I'm just concerned about people wandering off and leaving the battery to get
depleted--but if an easy solution doesn't present its'ef I'm willing to go with
it as it is. We''ll see!
Cheers,
Steve
--
All God's children are not beautiful. Most of God's children are, in fact,
barely presentable.
-- Fran Lebowitz
On Aug 16, 2011, at 3:50 PM, ken winston caine wrote:
> Steve, the float on a swamp cooler keeps the upper reservoir full of water.
> It only opens the valve to the water supply when the reservoir is running
> low. So basically, it does the opposite of what you're asking about.
>
> Depending upon what pump you are using, you may not need to worry about
> running it dry. If the pump can handle running dry (pumping air) without
> overheating or otherwise self-destructing, then the only real consequences of
> running out of water are:
>
> 1 - You'll waste energy. Powering a pump that's not pumping anything useful.
>
> 2 - You'll lose evaporative cooling.
>
> That's usually a tip-off that you notice pretty quickly. The fan is blowing
> hot outside air on you instead of moist, cooler air.
>
> Pretty quickly you'll get used to the feel and sound of a dry unit operating.
> Pumps pumping air usually make a distinct rattle-like noise. And you'll get a
> pretty good idea of how long a fill-up lasts, so you can monitor it
> effectively.
>
> Hope that helps,
> ken
>
> On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 4:32 PM, Steve Upstill <[email protected]> wrote:
> As I put my swamp cooler together I'm starting to get concerned about running
> it dry. What if anything are people doing to cut it off when the water gets
> low? Is the float switch mentioned below relevant? If so, anybody have any
> specifics?
>
> 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 17, 2011, at 8:14 PM, hooperstack wrote:
>
> > I built and used a swamp cooler for my Hexayurt in 09' that worked
> > great to keep the yurt cool. I roughly used the design found here:
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasdesertlife/sets/72157605888462649/
> > using a float switch to fill an upper reservoir thereby keeping the
> > pump operation to a minimum, as I was running off a solar setup. If
> > you're on a limited power budget, this system is a good way to go.
> > Here's a picture of it:
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasdesertlife/sets/72157605888462649/
> >
> > On Jul 10, 9:20 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
> >>>>> --
> >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed
> >>
> >> ...
> >>
> >> read more ยป
> >
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