DIY Air Conditioning

[JackT]

Has anyone done this? I'm thinking about putting together 4 out of some old ice chests i have and sticking them in my laundry room...Input please!

I basically would be refreezing gallons of water trying to cut central air use in the summer. OGE loves my electric bill it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YvF4eVQO0

 

[Spata]

Block of ice in front of box fan.

 

[Lurkerinthewoods]

Make sure you run a dehumidifier. One of the key functions of a air unit is pulling humidity.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

The 5-gallon bucket kludge is a better design. I built one last year, but used a 120v blower motor instead of a fan. Worked very well refreezing gallon jugs

 

[JackT]

The 5-gallon bucket kludge is a better design. I built one last year, but used a 120v blower motor instead of a fan. Worked very well refreezing gallon jugs

I was considering that! Where do I purchase the foam liners?

 

[elwoodtrix]

[video=youtube_share;HxSLbpAwibg]http://youtu.be/HxSLbpAwibg[/video]

 

[-Pjackso]

I'd forget it.
It maybe good for tailgate parties, or kids "camping night" (in the back yard).
...But it's not a replacement for central AC.



If the central unit isn't keeping up: call for a AC service call, get an extra window AC unit, or put in some additional insulation in the house.
(...insulation will help in the summer ...and winter too.)

 

[aviator41]

Have a very similar setup for my airplane. uses ice and water with a heat exchanger, pump and a bilge fan. drawing air through a heat exchanger is the key. I can tell you that I can get about a 20 degree differential from the air coming out of the outlet vs air temp in the heat of the summer, but ice in a standard sized cooler will only last about 3 hours before the water is room temperature. It can knock the edge off of the heat in the cockpit netting an air temp difference of about ten degrees maintained at 90F+ ambient temperature, but only while the cooler has ice in it. then temp quickly begins to rise.

I use it on the ground and during climb out and descent. At cruise it's turned off to conserve the cold. The main reason I use it is because my plane doesn't have Air Conditioning and it can be removed during the winter (the plane has heat) for better payload capacity. Plus it doesn't require any certs.

It would take a VERY large version of this to cool a room. What you would save from your AC bill would go into making ice. you would be better served to use a swamp cooler for a dedicated home operation.

 

[JackT]

I'd forget it.
It maybe good for tailgate parties, or kids "camping night" (in the back yard).
...But it's not a replacement for central AC.



If the central unit isn't keeping up: call for a AC service call, get an extra window AC unit, or put in some additional insulation in the house.
(...insulation will help in the summer ...and winter too.)

I'm trying to lower the cost of my energy bill. By no means am I looking for a 30-40% decrease. Running 4 of these with 70watt fans at 24 hours a day is $42 a month. But they will only be running for our hot parts of the day around 1-6PM. It's no loss to attempt it. The end of the house these 4 kits will be in is very open, closing off the vents in the general area using my central AC to cool the main part of my home. They produce temperatures of 40 degrees, 4 of them should do the trick. If not, I gained a small fan for each of my rooms to catch a breeze.

 

[JackT]

The cost of the "ice" would be me freezing gallons of water at no cost given my deep freeze already runs daily.