PDA

View Full Version : Home made Air con / Heat pump .



Simeonx1
06-10-2012, 02:18 AM
Need help coming up with the best design for a home made air con.

Reason . Gets really hot here in Australia .
I cant install a split system because im renting i live on the coast so evap coolers dont work.

RAC and portable air cons are expensive to buy and run. If i cant come up with anything better ill resort to this.

Need the design to be low power usage with better cooling effect than a standard fan.

I come up with this last summer
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Made-Freezer-Box-FridgeAir-con-/
The problem is you have alot of waste heat energy to get to rid of .

Every other home made "air con" Is pretty much a cooler box with ice in it and a fan with a copper coil around it and just pumps the cold water to the fan coil. This is not practical because the ice melts .
All of them pretty much work like this. With ice melting and needing a top up. http://detectenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Homemade-air-conditioner1.jpg

________________________

Design 1 .
Under the house is normally 10c to 15c or 50f to 59f temp difference or more after my house heats up and holds in the heat . So i was thinking of running 30metres of clear hose up and down the house on the ground and with a water pump pump it to a modified indoor coil sitting on a table.

Design 2 .
Use a old fridge/freezer to cool water over night and in the morning and have coils of copper inside coiled around a 50mm cylinder of pvc pipe or something for a heat exchanger. Then pump the cool water to a fan and coil .

Or use both these methods .

_________

Do you guys have any better ideas or Any ways i could improve mine .
What would work better ?
Is there an easier way ?

monkey spanners
06-10-2012, 12:50 PM
Best place to start is with the required cooling duty, once you know this it would be prudent to check to see if your proposed system has any hope of getting near this duty befroe you start construction.

A portable or window rattler unit might not seem so bad in comparison then.

install monkey
06-10-2012, 11:43 PM
drink antifreeze! reduce ur core body temp!!:confused:

Need help coming up with the best design for a home made air con.

Reason . Gets really hot here in Australia .
I cant install a split system because im renting i live on the coast so evap coolers dont work.

RAC and portable air cons are expensive to buy and run. If i cant come up with anything better ill resort to this.

Need the design to be low power usage with better cooling effect than a standard fan.

I come up with this last summer
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Made-Freezer-Box-FridgeAir-con-/
The problem is you have alot of waste heat energy to get to rid of .

Every other home made "air con" Is pretty much a cooler box with ice in it and a fan with a copper coil around it and just pumps the cold water to the fan coil. This is not practical because the ice melts .
All of them pretty much work like this. With ice melting and needing a top up. http://detectenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Homemade-air-conditioner1.jpg

________________________

Design 1 .
Under the house is normally 10c to 15c or 50f to 59f temp difference or more after my house heats up and holds in the heat . So i was thinking of running 30metres of clear hose up and down the house on the ground and with a water pump pump it to a modified indoor coil sitting on a table.

Design 2 .
Use a old fridge/freezer to cool water over night and in the morning and have coils of copper inside coiled around a 50mm cylinder of pvc pipe or something for a heat exchanger. Then pump the cool water to a fan and coil .

Or use both these methods .

_________

Do you guys have any better ideas or Any ways i could improve mine .
What would work better ?
Is there an easier way ?

Tesla
07-10-2012, 12:34 AM
Hi simonx1
I rent in Sydney and got hold of a RAC about 6 years ago which was too small but it brought the temp down from 35degC to 26degC in the bedroom so it was good enough for me to get a good nights sleep. That one rusted out last year but it only cost me $200. Last year I got 2 RACS with reverse cycle and remotes @ 2.7kWs each for $400. For $800 it cools to 22deC on a day over 40degC with cheap heating in the winter. For all the hassle involved I strongly recommend getting an RAC - you might find a cheaper one on ebay, I got mine from a seconds factory outlet in Parramatta.

install monkey
07-10-2012, 12:55 AM
chest freezer 1/2 filled with water, freeze overnight then with the lid opened and a desk fan - cheapest option i can think of

Simeonx1
07-10-2012, 04:24 AM
thanks for your inputs. monkey spanners your probably right but some kind of system would take the edge of . i guess if there is to much heat energy probably wouldn't feel much different .

chest freezer idea sounds simple . but then you have a chest freezer in your room ha. i was thinking of having fridge in the other room or outside in the shade and pump the cold water in ..

Prob end up trying to get an old air con and fix it.

How about i get a split system and put ply on the back of it and sandwich it in the window with another piece of ply .

new problem is i share a house with other people so any normal air con courses issues with extra energy usage . trying to split the bill when it comes. Mybe ill get a watt measuring device plug it into just the air con so i can calculate it .

The other reason i kinda wanted to make an air con . was to see if there was a low energy usage system out there . Because we need a greener option to air con .
But i guess geothermal cooling system would be the best. Would have to have pipes deep enough underground to get a good cooling effect. Asoon as cost out ways the gains its not worth it .

I guess the world is doomed by all the millions of air cons using up power.