How To Cool Your House For 42 Cents A Day - Without A/C !!
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- čas přidán 1. 08. 2013
- How to build a homemade air conditioner / evaporative cooler. I made this cooling system to save money on my summer electric bill. I used some wood scraps, a pond pump, some evaporative cooler pad, and a box fan to make a working swamp cooler air conditioning unit. It can achieve indoor temperatures that are 20+ degrees lower than outside temps.
World's chepeast " evap" cooler. Needs some beautification and flashing to prevent that wall from rotting but I dig your Ingenuity!
from 90 to 70 degrees? pretty impressive, at least worked for him, and the comments are very useful too, hate videos where they disable comments, not a trust-inspiring move at all
Sometimes it's CZcams that disables them.
I dislike any video that has manually disabled comments and I don’t watch them further after finding out
@@bigbossadidoss8678 exactly :)
One suggestion: Use a solar panel to power the water pump. It will stop automatically when the heat goes away (aka the Sun!) and it will start working again the next day as soon as the heat starts (aka the Sun!)
Thank you for this pretty neat idea and greetings from Portugal.
SOLAR IS KING!!!
@Jerry Moody yeah lets go spend $45K on solar panels.
and yeah because with no sun its cold out right? How come its 85 degrees at night? Some areas its 90+. Wonder how it can be so warm with no sun? lol Fucking dumb youtube kids. Have no clue.
The heat does not stop even at night in Az it’s still 100° at night or 40°C
@@miltowncorey only when the sun shines
Great Idea, I live in Phoenix and the first home I lived in here had a swamp cooler in addition to the AC. In desert environments you can get very comfortable cooling for a lot cheaper than AC. As an added bonus, it humidifies the dry desert air. You have a nice aftermarket solution. Consider using a toilet fill valve in your collection bucket with the pump to auto-fill the reservoir tank. That could save you trips to refill it during the day.
You should use some tin roofing where the water makes contact with your house your siding is gonna rot
I noticed that also
many a wider frame and the mesh contained better inside so there isn't any contact with the window frame. many a little silicone, good to go. I'm pretty sure this was just a proof of concept that he knocked up to test for a later, better constructed unit.
Yep, and that wooden frame ain't gonna last too long.
Once the house falls down it will feel much cooler inside the perimeter so its not all bad
lol
Comrade, try small amount vodka in swamp water to kill bacteria!
Oh come on my comrad we are all just comrades ah?
Da bratuka
Blyat
I am a HUGE proponent of evaporative cooling (or as we call them swamp coolers). Honestly, I have two of them on my house here in the Mojave desert and a couple of spare units I got for cheap.
I like your homemade swamp cooler, the only issues I have with this setup are...
#1 as others have noted evap coolers do not work well in humid environments, so this is something for those of us in the desert southwest and almost nowhere else.
#2 I have to say that while your house got really cool, surprisingly cool, I have always found the swap cooler pads that use poplar shavings to cool better by having much more surface area to evaporate water from than the accordion paper type.
#3 Blowing cool air into the attic spaces is really brilliant, cooled air not only cools the house but it cools the attic keeping the house cooler still. I would however use a more industrial fan to push the air into the attic. I bought a nice new industrial fan that was missing it's front screen
and pedestal to do exactly that for my attic for $60... (basically a nice $300 fan with a heavy motor to run constantly for years)
Pushing humid air into the attic and out the vents is asking a lot of an inexpensive box fan.
#4 I would create a plastic (not wood) frame for your cooler pads maybe made from corrugated plastic (political signs use that a lot and can be gotten free after an election), I would also create a plastic back splash for your cooler drain tray (same corrugated plastic stuff). You may or may not get a leak into your framing from your cooler as it is, but carpenter ants are attracted to moist wood, moisture attracts other bugs too. Stucco is fairly porous AND bad things happen to stucco that stays wet for long periods of time (turns crumbly) especially if you have hard water. Heck, never mind stucco, hard water attacks concrete as well. Trust me, I have lived in this house for 30 years and I'm still amazed at what one summer leak did to my patio under the corner with the leak.
Oh, one last thing obviously your system is working pretty well for you, but I have experienced the pitfalls of swamp coolers and one of the biggest bugaboos for proper cooling is areas of dried cooler pad. Any areas on the pad that aren't getting fully soaked with water are creating a path of least resistance, even small areas of dried pad can reduce the efficiency of your pads this way. It's another reason I like poplar better as even with a plugged wetting hole the poplar tends to absorb water from surrounding areas better than paper.
MISTERComaToes Hi- did u make one w ur specs? Good points! Does it work better? I'm from same region as u.
MISTERComaToes n
Is it good
MISTERComaToes you should make a video...🤣
💯🔥💯🔥💯🔥
dang, so much hate on this video! I think that you projects, if nothing else, inspires great DIY projects that people can try themselves (and make the improvements they find on their own). no need for hate.
Jesus ppl the guy shared a home project with a helpful mindset and this is bashing he deserves? I mean it's not perfect but is all this hate necessary?
