Chasomatic,
I'm looking at the Frozen CPU site and they have a buttload of 12V fans. Any
clues for getting closer to what you're talking about?
Thanks,
Steve
--
There is a problem when the turnover in the United States House of
Representatives is lower than it was in the Soviet Politburo.
-- NATHANIEL PERSILY, election law expert at the University of
Pennsylvania Law School
On Jul 21, 2011, at 11:39 AM, Chasomatic wrote:
> I use the Home Depot bucket style of swamp cooler.
>
> My pumps come from Harbor Freight and they're Solar powered fountain
> pumps for outdoor gardens ($19.95). They have a pressure head of at
> least 3 feet and their own solar panel. Net power consumption ZERO!
> My fan comes from Frozen CPU, I can't remember the exact numbers right
> now but it's specially designed to give a column of air not the normal
> dispersal pattern. It draws 0.7 amps to run and puts out around 120
> cfm ($31 with shipping). It shoots the air out of the pipe.
>
> I think my total power use will be about 1.0 (.3 pump+.7 fan) amps per
> hour. Last year I didn't run the SC very late into the evening but it
> may be hotter this year. Maybe 8.5 watts per hour from my 10 watt
> solar panel/battery. It's close, but I may be a balanced power
> system.
>
> My first effort for this year's swamp cooler was a little weak, but I
> still have it. Has anyone built a chest from Hexayurt panels to keep
> beer cool? I think my small SC would be enough to work but I don't
> know how to calculate the potential temperature drop (would it be
> worth it?).
>
> any ideas
>
> On Jul 10, 8:20 am, Richard Ginn <[email protected]> wrote:
>> another way to have water flow down over the material is with a large
>> reservoir (plastic garbage can) above it that you refill by hand (bucket) as
>> needed. 50 gallons would trickle down all night maybe?
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:31 AM, ken winston caine <
>>
>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>> **
>>> Pretty amazing amount of pumping for 6 watts, Richard.
>>
>>> Still, if I'm running it 24 hours a day (along with the fan) during the
>>> current 100-plus degree days and high 70s to high 80s nights until about 4
>>> a.m. when finally it starts to cool down a little, I'm using 282 watts a
>>> day. That's 1/5 of the total electricity I have available each non-overcast
>>> day from my solar system. That's a pretty big bite and I can probably afford
>>> it only a day or two a week and keep the system healthy.
>>
>>> It's NOTHING if you're on the grid. And a wonderful savings compared to
>>> typical pumps.
>>
>>> Best,
>>> ken winston caine
>>
>>> P.S. Am going to look into it, anyway. Because it would be really nice to
>>> be able to use it if only from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. or so when the inside of my
>>> RV heats up into the middle 90s most days this time of year. My self-wicking
>>> coolers bring the air right in front of me and on my face down to the mid
>>> 80s while I'm working at my desk, which is much more tolerable than mid 90s.
>>> But if I could force more water into the pads, and add pads, I could get
>>> better cooling.
>>
>>> Have been meaning to hook up the Kill-a-Watt meter up to an aquarium pump
>>> and see what kind of wattage it draws. If it's less than 6 watts, I'll
>>> report that here. (Doubt that it will be.)
>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> *From:* Richard Ginn <[email protected]>
>>> *To:* [email protected]
>>> *Sent:* Saturday, July 09, 2011 10:21 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: [hexayurt] Windows and COOLING on the PLAYA
>>
>>> For 6 watts you can power a 12-volt CPU water cooling pump that is rated at
>>> 132 gallons per hour, and then you don't have to wick the water at all:
>>
>>> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6073/ex-pmp-53/Danger_Den_DD-CPX1_1...
>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM, ken winston caine <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>> Jack, I've experimented with developing a 7-watt, self-wicking swamp
>>>> cooler
>>>> that works pretty well.
>>
>>>> Haven't experimented with EVERY fabric known to man, but did find,
>>>> surprisingly, that absorbant paper towels tended to wick better than about
>>>> any cloth fabric I could test.But even., then, they tend to wick up only
>>>> about 6 inches above the water surface.
>>
>>>> What really helps is to hang them with open pleats facing the air source
>>>> and
>>>> allowing a tiny bit of air space between each hanging wick. That allows
>>>> the
>>>> air to pass between them a tiny bit. If using a high-efficiency,
>>>> low-wattage
>>>> 12v fan made for use in RVs and campers, having the open end of the pleat
>>>> facing the fan's exhaust also helps the pleats balloon a bit and speeds
>>>> evaporation.
>>
>>>> My design provides 8 to 10 degree cooling for about 5 feet in front of the
>>>> swamp cooler exhaust. So it's a personal cooler, not a room cooler.
>>>> Although
>>>> it does noticeably help cool the room a tiny bit, so long as you have
>>>> fresh
>>>> air vents in the room bringing in occasional super dry gusts. That's when
>>>> you notice the moisture evaporating in areas of the room other than
>>>> directly
>>>> in front of the cooler.
>>
>>>> The more folds of wicking material you can fit in your box (if buidling a
>>>> swamp cooler) the more cooling effect you'll get.
>>
>>>> Have yet to experiment with putting the fan on the top of the box, ponting
>>>> down at the wicks and water tray on the bottom. Am planning to test that
>>>> next.
>>
>>>> Have tried quite a few variations. Have found that the fan BEHIND the
>>>> wicks,
>>>> blowing air through them, provides better cooling than locating the fan in
>>>> front of the wicks so that it *draws* the air through the wicks.
>>
>>>> Also have found that having a larger intake opening than exhaust opening
>>>> seems to help a bit, too. About a 2::1 ratio has seemed best in my
>>>> experiments.
