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[hqueen13]

Thank you so much Lighthawk! This does help, and I will do more research to see if I can figure out a little more about what will suit our needs. We will be putting these in windows only, so that sounds like it will be even simpler.
I appreciate the discusion, its helping me to understand the mechanics of how they work and what each component does a bit better!

 

[hqueen13]

hey Lighthawk,
I am collecting supplies now, and have a curious question... how many cans did you use for your 'half window' unit? What size is the unit and how many cans does it take? We don't drink soda, so I have to work on collecting the cans, and am putting out info on freecycle. Somebody said they'd doing an event tomorrow for 200 people and serving soda, how many cans do I want?! LOL I'm afraid I'll be buried in cans, but I don't even know what to guess size/volume wise for what we plan to build.

 

[lighthawk]

My unit used four rows of 17 or 68 total. Standard 12 ounce cans. Obviously that will change depending on the size of the window.
Good luck.

 

[hqueen13]

So how wide is your window? Pretty wide, huh? Thanks!

Oh, and does your box fit right up against the glass? I remember a bit of this coming up in the discussion before, but I wanted to clarify a bit. I have one front window that is a big picture window, it has two side panels, and then double that width of a clear pane in the center. The clear pane is towards the outside, and the two side panels slide inward when you open them, so the bigger pane is at a different depth than the outside panels, so if it needs to be against the glass I'll have to figure out some tricky way to rig it up.

I posted on freecycle for cans and got an email from someone that says "we're having an event tomorrow for 200 and are serving soda in cans... how many would you like?" I think whatever she's got should be enough to get us started! I also just picked up some BIG sheats of styrofoam from another person on freecycle!! We might be able to get these made before next winter!

 

[lighthawk]

My single hung windows are 42 inches wide. The unit fits snugly up against the lower sash frame. If you can't fit it around the entire frame you should find a way to keep it snug to the glass. Velcro tape?
Great find on freecycle. We have a deposit on cans ( 10 cents) so I have my nephew who lives out of state save them for me. I got quite a few over the holidays as I'm planning to build a solar dehydrator this summer.

 

[hqueen13]

So basically, you built them to the inside dimensions of the window, and then they sit up against the glass? I think I got it!

I have plans for a solar dehydrator, but it doesn't use cans... only a sheet of corrugated metal and a few other things. Pretty simple, still, though. Now I need to build it so I can use it!