Cheezes101 that's because a lot of people on the internet are stupid
Granted, this is showing that this is something that works. But there's a good chance that he's somewhere that things like humidity isn't so much a factor, and then being on the service end of things as a technician/mechanic, people really don't think much of these things until something goes horribly wrong
It's not the video, it's the sad state of their lives.
Cheezes101 - Criticism is necessary and important in the process of developing any technology.
Kenneth Geisler, criticing is fine and helpful. Bashing is not. Bashing is done by people that can't do shit right and they want others to not succeed because they can't.
Its very similar to a desert cooler, which we use here in India. I'm not sure, but I think the cooler pad here is made from Khas, so it doesn't mould and gives the whole house a very earthy ("after rain") fragrance. The only problem is that the cooler would increase the humidity in your room a lot and that may start affecting your gadgets, especially if you have a desktop in the same room
And even then only in high desert situations. In low desert they’re as miserable as humid areas.
Put out some activate charcoal in small laundry basket or container with small holes.soak up excess moisture without dehumidifiers
I understand everyone's concern about mold and other potential problems, but I like this guy's creativity! Kudos to him for thinking outside the grid.....maybe he or someone else will be able to make improvements. His creativity is what made America great.
Hi, Jake and Jennie! This is Jermey McGuire from Lake Corpus Christi, Texas.
I like how you got creative how to keep the house cool tho, that will not work down here in South Texas. It gets extremely hot in the summer… i have a 2 story house and the evaporative cooler trick will not work.”
You must have A/C
It costs more too cool your house, it’s worth it!! I previously had an old Lennox XC16 air conditioner that gave out. The unit was 15 years old, the furnace was completely gone. Except for the blower motor was still good.
I had it replaced last July, the summer before last the high pressure switch tripped. Had to get a tech to reset the switch. The Lennox air conditioner use to cool the upstairs.”
I had to replace both air conditioners the downstairs a/c stopped working in March I got 2 brand new indoor and outdoor a/c and heating units now, I can stay cool and comfortable in the summer!!
Love it. Put a solar panel on the roof and you've got cooling for free!
Not practical here in Houston because the humidity is so high.
billybassman21 you're right, in humid areas, evaporative cooling doesnt work.
billybassman21 Your somewhat right , but if you put ice in the water, cool humid air is better than warm humid aid
If you add some potted dwarf trees around those sunny windows, and near the evap. cooler, you will be able to drop the temp at least another 10 degrees. You have to refill the outside tank because of the evap. due to the direct sunlight. Thanks for posting, going to try it here. The whole house fan is a good idea too, like the ancient tech, using a "cooling tower" effect to draw hot air up, but without electricity. They also cooled with "evap. coolers" - hanging gardens and piped water.
Keep an eye on your foundation though with the water running down the outside after you removed the evap. cooler.
Out west it works, they have units they still sell. It is not for the humid areas of the country for sure. I stayed in a motel in Cal in the eighties. They had Sears swamp coolers in the windows, the water was piped into them. It worked pretty good, not as good as ac of course. Seen them in old stuff, like mobile homes, aftermarket car units and houses all out west in Cal. Always liked the idea, thought it was novel.
it only works good in arid climate but basically its a swamp cooler if you tried that in a place like st.louis when you have 95%humidity it's not going to work
Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I'm from NC and it's been 100 degrees here all week with extreme humidity. I've been looking a way to cool off my barn that I work in and it's just unbearable out here. Humidity suckssss
I'm with ya on that.
and I live in it!
try Atlanta suburbs 100%humidity all summer
Joseph Atnip it's interesting from the standpoint of how people come up with similar solutions. Unfortunately this isn't a new concept
Anyone else find the sound of the running water relaxing?
I do
I think it would be annoying
Yes
Made me feel like I needed to pee.
Makes a simple, inexpensive wall fountain!
That's some grade-a cheapskating!! I'd never do it myself but I love that he did.
I don’t know why I got this video , but it’s cool. No pun intended.
When I lived in San Diego (Pacific Beach), I never need AC, the climate was perfect. A friend who lived in El Cajon had something similar to what you created. He called it a swamp cooler,
Frankly, even when the Santa Ana winds were blowing and the temp short up into the 100s, I never really felt a great need for AC. Just slept on the porch. (No mosquitos, another nice thing about SD).
Regrettably, I back on the east coast, and can't live comfortably without AC. Evaporative cooling is useless. You can't imagine how much water my AC extracts from my home every day.
Can't you just buy a window mounted evap cooler? The professional ones are probably more burglar proof.
Callahan Covington good point lmao
Soaking your stucco will rot your frame if your house isn't properly wrapped (or built prior to that practice) to drain water from the inside of the stucco. Stucco is water permeable.
Yup, water is the enemy of any house... I hope he is renting and the landlord does not know.
I think the landlord may know by now.
Works great in the right climate! I bought a real cooler, a 5000 cfm unit in 2002 for about $225 and after 19 seasons, I've done surprisingly little maintenance on it. Still original pump and motor. Changed the belt twice. Just change the filters every year for about $11. Now, at HD, they sell for $650 and up. I cannot believe this video is 7 years old. I remember watching this years ago. I knew I was saving a ton of money over using multiple window A/C units. Now I'm curious just how much it did cost me. But, after 19 seasons, I'm moving to a humid climate and won't be able to use one. I should have banked the savings!