>>
>>>> You can do these with cardboard boxes and duct tape and rubber maid
>>>> shoe-box size plastic containers.
>>
>>>> The type of fan I use is this:
>>
>>>> http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/fan-tastic-endless-breeze-1...
>>
>>>> I also found at the end of summer about six years ago at a Wal Mart in
>>>> Albuquerque a season closeout price on Wal-Mart's "Ozark Trails" version
>>>> of
>>>> this fan and bought seven of them for $4 each and am using those in two of
>>>> my swamp cooler. They actually use less wattage than the Endless Breeze,
>>>> but
>>>> push slightly less air through, too.
>>
>>>> May have been four years ago I wrote here about Buckminster Fuller's
>>>> proven
>>>> "cooling effect," but have not yet heard of anyone experimenting with it
>>>> on
>>>> the playa with hexayurts.
>>
>>>> Fuller proved that putting a rain-capped stovepipe in the center of the
>>>> roof
>>>> of his circular dymation house or at the apex of the roof of a geodesic
>>>> dome, and then having open vents about 1 foot above floor level around the
>>>> walls of the building created an amazing, counter-intuitive cooling
>>>> effect.
>>>> The ratio of low-wall vent airflow capacity to roof vent was about 4 to 1,
>>>> if I recall correctly.
>>
>>>> What happens -- and Fuller demonstrated this multiple times, including in
>>>> a
>>>> dome at the equator built for the U.S. military -- is that as the ground
>>>> around the building and the walls of the building heat up as the sun beats
>>>> down, this creates a flow of warm air rising around the outside of the
>>>> building. That rising air creates suction at the floor level vents,
>>>> pulling
>>>> air out of the building. That causes a rush of air to be pulled down into
>>>> the building through the roof vent.
>>
>>>> Fuller said this phenomenon extends for hundreds of feet into the air
>>>> above
>>>> the building. So you have hot air rising in a circle around the building
>>>> and
>>>> COOL air from higher in the atmosphere hundreds of feet above the building
>>>> being sucked down the center of the invisible column.
>>
>>>> The cooling effect was commonly reported to be in the range of 20 degrees.
>>>> That is, the air coming in through the root pipe and dropping on the room
>>>> had an effect of cooling the room by about 20 degrees from its temperature
>>>> with the vents all closed.
>>
>>>> Pretty amazing. Completely passive (other than opening and closing vents).
>>>> And, other than the initial cost to build (the pvc or stove pipe and rain
>>>> cap and dampers), free.
>>
>>>> I say that this is counter intuitive because normally we expect interior
>>>> heat to rise and exit through a roof vent. And normally it does. And that
>>>> certainly helps exhaust heat from the room or building. But it doesn't
>>>> bring
>>>> in a nice, steady, flow of cool air that drops on the room from the
>>>> ceiling.
>>
>>>> Hope that helps inspire someone to experiment and report their results.
>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> ken winston caine
>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Jack Senechal" <[email protected]>
>>>> To: <[email protected]>
>>>> Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 3:19 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [hexayurt] Windows
>>
>>>> I've used metal tape to fix a plexiglass panel to the outside, and it
>>>> worked great. You could do two for better insulation, one inside and
>>>> one out. And if you have two panels of plexiglass, you can bolt
>>>> through them for extra solidity. But I think that might be overkill
>>>> for the Playa. Having the cutout in there to block the sun during the
>>>> part of the day when it shines in the window directly would probably
>>>> be a good idea.
>>
>>>> Regarding ventilation, I suspect that it would work well to generate
>>>> an updraft by installing a black chimney pipe in the roof. That would
>>>> draw air up when the sun shines on it, pulling it in through your
>>>> vents below.
>>
>>>> As an added bonus, you could put a damp cloth over the vent so air has
>>>> to pass through it, which would cool it down and moisturize the air.
>>>> You'd need a course fabric for that, something that's absorbent and
>>>> loosely woven so air could pass through well. You could drape the
>>>> bottom into a bucket of water, and it would wick it up continuously.
>>
>>>> I haven't actually tried those ventilation ideas to work out the kinks
>>>> yet, but I intend to do that this year. The principles behind it are
>>>> sound though :)
>>
>>>> Jack
>>
>>>> On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 11:20 AM, Milt Fisher <[email protected]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> I was planning to tape the filters to the outside after setting up. That
>>>>> way
>>>>> I could replace the cutouts during dust storms if too much dust came
>>>>> through
>>>>> the filters.
>>>>> Did you just have one filter? Was that enough to provide ventilation?
>>>>> On Jul 4, 2011, at 9:44 AM, Steve Upstill <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>>> Don't know if you're headed for the Playa, but I liked my hyurt nice and
>>>>> dark. I had great results with a furnace filter: cut a hole just small
>>>>> enough to hold the filter firmly. Bonus: you can still fold/stack your
>>>>> panels.
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Steve
>>>>> --
>>>>> Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you
>>>>> do
>>>>> criticize him, you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes.
>>
>>>>> On Jul 4, 2011, at 9:03 AM, Milt Fisher wrote:
>>
>>>>>> I'd like some recommendations for hexayurt windows. I'm not interested
>>>> in
>>>>>> framed, sliding windows with screens, just some plastic of some kind
>>>>>> taped
>>>>>> over a hole in the panel. Any recommendations on what kind of plastic
>>>> to
>>>>>> use? Thin plexiglas maybe? Or perhaps flexible vinyl?
>>
>>>>> Any other ideas for simple windows?
>>>>> I'm planning to tape the plastic to the outside and hinge the panel
>>>> cutout
>>>>> into the window opening so we can close it when we want darkness.
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Milt
>>>>> --
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>>
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