Comments on: Spencer’s Homemade Air Conditioner

By: Ron Satcher

Ron Satcher — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:41:30 +0000

My parts list includes: $16 for a 132 gph aquarium pump (ebay), $10 for 25 ft. coil of 1/2 soft copper from the local metal recycler, an old industrial box fan (600 rpm), and $2.50 for 1/2″ vinyl tubing from Home Depot. 45 minutes later, I have probably the ugliest swamp cooler ever built, but it helps cool an uninsulated garage in Georgia in 100 degree heat. The radiator was my first choice, but the one I had from a Honda is pretty much scrap itself – too many leaks! Thanks to all you guys for your help.
Ron

By: Louie Moses

Louie Moses — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 08:27:42 +0000

Ok, I took this design a couple steps further. Same radiator set up as pictured. Only i am using a chest freezer in my basement. I put the water anti freeze mix in a rubber made storage container, place the container in my chest freezer. The water is around 20 degrees. The radiator was placed in my forced air duct work. I turn my thermastat on fan only manual setting. Air is passed threw the cold radiator inside the duct work. This cools my house very well. The heat from the freezer is in the basement, which is much cooler anyways. Its kinda like redneck central air, lol.

By: Luke

Luke — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:01:12 +0000

What pump would you recommend for me? (and a link if possible)
-1/2″ inner diameter vinyl tubes
-5 ft of vinyl tubing and 20 ft of copper
Thank you for posting these ac units!

By: david

david — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:54:47 +0000

Ok, nice designs guys, but i need to ask a question…is this really more efficient than just buying an air con for less than a $150 from the store? It really depends on the cost of electricity.
Example.
If you need to freeze water to make ice, it takes energy, your fridge or freezer. you use this frozen water to cool the basin or tub of water that you then cycle. over time the water warms, the ice melts and your project has eventually be come the same temp as the air, which is now becoming hotter again. Also, the fan you have used is using electricity, as is the water pump you are using. Your electricity costs between these 3 devices I can imagine is now using more than a small 3000-5000 btu air con. In the end…are you really saving anything? I dont think so.
Solution…
Use wind power and geo thermal cooling, no electricity needed.
Explanation.
The ground water is always cooler than the air, if you are using it in a hot climate. You dig a small well, make a sealed circuit that has a finned or coiled exchanger at the bottom of the well and then another exchanger at the top around/close to your “cooling fan” similar to the coiled tubing around the fan.
To turn both the fan, to force air through the cooling coils, and circulate the water from the bottom of the well to the cooling fan height…use a small wind turbine. Using the wind, and the mechanical power using a pulley or gear driven pump for the water…you know have a self contained, self circulating unit. As long as there is wind, and water in the closed loop system, you will have continuous cooling. If you have access to electricity that is fairly cheap, you can also then use a motor to circulate the water,coolant, and run your fan. At this point you can also use a glycol, be sure you dont spill and contaminate the ground water, and it will increase your cooling capacity and decrease corrosion in the system if it was just plain water.
My full scale version will be prototyped in Brazil, where electricity is expensive! And where the air is never less than 22C at night and during the mid day it can be 35C in the shade. The ground water below 5 Meters used for cooling is 15C or less.
I will take pictures along the way.
Good luck with your project.
tchau
Dave
ntimd8@yahoo.com

By: Steve Fisher

Steve Fisher — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:45:14 +0000

Dale,

The problem you would run into with the thermo-electric coolers is the exact same you run into by placing a freezer / colder refrigerator in the room. In order to cool the inside of the cooler, the heat must be transfered somewhere (same principle as a regular freezer). The cooler simply moves the heat to the surroundings, thus, the freezer would be heating up your room at the same time the water is cooling your room. Thus, you would end up heating up the space because, since 100% machine efficiency is impossible, there would be more heat production when the heat from the cooler, fan, and pump were combined as opposed to heat absorbed by the water.

A very good idea, but remember, the heat must go somewhere, which leads to either running the water our of the room or manually emptying the water, thus completely removing the absorbed heat.

By: dale linhart

dale linhart — Sun, 01 May 2011 04:49:40 +0000

Why doesn’t anybody,including here,use one of those thermo-electric coolers? They’re cheap,cheap to run,& you wouldn’t need to keep refilling with cold items or water and ice. Its those coolers that plug into cigarette lighters or you can plug into home outlet.They look identical to a non-electric cooler.I’m going to have to make one to show what I mean maybe.Radiators a great idea,but I was thinking of a heater core from a car, which pretty much is a mini radiator,it would make a nice desktop one.Get one of those thermo-electric coolers that hold a 6 pack exactly,use heater core,& you have a relatively small unit that doesn’t need to be “recharged” for lack of a better word!

By: Lance Poll

Lance Poll — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:56:29 +0000

what about a wort chiller for making beer. You could have this in a cooler with built in fans. Pump cold water thru it.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:10:31 +0000

Hi George,

First, check for any leaks by rubbing dish soap around your seals – poor seals will bubble up. Secondly, it seems to be that your pump may be undersized. There is no way around this other than reducing tubing length or (more realistically) buying a more powerful pump rated for a higher flowrate for a given resistance.

By: George

George — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:22:09 +0000

Hi Geoff,
I am glad you are still replying to these threads. I am currently building my system and I am using a water fountain pump like the guy who made this design. However I am having trouble creating an air tight seal between the vinyl tube and the pump. How did the guy Spencer create an air tight seal as I cannot seem to find the correct adapter between my water pump and this. The only two problems I can thing of are:
1. The pump cannot handle the pressure of pumping water through 30 feet of tubes.
2. I am unable to form an air tight seal between the pump and the tube.
Any advice would be helpful as it is quite hot this summer.
Thanks,
George

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:14:28 +0000

Hi Aman, First I'd suggest reviewing the concept of a heat exchanger and then identify how this homemade air conditioner could be classified as a heat exchanger. If you're looking to build one yourself, I'd suggest working off the Black Beauty design, as a radiator will drastically increase performance. I would not recommened the copper coil approach as copper has become just as expensive as a true radiator in the past years, and does not perform nearly as well.