I believe in the earlier days, our ancestors was also very innovative on staying cool in hot weather, but using natural "technology". On the other side of the spectrum, we have this extremely sustainable method! Great idea....infinite respect! - TRI
Evap cooling works best when the DEW POINT is below 50F (experts say 55F) and the outside air temperature is below 110F. I would be concerned about the water on the wall at the bottom of the pads. Water will migrate into the wall and cause water damage. Also, the wood will rot in one season due to the exposure to water. You do bring up a good point - that the air inside the house will get damp and muggy if you don't exhaust the air after it passes through the pads.
Dan Burch Use cedar wood to build frame and paint with enamel to create durable construction. Unpainted cedar will last for years exposed to water, as it loves wet. Those concerned with his wall fail to realize that this is a BETA test and not a finished product ready for Walmart Retail Sales. Refinement of this idea is sure to make a home run!
C0Y0TE5 Use components from vinyl house siding and/or cement board (Hardyboard) ripped to appropriate size. Seal wood parts with that spray sealer advertised on TV. Create a frame that offsets the evap panels away from the wall of the house, so drainage does not touch wall. Use silicone to seal areas where you want to keep water away. etc..... I wish some folks here would THINK & try to offer solutions more than bitch and criticize.
I couldn't agree more, C0Y0Te5!!
C0Y0TE5 I am think how I could down size this and use just in my bed room at night....
Don Williams Remember you need to continually exhaust the moist air. See those homemade air conditioners where an insulated cooler is used with a block of ice inside. Make that, and place near an open window so it can draw warm dry outside air. Make sure there is enough open window(s) to exhaust moist air.
-If you live where it cools nicely at night, a simple box fan sucking the house air out at one window will cause cool night air to enter through the rest. I use one of those powerful big fans that Costco used to sell for $60. That means everyone in family needs to sleep with open bedroom doors so as not to cut air flow. Some may not like that idea. I live in mountains, so it could be 35c days, but usually cools to 16c nights.
-If you have bi-level house, remember that heat rises, so open upstairs windows and heat will naturally flow out, while cooler heavier air will come in the lower level windows.
-If you have poorly insulated unsealed concrete basement, moisture from the earth will travel through the walls causing the basement to cool. I use a fan to push that cool air up the stairs during the day. Hang a large wet towel in air flow to increase cooling.
I know how WELL this works because I grew up in Phoenix & a friend of mine's Dad made something similar. The only difference was that he used a tarp or something around the window to protect the sill & the adobe wall which isn't as sturdy as stucco. I don't remember what the frame looked like, I just remember him removing it to wash it & squirting us with the hose as we ran around the yard giggling. Our house had a "swamp cooler" on the roof, but my friend's house was always much cooler than ours. It's a blessing to be so handy!
Haha, I heard somebody say once that if you aren't handsome, you better be handy :)
That was Red Green from the PBS show of the same name who said that...along with "The Man's Prayer" which is HYSTERICAL! The quote is something like, "Well, if the women don't find you handsome, at least they'll find you handy!"
***** the idea for sure is nice. but how much noise does the fan in your walk in cupboard make? sounds awful loud to me? and the wet patch on the house wall? better to cover it up before it gets wet right through.
Great video. Loved it! FOR THE RECORD, I LIVE CALIFORNIA. THIS “WORKS”FOR ME!!!”
Thank you
Try emergency blankets. They reflect 97% heat back.
Hey you should try using a solar panel for your pond pump and house fan. You can get one cheep at Harbor Freight.
Then your net cost to run world be zero!
So you built your own swamp cooler. Year over year eventually damage will occur to the bottom of that wall. That will cost you more in the long run to repair that vs the electric bills your saving on now. You should tarp off that on the bottom of the pads on the outside to keep your wall dry. What about security of your house when your not home. Easy access for a burglar. Also once the dew point rises this will not work. I live in Arizona and have a swap cooler so I know. I get about 2 months of use out of my evap cooler. Have to switch back to AC when dew point is about 45 degrees or more. Really depends on outside temps and dew point. We can have 20 degree dew points but today 6/03/16 will be 112 degrees, swamp won't cut it. It would be 84 or more in my house. Back to AC till temps drop 10 degrees. Kudos to you for effort though.
Brilliant idea for those with dry climate ( less than 40% humidity). Using moisture to cool whole house as well as attic. Radiant heat up attic up to 140 or more and humidity can get as low as 10%. Good job pal. Keep up the good work.
Improvement on the build is needed and I dont think the poster was sharing his build but rather his idea of cooling. For those have better tools and appropriate materials for wet application, definitely can build a self contain box for better aesthetic look and long term use.
Again, thanks for sharing this video and idea
Dude is smart and witty. Thanks for the video bro!
