Comments on: Homebrew Air Conditioning http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=homebrew-air-conditioning Essays, Projects, and Distractions of Geoff Milburn Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:19:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Geoff http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-11875 Geoff Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:16:15 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-11875 Hi Donna, If you have a gravity fed flow of cold water to the house this is pretty much the perfect situation, as you've eliminated pump sizing and power issues. I would recommend a setup where the water is first fed through a screen (to avoid any radiator clogging issues), then to a radiator, then off to the duck pond/etc. Major concerns would be preventing leaks and setting the radiator up in a location where any leaks can be handled easily (ie a basement with sump pump or similar). A lot of this design is going to depend on specifics of your house and just precisely how much and what you want to cool - let me know how the project goes! Hi Donna,

If you have a gravity fed flow of cold water to the house this is pretty much the perfect situation, as you’ve eliminated pump sizing and power issues. I would recommend a setup where the water is first fed through a screen (to avoid any radiator clogging issues), then to a radiator, then off to the duck pond/etc. Major concerns would be preventing leaks and setting the radiator up in a location where any leaks can be handled easily (ie a basement with sump pump or similar).

A lot of this design is going to depend on specifics of your house and just precisely how much and what you want to cool – let me know how the project goes!

]]> By: Donna N. http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-11307 Donna N. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:35:09 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-11307 I was just wondering how you would make a larger system for a farm house out in the middle of the country. This looks and sounds amazing!! I have constant running spring water from a large spring that is filtered through a large limestone bluff it stays cold around 36 degress year round. Can you help me? I have my water running all year long, that also helps water the other animals out in the wild, because it runs out into a large pond about 200 feet from the house, it also feeds a duck pond as well from a seperate line from the spring, my spring water holding tank is built at the base of the bluff and is about 25'X 30' approx. 4 feet deep, it says full all year long. (merged) I forgot to mention that the spring water is gravity flow to the house. I was just wondering how you would make a larger system for a farm house out in the middle of the country. This looks and sounds amazing!! I have constant running spring water from a large spring that is filtered through a large limestone bluff it stays cold around 36 degress year round. Can you help me? I have my water running all year long, that also helps water the other animals out in the wild, because it runs out into a large pond about 200 feet from the house, it also feeds a duck pond as well from a seperate line from the spring, my spring water holding tank is built at the base of the bluff and is about 25′X 30′ approx. 4 feet deep, it says full all year long.

(merged)

I forgot to mention that the spring water is gravity flow to the house.

]]> By: hhmmmm » Kli­ma­an­lage: Eigenbau http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-11054 hhmmmm » Kli­ma­an­lage: Eigenbau Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:23:48 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-11054 [...] eine viel bes­sere Umset­zung, konnte Geoff Mil­burn auf sei­ner Web­seite ver­mel­den: Home­brew AC. Respekt! :) Kommentare: noch [...] [...] eine viel bes­sere Umset­zung, konnte Geoff Mil­burn auf sei­ner Web­seite ver­mel­den: Home­brew AC. Respekt! :) Kommentare: noch [...]

]]> By: Chyden Finance: profit from hypocrisy » Blog Archive » Share Your Toys http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-4534 Chyden Finance: profit from hypocrisy » Blog Archive » Share Your Toys Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:07:12 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-4534 [...] Low-Cost ‘Air Conditioning’: Connect a coil of copper tubing to an electric fan, run cool water through it, et voilà, cool air. Use a DC fan, batteries, and a solar charger, and your costs are all upfront. [...] [...] Low-Cost ‘Air Conditioning’: Connect a coil of copper tubing to an electric fan, run cool water through it, et voilà, cool air. Use a DC fan, batteries, and a solar charger, and your costs are all upfront. [...]

]]> By: Kavjit http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-4139 Kavjit Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:10:32 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-4139 hey geoff- thanks for the reply but i figured out an easier wy to start the siphon. I fed water from the outside part of the vinyl tubing which then create a vccum inside the the tubing and starts the siphon in abt 20 secs. Cheers, Im freezing Kavjit hey geoff- thanks for the reply but i figured out an easier wy to start the siphon.
I fed water from the outside part of the vinyl tubing which then create a vccum inside the the tubing and starts the siphon in abt 20 secs.

Cheers, Im freezing
Kavjit

]]> By: Geoff http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-3967 Geoff Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:21:49 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-3967 Hi Kavjit - Two important things to consider: 1. Is everything sealed perfectly? Any leaks will cause the siphon to not work. 2. Is the water outlet end of the siphon a few feet below the water intake end of the siphon? There needs to be a difference in height in order to drive the water through. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon Hi Kavjit –

Two important things to consider:

1. Is everything sealed perfectly? Any leaks will cause the siphon to not work.
2. Is the water outlet end of the siphon a few feet below the water intake end of the siphon? There needs to be a difference in height in order to drive the water through. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon

]]> By: kavjit http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-3959 kavjit Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:43:15 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-3959 hey geoff awesome idea and i tried it. the first time siphon worked and all was good.but then the second time the water refused to even rise up through the tubing plz help me quick. hey geoff
awesome idea and i tried it.
the first time siphon worked and all was good.but then the second time the water refused to even rise up through the tubing plz help me quick.

]]> By: Geoff http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-3674 Geoff Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:19:35 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-3674 Hi Joe - Yep, sounds to me like the fan is just throwing too much heat for the coils to deal with. The coils are actually from the very first version I made and are not nearly as efficient as using a radiator - especially in high-load applications such as yours. If you're going to use a big fan like that, you need an equally big heat exchanger, and the coils just aren't going to cut it. Try a local surplus or parts store. Hi Joe – Yep, sounds to me like the fan is just throwing too much heat for the coils to deal with. The coils are actually from the very first version I made and are not nearly as efficient as using a radiator – especially in high-load applications such as yours. If you’re going to use a big fan like that, you need an equally big heat exchanger, and the coils just aren’t going to cut it. Try a local surplus or parts store.

]]> By: Joe http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-3669 Joe Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:23:54 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-3669 Geoff, I actually made a version of this using a huge 20" industrial fan with coils on the front of the fan. Unfortunately, no matter how cold or how much water i pumped through the coils, it always warms up about less than halfway through the coils before making it all the way through. I can hardly feel a difference in room temperature. Does the size of the fan or fan speed have anything to do with this? Maybe it doesn't work when the fan is too big and too fast? What I mean is the rate of cooling simply cannot catch up because the diameter of the fan is too big and the rate of air flow is too great. Geoff, I actually made a version of this using a huge 20″ industrial fan with coils on the front of the fan. Unfortunately, no matter how cold or how much water i pumped through the coils, it always warms up about less than halfway through the coils before making it all the way through. I can hardly feel a difference in room temperature.
Does the size of the fan or fan speed have anything to do with this? Maybe it doesn’t work when the fan is too big and too fast? What I mean is the rate of cooling simply cannot catch up because the diameter of the fan is too big and the rate of air flow is too great.

]]> By: Homemade Evaporation Cooler « pam i am http://www.gmilburn.ca/2005/06/14/homebrew-air-conditioning/comment-page-1/#comment-3051 Homemade Evaporation Cooler « pam i am Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:36:27 +0000 http://www.gmilburn.ca/?p=615#comment-3051 [...] or a portable air conditioning unit, I decided to make an evaporation cooler based on designs seen here and here and [...] [...] or a portable air conditioning unit, I decided to make an evaporation cooler based on designs seen here and here and [...]

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