel trailer. I guess it depends on where you live and how humid it is for effectiveness.In the dry heat of the desert it may be more worthwhile, but in the more humid area in may not be desirable.

Jon

 

[arbilab]

"Swamp cooler" uses only water, not ice (either kind). If your dewpoint is anywhere near 50F, a swamp cooler can need to be cycled like an air conditioner lest it get TOO cold. Like say, Palmdale CA (or even San Jose) or central Colorado. I've been there. If your dewpoint is 77F, the coolest you're going to get is 80 which may be preferable to 95 but your towels will never dry.

Relatively standard practice for commercial kitchens (even in 70-dewpoint areas like DFW) is a swamp cooler to replace kitchen air exhausted by the grease/vent fans. Costs almost nothing to run, although there are seasonal maintenance requirements-- higher with harder water.

According to some documentation on the history of airconditioning, outside air blowing over a bucket of ice was the first working model. At the time ice was fairly expensive, being harvested from the great lakes/elsewhere during winter and warehoused with-- you can imagine-- shrinkage.

It's also possible to use air alone as a refrigerant. But it doesn't undergo a state change so it's impossibly inefficient.

 

[vacbear58]

Well I can tell you ....

I bought a commercially manufactured one of these a few years ago - it used ice packs of the sort you use in a cool box, which you can re-freeze in the freezer. I used it only once for the humidity it generated, even here in the UK, was absolutely dreadful. Had I not experienced myself I would not have believed it. I use it as a fan only now and in that respect it is quite good, I have never used the "cool units" since

Al

 

[philr]

0$ air conditioners!

This year, I just got two more free air conditioners. And these don't need any ice to cool the air!  

 

I got this one yesterday! 



 



 

I got this 1971 Chrysler Airtemp earlier this year.