I did a different take on the evap cooling effect. I took my garden hose and ran it up the rain gutter down flow pipe. Then pulled it up to the crown of my house. Then I got several hundred feet of clear gardening misting tubing. Along the ridge of my roof I ran the tubing back and forth several times securing it with a hot glue gun every foot or so. I ended up with four coils back and forth on each side of the ridge in a horizontal pattern. Back at the garden hose I screwed on a simple splinter, one for each side of the roof ridge. Then I set the electric timer on the outside faucet to trigger every 30 minutes. It flowed for 2 minutes and then turned off. The water misted the whole surface of my sun heated roof. The water then evaporated and cooled my whole house by about 25° to 35°F. The flow is set just right so there is no residual water to rot anything and has worked perfectly for the last 7 1/2 years. I pay roughly an extra 9$ to 12$ a month for the extra water. No electric bill for air conditioning at all. The money I saved helped me to pay of my property 5 years early!
That is an wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing it. I have wanted to do something similar for a long time, but haven't got around to it. Anyone who has ever been in an attic on a hot day can imagine how much heat comes in through the roof.
this answered a question that I've had for years - I was told that the wear on roof shingles comes from their expanding and shrinking during the day due to heat - my concern about water cooling seems misplaced if you have had no harm in seven years. Thanks - we put a powered attic fan in and it alone saves us over a hundred dollars a month in the summer time months.
Sometimes the COMMENTS section is better than the video.... as exemplified by your comment. Nice thinking outside the box! You might also be interested in reading about the "White Roof Experiment" on the website builditsolar.com For about 20 bucks of hydrated lime, your attic temperatures can be reduced from 150F down to about 95F... without wetting down the roof at all!
Wasting water !
Renewable Rebecca Then so is the concept in this video as that water evaporates throughout the day like he said.
I cut my electric in half by getting three 180 watt solar panels, a 500 watt grid tie inverter, and 50 feet of mc4 cables and six mc4 Y connections. Total cost was about 760. Very simple to hook up, basically plug up the panels and plug the inverter into a 110v outlet. 😉
If the power ever goes out there is the real concern of back feeding the power lines. Granted, 500 watts isn't to much, but some folks are running serious backup power and can easily shock/kill a lineman servicing the lines when he suspects they have no power on them.
That evap system is efficent. Good god a 21 degree split from a pond pump and box fan. smart video!
I liked your whole house fan and your ceiling fan installations.
I have some ideas that I would like to share with you to lower your internal home temperature:
1- Awning
2- White roof
3- Attic insulation
4- Roof fan
5- ERV
Have you considered placing a wrap around wooden deck with a 6 to 8 feet awning? This will block a large amount of heat from heating your house walls, and it should drop the internal house temperature.
I would, also, consider a white roof to reflect sunlight along with installing high R-value attic insulation.
These will cost nothing to operate once installed, and you and your family might enjoy sitting out in the porch late in the afternoon.
You might consider, also, a roof extractor to take hot air from the attic. They cost nothing to operate.
Finally, an ERV might cool the outside air while bringing in cool air. This is the only portion consuming electricity.
Evaporative coolers dont work in high humidity areas (the south).
+John Rambo Yeah, there are definitely climates that are good and bad for this type of system
+John Rambo Southeast maybe. But Southwest is probably perfect for this.
+Earthbjorn Nahkaimurrao I live in San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles). There used to be lots of uses around here for evaporative cooling, but not any more. 50 years ago you'd see a lot of houses with it, and cars, too. There were these cylindrical things that hung on car windows, and they were evap coolers, powered by movement of the car. Further back, in the '20s and '30s, there was a thing they called a Desert Submarine. This was a small sheet metal building covered with burlap, with a sprinkler on the roof. It had no windows, only a door, and it was used at night for sleeping. The sheet metal kept out the wetness, and the wet burlap cooled the building. Today it's too humid, but apart from that, there's another problem with evap cooling. It draws water, which, in lots of places, is at a premium today. If you've got water rationing, as we do, you might just find yourself getting fined by your city's water dept.
It's how the swamp fans work that we used during our 'sandbox' deployments. However, the good thing about ac is that it 'conditions' the air in the home (less allergens, less humidity, no rotting walls and floors (= less chance of black mold), etc. I'd say you'd be better off looking to use a diesel genset. But, aside from the prototype that will eventually lead to structural problems due to water damage, it's an interesting idea.
Wow! This cooling system is simple and easy to build. I like the unselfish attitude of the guy in the video, in that he explained how one can get materials and assemble this.
Love the comments, so much people talking out their ass. As a mechanical engineer, this has been proven to work many times. We usually see this more in 3rd world countries rather than here in the US because we have complex walls that require an air condition unit/ dehumidifier to remove humidity from the house to prevent mold, rust on electronics, and the such. Well done chap.
fix it so that water does not get on your wall. it will seep into the materials and damage them. youre gonna spend more money repairing the dmg from that than you will by spending some cash on making that thing so it doesnt leak onto the stucco and into the dry wall and lumber and insulation.
glad I'm not the only one to notice the water on the wall
My thoughts exactly.
When the black mold sets in and spreads through all the rot. $13 a month turns into thousands. He needs to engineer this a little more and make it a simi-sealed system.
