Sunsaver, Livining Off-Grid In Suburbia- Happy Taconight America!

[Denim Deb]

SD, the reason it doesn't feel cooler when there's high humidity is because when you're sweating, it doesn't dry. The air is already full of water, so there's very little evaporation. In an area where the humidity is low, you can wear a long sleeved cotton shirt, and w/the sweat drying on you, it cools you down.

 

[Marianne]

My grandfather used to wear a cotton t-shirt under his shirts all summer long for the same reason. He said he was cooler than if he just had a work shirt on. That was waaaay back before a/c days. You're doing the wet bandana around the neck and wet dew rag thing, right?

Sunsaver, I'm glad you're in some a/c now. It's been nasty hot all over. We had a swamp cooler years ago in an area where no one used them because of the humidity. Everyone said it wouldn't work, but we were broke and it's all we had. The place ended up being plenty cool enough, and we ran around with a hand towel to mop the humidity from our brows. Didn't take long and we got used to the humidity. Sure was worth it for some cool air.

I recently read a post elsewhere from a gal that hung a wet towel in front of open windows for a low tech swamp cooling effect. Don't know where she lived, though.

Since you're on well water, could you rig up a coil of refrigerator copper tubing hooked to the front of a fan and run a trickle of water through it? The other end of the tubing could be run out the window into some kind of collection barrel or if a garden area was close by, maybe out to that? It'd take some engineering on your part, but you're pretty good at that.

Using your cold well water, you could also run some water through an old, cleaned out radiator with a fan behind it, another low tech swamp cooler. Doesn't take much water, and in front of an east window, it might be easier to reclaim the run off for the garden. We actually did that for this house, using a huge truck radiator, lots of plumbing, etc. It worked really well, but we had problems with leaks from too much water pressure (took advice from someone who meant well, but!) and I finally threw in the towel and bought a heat pump.

I don't know how much power your fan would consume.

 

[sunsaver]

Thanks for the tips, Marianne. I'm back home now because it's only 103* today, and a little breezy so i think i can take it. I have a condenser coil from a Ford pick up. It's that thing that sits right behind the fan or radiator and looks like a radiator. you can also see them on the back of window unit ACs. It sprung a leak but today i got some plumbers epoxy putty to try to patch it so i can do what your talking about. Cold water will come in circulate through the coil, and go back out the window to water the garden. A box fan behind it, will blow the warm air over all those aluminum fins to cool the room down. I just hope the putty holds. I know it should work well and cool the room at least a bit. I'm also going to try the wet towel/ window cooler. Thats a nice idea. I'm also planning to make a swamp cooler that has no water pump. It will work like an hour glass, just flip it over when the water has all dripped into the bottom chamber. I'm also going to do the ice water in a mist bottle that Savingdogs recommended.

 

[Marianne]

I like that idea of the flippin' swamp cooler.

I should have thought about the condenser unit, we have one out in the shop that I won't let DH throw in the metal recycle. I just know as soon as it's gone I'll come up with something to do with it, ya know?

My aunt has some kind of evaporative cooler, like a portable swamp cooler. I know it has some kind of filter/medium and a drip pan underneath it. When she used it, it'd be to the side of the room and once in a while she'd pour a pitcher of water into it. As a kid, I thought it was pretty slick. If you were real hot you could go stand in front of it and it did a good job of cooling that one large room.

If your epoxy putty doesn't work, would something like JB Weld work?

 

[sunsaver]

I plugged the leak in my ac coil, ran a couple water hoses through the styrofoam i my bedroom window, put the box fan behind the coil, and now i have AC! Problem is that it uses about 80 watts. In order run it for any length of time, I will have to run it when the sun is shining. Or else it will run my solar batteries down, and the inverter will cut off. I need to make a smaller version using a heater core from that old truck, and my little personal fan. To really do this right, i need to build a heat exchanger coil to go into the ground, instead of just wasting water. But it's nice to know it really works! I'm very cool and comfortable sitting in front of this contraption. It feels about like a window unit on low. I might just turn it off in a little while, then cut it on when i'm ready to go to sleep. If i lose power during the night, at least i'll be asleep. I sure wish i could afford another panel and a couple more batteries. Some day soon maybe. Whoot! I got geothermal cooling!

 

[Marianne]

YAY!

 

[lynn1961]

I plugged the leak in my ac coil, ran a couple water hoses through the styrofoam i my bedroom window, put the box fan behind the coil, and now i have AC! Problem is that it uses about 80 watts. In order run it for any length of time, I will have to run it when the sun is shining. Or else it will run my solar batteries down, and the inverter will cut off. I need to make a smaller version using a heater core from that old truck, and my little personal fan. To really do this right, i need to build a heat exchanger coil to go into the ground, instead of just wasting water. But it's nice to know it really works! I'm very cool and comfortable sitting in front of this contraption. It feels about like a window unit on low. I might just turn it off in a little while, then cut it on when i'm ready to go to sleep. If i lose power during the night, at least i'll be asleep. I sure wish i could afford another panel and a couple more batteries. Some day soon maybe. Whoot! I got geothermal cooling!

I love your writing, I read it through from may to now, what an interesting man you are, lots of wit and wisdom.

 

[valmom]

I am amazed at people like you who have a knack with machinery and engineering. I can do animals, but machines and I don't get along, or I would have a solar set-up, too!

 

[sunsaver]

Wow! Thanks lynn1961! I am honored that you would take the time to read so much of my journal.

Valmom, my days of engineering and inventing new parts and devices are over. What i'm doing these days is simply rearranging off-the-shelf parts, or recycling old equipment for green purposes. Most of what i'm doing has already been done by others. I'm just trying to find the easy hacks that anyone could do. But thanks for the compliment! Chat with ya'll later!

 

[valmom]

Easy hacks- HA!

Maybe by reading your journal if I ever Really REALLY need to do something mechanical I might be able to do it. You are my "practical engineering" course online.