Several people have asked me if I have managed to quantify the performance of this system. I ran a few quick numbers – accuracy is not going to be great due to measurement error. In terms of rough numbers though, I’m pretty happy.
At a flow rate of 2 L/min (taken as the upper range of performance) inlet temperature is 16 degrees Celcius (C), and outlet temperature is 20 deg C. This corresponds roughly to 2000 BTU/h.
At a flow rate of 1 L/min (what I use for a hour before bed to cool the room off) inlet temperature is 16 deg C and outlet temperature is 21 deg C. This corresponds roughly to 1200 BTU/h.
At a flow rate of 0.5 L/min (what I would use for “maintenance” after cooling the room off if it’s a hot night) inlet temperature is 16 deg C and outlet temperature is 23 deg C. This corresponds roughly to 800
BTU/h.
In terms of BTU/$, I can’t complain. If I’ve made any errors in my calculations, feel free to chastise me.
UPDATE: My school requires me to write a “work report” for every term of outside work experience during the coop program. I felt the only logical choice was to do it on the infamous homemade air conditioner. Hopefully referencing yourself in your work report (PDF) is looked upon kindly by admin…
Homemade Air Conditioning Plans and Pictures | ||
Original Design Geoff’s Homemade Air Conditioner Heat Exchanger Improvements Water Supply Improvements Technical Notes |
Other Designs Pete’s Homemade Air Conditioner Anonymous’ Homemade Air Conditioner Spencer’s Homemade Air Conditioner |
Final Design The Black Beauty |
is the homemade airconditioner the same as a evaporative air cooler?
Hi Jase – No, it is not. It’s a heat exchanger using water as a medium.
Geoff, I’m working on a version of the “Redneck AC using frozen milk jugs or other containers lying on top of the “cold side” of the loop, all contained in a Styrofoam ice chest. I’ll run a small freeze to freeze the containers. Any thoughts? Thatcher