Christopher Wortman
Rain won't be a problem as it isn't such a continuous runoff like this system.
you also can replace the pump system with an evaporation return set up, which uses no electricity, beyond the fan needed to exract hot air from inside of the house or apartment, but maybe you can power fan with solar panels these days
Evaporative coolers are most effective at high altitude locations. Outside air must be brought in, and (ideally) an exhaust opening to the outside located at the highest ceiling. Your solution is a nearly perfect system. An electrostatic filter on the input side may be a good addition.
Note that evaporative cooling does not work really well at low altitudes. They make a great sauna. ;-)
There is a big crack on your stucco you may want to patch that before you grow mold inside your walls.
It's Doing Great Job for what he wants it to do. All the people poo poo'ing the project assume he won't notice any defects like rotting walls , flashing , molds growing etc. You should all be ashamed of yourselves as I am sure he would take remedial actions to combat any bad effects that start occurring over time. Obviously the system is not being used in St. Louis or any other place where a humid climate exists so criticizing him for operating in a climate where it does work seems just mean spirited. If someone listened to the audio and understood that he said the air is drawn through the entire house and out thru the roof fan , you'd realize the temperature would perhaps not be quite as cool in other places but the speed of air flow would keep the temperature within probably five to ten degrees of the temp noted on the table near the evap unit. Cruelty seems to be more the topic here as some people just seem mean spirited ......
I think the guy's idea is good he's probably refined it some by now he could also switch it from one window to another giving the window and siding stucco that is time to dry so it won't rot if he moves it around and you also noted he's in a dry climate probably will dry quickly he also said he doesn't run it all the time so it probably will dry out.
Evaporative coolers are very effective and popular here, in arid , dry climates. But as the humidity rises, they become ineffective. I am myself working on something to reduce the humidifying effect of a simple evaporative cooler.
Congratulations, you just rediscovered evaporative cooling... which has been around for more than 2000 years.
Your build opens a few new ways to approach home cooling. Thanks for sharing!
I have meat rabbits and here in AZ it gets really hot ! I think this would be a perfect cheap way to cool the rabbits and not cost an arm and a leg ! Thank you so much for this idea it is genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will keep my rabbits very cool and happy :)
What's a meat rabbit, MiKi?
You must live way out on the Westside! Or way East. Do you have a farm? No rooster? Did you see my foul street video? It's off of Osborne and 36-ish street. Peacocks to everything else. Usually you have to drive 3 miles an hour to keep from running them over, but I think someone told them I was going to record them, so they hid.
lolol no I don't live on a farm in fact I live in a neighborhood with an HOA lololol but looking for land out East probably Maricopa area not sure yet :)
So Maricopa the town, or county?
lol I am actually closer to Casa Grande
Hey man, nice project!!! I like people like you who have an idea and executes it!!! It's an awesome project!!
So in my opinion. Change all the wood to a plastic, make a plastic surround for anything that touches the house and seal any part of the house from getting wet. Get a filter for the pump, get a filter type cover for the tote. And put a filter on the fan into the attic. Outside of that, actually not a bad idea. But protect the house it will rot and mold. Seriously though. Upgraded a bit I like the idea.
And I love the solar cement, and you can get tablets or blocks that work for the light bleach solution comment. I'm in Arizona so I understand the heat. If you are as well I could help you with the upgrades.
All you need to do is clean up the bottom drop area so you don't loose so much water onto your house and ground. Add a lid. This alone will cut evaporation to one top up a day. Also make the drip bar so you can hit it with a bottle/tube brush every couple of weeks and as it stands you can pressure wash the mesh without much trouble. if you're providing accurate information then good on ya. Nice work. I'm too old to go through all this trouble but you can pay for a house with the money you save.
Clearly you live somewhere hot and dry. This approach wouldn't work where I live as it is too humid outside. Sadly, I would have mold growing on living room walls.
Great solution for your part of the country. Thanks for the video.
is it ok for the wall to get constantly watered? i think its not...
+amigi5001
it may lead to foundation issues
+amigi5001 if you know how to build, that shoiuldnt be an issue. i would find a solution for that.
+amigi5001 Well it gets watered all winter anyway so I don't thing the consequences will be too dire. But as far as a finished product goes (this was just something I put together in a couple days) I should eliminate that leakage. BTW your avatar reminds me of a trip to las vegas.
marcite not stucco is for pools. and stucco will start to crumble very quickly if it is not sealed with something like elastomeric paint.
+Jennies Garage Awesome job dude. Two observations...the 2nd to improve you cooler.
1. Flow through a nozzle is proportional to the pressure (low in this case). Your inclined distribution header helps level out that pressure to....level out the flow across the face of the evaporative cooler pad.
2. As a cheap guy, get a toilet float valve and plumb it up to keep your water reservoir filled. No daily maintenance. Just the toilet part and a dedicated hose.
