Solar DIY Air Conditioner That Really Works.

[Sunking]

OK guys this only works for a small room, but it works. One mod I suggest is use at least a panel with 3X more current than the fan requires at 12 volts. So in this example a 1 amp fan requires a 45 watt panel.

Do not use cubed or crushed ice as air will not be able to circulate. Use Gel Packs, Milk cartons/jugs, or Dry Ice.

[J.P.M.]

OK guys this only works for a small room, but it works. One mod I suggest is use at least a panel with 3X more current than the fan requires at 12 volts. So in this example a 1 amp fan requires a 45 watt panel.

Do not use cubed or crushed ice as air will not be able to circulate. Use Gel Packs, Milk cartons/jugs, or Dry Ice.

Looks like an indoor swamp cooler with ice.

[Sunking]

Pretty much the same theory of operation. YOu just use ice to absorb the heat and it does not get pumped outside.

[mapmaker]

Do not use cubed or crushed ice as air will not be able to circulate. Use Gel Packs, Milk cartons/jugs, or Dry Ice.

And most importantly, don't try to cool the room that your freezer is in. --mapmaker

[Shockah]

Where does one acquire the "liner"?

[Mike90250]

. Use Gel Packs, Milk cartons/jugs, or Dry Ice.

Using dry ice will be fun as the Co2 levels build up and you start to die. (different than CO poisoning)

[SunEagle]

Using dry ice will be fun as the Co2 levels build up and you start to die. (different than CO poisoning)

Not to mention the possibility of getting frost bite on a finger or two.

[peakbagger]

HVAC uses the value tons of AC which is 12000 btu. It was derived from the cooling available from a ton of ice. Considering a window unit is usually 9000 btu/hr, the bucket is going need to be filled with 1500 pounds of ice per hour to match the performance of a window unit.

[inetdog]

HVAC uses the value tons of AC which is 12000 btu. It was derived from the cooling available from a ton of ice. Considering a window unit is usually 9000 btu/hr, the bucket is going need to be filled with 1500 pounds of ice per hour to match the performance of a window unit.

Maybe not quite as bad as that. That figure just accounts for melting the ice. You will get additional evaporative cooling effect if you build the unit so that it can effectively evaporate the water.
So maybe only 700 pounds of ice per hour? Maybe a lot less....
Although if you use gel packs or other closed containers, you will not get that boost.

[Ian S]

Semi-Related Idea...

Evaporative precooler for AC condensing coil. Would probably only work in dry climates like the desert southwest where "swamp coolers" are already in common use.

[peakbagger]

Us east cost folks rarely can use evaporative cooling as most of the time the hot weather comes along with high RH

[Sunking]

Us east cost folks rarely can use evaporative cooling as most of the time the hot weather comes along with high RH

As a general rule evaporative cooling can only be used west of the Rockies.

[J.P.M.]

HVAC uses the value tons of AC which is 12000 btu. It was derived from the cooling available from a ton of ice. Considering a window unit is usually 9000 btu/hr, the bucket is going need to be filled with 1500 pounds of ice per hour to match the performance of a window unit.

I don't think that's quite right.

~144 BTU melts 1 lbm. of ice.

2000 * 144 = 288,000 BTU to melt a ton of ice.

288,000/24 hrs = 12,000 BTU/hr. == 1 ton of A/C.

9,000 BTU/144 = 62.5 lbm.

62.5 * 24 hrs. = 1500

1500/2000 = .75. = 9,000/12,000

[J.P.M.]

Maybe not quite as bad as that. That figure just accounts for melting the ice. You will get additional evaporative cooling effect if you build the unit so that it can effectively evaporate the water.
So maybe only 700 pounds of ice per hour? Maybe a lot less....
Although if you use gel packs or other closed containers, you will not get that boost.

Use gel packs and you'll have something similar to a room dehumidifier with "cool" storage as the cooling source rather than a cooling coil.

[mapmaker]

I don't think that's quite right.

Thanks for straightening that out... My first thought (when I saw it) was that a 32 cu ft chest freezer full of water would weigh about a ton, and I didn't think that something that only drew as much current as a 9000 btu window unit could freeze that much ice in a day. But I saw that the calculation got past inetdog, so I didn't try to calculate it independently.

--mapmaker