History repeating itself. We did the same thing during and long after WW2. Only difference was we used hessian bags and suspended them between the top and bottom sash windows. As we had no electricity, we just filled a metal tube which dripped water onto the bags; and you are right, they worked remarkably well. Keep up your good work. Necessity is the mother of invention :-)
God bless the smart meter.👅 Your wife is a Saint you better keep her.I'm an off the grid type fellow, myself so I get it.😂
that cement wall is in trouble
For those of us who live in humid climates, I wonder if this would work? Get or make a long, widish aluminum rectangular box about two feet tall, place some kind of material like copper "wool" inside that touches the bottom to the ceiling of the box, place water or alcohol (or blend) inside, and on one end of the box on a side, have a hole for a fan to be placed facing in, and on the opposite side have a smaller hole connected to a tube that can be run/vented outside. Raise the rectangular box off the ground by only by the corners. Have another fan blowing on the box.
Run a dehumidifier a lot, especially at night when it's cooler but also more humid, and during the day run the fan on the aluminum box. The evaporation that takes place inside the Al box will quickly conduct it's loss of heat energy to the very conductive metal before most of it's blown out the other end, and the tube at the other end will transfer the moisture laden air outside. The copper wool or metal evaporation pads are to make sure the conduction is taking place throughout the box and not just where the water directly contacts the Al. It will conduct the cooling to to the top of the Al box as well. It might even create a wicking action for the water and more surface area for the water to evaporate speeding up the process (which would help since it's enclosed). Otherwise, the air inside would tend to insulate the top of the box too much.
The other fan is obviously to further disperse the cooled Al surfaces and the air cooling around it.
If you live in a very humid area, then you could make both the fan intake area smaller, and the vent tube even smaller, and use pure alcohol, which evaporates much faster/easier than water and is much less humidity dependent, but that might not be cost effective in the long run. You might be able to get a sweet spot with the size of the fan and vent tube balanced just right, to only allow a little evaporation at a time (relatively speaking). I would experiment with two boxes, one optimized for water use and one for alcohol. If using alcohol, be sure to use pure grain type, because even with the fan running, you'll likely get some fumes in the air from that end, and you definitely don't want to be breathing in rubbing and other type of alcohol fumes (though rubbing is essentially ethanol, but with poisonous additives so people won't drink it, it might be safer fume wise than drinking wise?).
Whole House Fan method needs an air flow plan. That is, not just open all windows.
Ideally, you want only one intake open (but may need more than one depending on the layout of your floor plan)
AND
you want sufficient attic vents to allow the fan to push air without too much resistance.
Standard box fan is probably insufficient for most homes. Best to have want 3000-4000 CFM for every 1000 sq ft of floor. A strong shop fan or barrel fan is usually required to get proper amount of air circulation.
Even reaching outside temperature throughout the house, It can still get warm by late afternoon, early evening
so 1-4 hours of A/C may still be needed. To turn on A/C you should only need to close the one intake(see above).
This seems like it would work well in a place with a dry climate, but here on the Texas Coast that's hot and humid I'm not sure.
The idea is great but the constant water on the house, frame and foundation will attract termites, mold and rot. You might save a few bucks on cooling the house but you are going to spend a fortune on repairs.
That’s exactly right. This setup is very incomplete and needs a large amount of good ole fashioned redesign. Needs to be thought out a lot better and also, I suspect this only works in dryer climates. The southern humidity would render this absolutely worthless. What is actually 69 degrees becomes 76 with that humidity and it would be worse with a water evap system
I see a couple of things with this worth looking into if it does cool your house:
1. Algae: find out how to control that
2. Humidity in your wall. That is host for a lot of critters, besides ruining the wall
3. The design could be improved and therefore make it less messy
4. Wood and water don't go very well together. Try aluminum.
I always look forward to your videos. Thank you for sharing this DIY method of cooling in dry climates. It is inventive, yet simple enough anyone can put it together and improve upon it any way they wish. One day, those of us who live in humid climates will break the code for cooling our areas as cheaply too! Not sure there is enough desiccant in the world for that though! lol
Looks good as a start, personally I would rather have the bucket inside and waterproof the hell out of all the materials used, too much water on wood here, mold and rot would be a major issue.
Hi, tried to be conscious about the water on the interior. That's why the cooler media is on the outside, so if there was any runoff it wouldn't get on the interior sill. Thanks!
I applaud you. I hate those haters. To get even with them, I am subscribing to your channel!
AmiFriendsStudio I appreciate that. Thanks for the sub!
Very envious ... could never do it, but watched the whole video. Fascinating. I'm sitting here in 98* in FL with a broken a/c. Made me feel cooler just watching it and listening to trickling water.😓
An old laundrymat in my last hometown had a swamp cooler here in Michigan. It was so cool in there. I loved doing laundry there. I forgot about it until now. I will build one next year.
How long did it take before you got water infiltration and mildew inside your walls ?
its a nice concept but eventually the water on the wall will really mess your foundation but i think you can make it better , not to cause any damage to your house over the long time
I would be concerned with bugs and such getting in the house through the loose filter, security of the house from break-ins, mold and mildew, and water damage to the house. However, I applaud you for trying to find a better way to cool your house on the cheap. Most places still resort to a/c, swamp coolers, fans, or nothing. Thanks for your ideas.
Grandad had a swamp cooler back in 50's 60's, worked great in northwest louisiana during hot humid months. cooled the whole house.
Great idea but all that water going down your wall is going to destroy it. Mold aside that water is soaking into the paint, drywall, ect.
Easy fix just put hard plastic tablecloth from the bottom of the frame to the bucket that will solve the soaking problem
Have you tried putting any different liquids in the tank? Like maybe Kool-aid?
Dong Donger In Desert climes some folks use something like this to convert salt ocean water to fresh, while at the same time creating air conditioning to regulate temps in a greenhouse environment. The moist air is condensed in a dark cool end of the greenhouse, the fresh water collected and stored. So yes, jokes aside, other liquids work fine. I wonder what would happen if one evap-ped single malt scotch?
+C0Y0TE5 You don't have oceans in the desert dumb ass. And evaporative coolers don't collect the evaporated water. You just get left with the salts and calcium all over the cooler pads.
+Diesel Ramcharger Sorry for the insults, but it was late & yr response begged for it. --Salt water is pumped to greenhouse cooler where solar energy evaporates the water, leaving behind the salts. It is the same thing with rainfall. The water mostly comes from ocean water evaporation. That is why with rising ocean temps, more evaporation will result in more precipitation.
-The moist air is then condensed in a blacked out cooler portion of the greenhouse thus generating fresh water in very hot climes. Crops can be grown year round in desert climes that are near the ocean. Cheap,low tech, low energy use water desalination.
--Google it:
"Water Desalination From Seawater Greenhouse"
"Low-Energy Water Desalination From Seawater Greenhouse"
--see: Seawater greenhouse: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater_greenhouse
(Post edited to remove insults & add more info Oct.6,2015 )
C0Y0TE5 Yes you are so right, everyone with any ability makes them inferior to your vast internet pseudo intellect. Regardless whatever tangent you are on, evap coolers are not used as desalination devices, anywhere. Evaps actually condense the brine, but hey. Whatever tickles your little pickle. Now go google some more facts, that you can be wrong about.
The one thing that many people have not considered is that the exhaust fan is circulating air into the attic and lowering the temperature that would be radiating through the ceiling. I suspect this would not work in the humid south, where no one uses an evaporative cooler.
Exhausting the heat from the attic is a major energy saver. My first house I installed a thermostatically activated fan. Stayed on whenever the attic was above 115.....
Evap cooling works in dry climates. I use it in my Utah home. Not for my Kentucky home, though! Many folks here have never seen a swamp cooler. As for all the criticism, I'm sure he would do some simple things to keep water off the house. Also, wet pads catch spores and filter the air. What you do is toss the water daily from the sump. I added a timed pump to my commercial unit to flush the accumulated dirt and minerals.
you are ruining your wall
nice lawn, how do you make it so green?
Lessco Electronics 😄😁😁😁😆
Painting!
Trees work superbly for keeping a well-insulated house cool.
In North and Central parts of India, 80-90% house uses desert cooler for more than 30 years.
The soothing sound of dripping water? LOL....
Yeah it reminds me of a rainforest or something.
+Jennies Garage you should do an update vid on this.
could do some tinkering with that "unit."
Gerald Dias Stop talking about ambiance!
You basically built a swamp cooler.
Mike kirkpatrick Swamp cooler is just a slang name for evaporative cooler.
+Mang Shawn The point of his cooler is to eliminate the extra humidity the swamp cooler creates, when the outside humidity is too high for a swamp cooler to be effective and the house becomes a sweat box because of all the humidity in the house.
When I was a kid my grandparents had an attic fan. It was the best thing. You could turn it on, stand in front of the window and the breeze would blow your hair back. They lived in south Georgia and hardly ever had to use the air conditioner.
Great idea, the upgraded fan is good advice. I would build it out from the window into a box and install some type of bar's in the window for security reasons. The solar comment for the pump was a great idea as well. I wish something like that would work for me here in East Texas. We had swamp coolers when I was young and my grandmother used one until she past. They do cool he really well. However they put way to much moisture into the air here with our humidity. Causes mold and mildew bad. But great idea!
great idea. could go with solar and be basicly free
Yes, but It's hard for me to spend the initial money on the panels.
Jennies Garage
For that matter, get solar and A/C.
Dan Hadamik I'm not sure you can call that 'basically free'. IF there's no trees in the way, a refrigerated air system for a house that size plus a rooftop solar setup that can actually power it so you have no electric bill from the a.c., finance at 4% with a 15 year 2nd mortgage, is going to be a payment in the of $250-$300 / month (by the time you overbuild the solar system so it still covers the electric usage of the AC system during year 15). And that's only if ur in an area that's optimal for solar. I love solar, but it's not quite there yet.
Solar power that pump!
Do you have or, will you have any problem with bacteria building up in the cooler pad? Might be prudent to put a small amount of anti-bacterial agent of some sort in the water resevoir. Air bourne bacteria can reak havoc on your allergies and health in general. Just saying. But, yeah, evap coolers work wonderfully especially in dry arid cities like Phoenix. I lived there once and used it.
I'm on my second year with the cooler now, and I haven't added anything to the water. I'll check it out though, thanks!
I was researching this for my home in Minnesota and found this pad with antibacterial properties, and you can cut it to fit your needs. I cannot use this method in MN as our summers are notoriously wet and muggy, but this roll may provide well for your tiny house for years, as you will likely need just a small pad. 1 year warranty on this pad. www.plumbersstock.com/product/6361/dial-3079-dura-cool-pad-rolls/?gclid=CPDr--b-lL8CFeYRMwod73YAlA
a few spoonfulls of bleach will prevent the bacteria
You should be able to wash the pad out once per month with a 50/50 water bleach spray to remove all bacteria. Just spray, let sit 5 mins and rinse.
Gerald Bowen
Good idea. I would prefer to use my steamer, that I use for my clothing, to clean the pad. No need to remove the pad and no use of chemicals.
I saw Model 1. Following your progress with interest! Ignore the haters. Keep up the good work.
this is a great idea for arid areas. I think the implementation of a couple of these units with more layers of the pads on two windows would make a greater impact. it would be as if the whole house was the evaporative cooler and one lives in it. good work!
Holy shit thats a crazy temperature drop! I was expecting 5 degrees. I'm guessing you live in a dry climate? Arizona or something? Could this work in humid Florida?
Sir you threw me for a loop when I saw you grab the wire instead of the plug itself on the extension cord and then step on the wire of the other cord and jerk them apart. You can pull the wire out of the plug this way exposing bare live wire that could fill your pants full of poo poo if it touched you somewhere.
I'm sure he doesn't normally do that. You have to remember that he was holding a camera in one hand, so he could only use one hand to unplug.
And he's not wearing a helmet!! o.O
You'll put your eye out, kid!
Nor 5000v electricians gloves!!!
Live and learn I guess! Definately not the sharpest tool in the shed.
This is a Great idea. You are thinking and being creative. The poor man's AC is called a "swamp cooler" these are used in the southwest. a big box with 3 or 4 sides covered with the side cooler. a fan is then either on the bottom or 1 side. to draw air in over the vents and cool your house. the water is contained and has a water line running to it. works like toilet. water out, when it gets low the float controls the water and let's more in.
big business. always replacing filters and pumps.
I'm the best mechanic, I gotta say I want 10 min of my life back. I had faith in you, then you redeemed your self lol. You remind me of Jim carry if he was dumb.
Add some pool algicide and/or chlorine.
I know how you can change this to not introduce humidity into the house. I'm sure someone else thought of my suggested system changes. Too bad everyone can only point out the flaws, and not suggest improvement.
I'll try to send you the improvement by pm, or email.
💯💯
A good way to create algae and rot on your window and house
westside98 Aren't you Little Mary Sunshine today?
westside98
Yes. Also good luck breathing that stuff on a daily basis.
michael vanduzee That is why a new evap pad is used every year. Go to Oz and ask them how they do it.
westside98 I was going to say that the wet wall and the materials used (untreated lumber) would result in some mold and algae smell.
+westside98 Algae isn't even the concern, what people need to know is that this application is the perfect place for legionella bacteria to grow. The mist carries the bacteria in the air and in to the lungs causing legionaries disease or pontiac fever depending if the bacteria takes hold in the lungs. Anyone seriously considering this type application should dose their feed water weekly or biweekly depending on how hot it is with at least enough bleach to constitute 1.0 ppm of free chlorine, 1 hour after dosing. Legionella infections are very nasty with a max death rate of 30%. At minimal you will have to go to the Dr. and get some serious antibiotics. Not much of a money saver when you put your own personal health at risk.
I’ll give this a shot! My room gets about 7hrs of sun and just bakes my room. The only difference is that I’ll just use a spray bottle to moisten instead of the loud waterfall.
Great experiment. My concern is security. There is nothing stopping someone from cutting through the mesh and entering your home while you are sleeping or away from home. Manufactured rooftop units are much more secure.
this is genius
Thanks so much!
I'm trying this now but every time I go outside my dog is cooling his nuts in the waterbox.
Should I care that his nuts are in my box?
Do you think some hot sauce would discourage this behavior .
um no
Go ahead and electrify it. That will really discourage the dog.
Bob Barker always said "neuter your pets". Now I know why
@poppypottschannel I thought of that but wouldn't that subject me to breathing a fine mist of dog fumunda?
Jus watched this video!!
Great idea/savings!?
Basically a swamp water cooler!?
Laundry mats & commercial work places used these.... late at night they work/ed great!
I've heard in high humid areas like Texas etc not so affective.
The whole house fan is nearly the same... cool nights good but heat of the day not so.
A combination of the 2 different story.... mayb u could drop a bag or 2 of ice into the container during the heat of the day!?(insulate the box & water lines/tubing too..)
At any rate has to be cheaper than running the actual A/C!!!
Central AC (outdoor unit/condenser!)will be around 20-30 (running load amps!)RLA & 100-150(locked rotor amps?!) LRA's
Verses a blower motor & low amp water pump(less energy used!!)
A blower motor is used on a central ac system anyway.... so if u can eliminate the compressor & cool u r on your way to savings $$$!
Have to agree with water damage to house tho!?
Improve the set up not harming the house structure/siding/ stucco ?!
Mayb make a rain or drain shield to protect wood structure of house?!......
& termite treat the ground in that area jus to be safe!?
Lol! Way to go regardless!!!
I hav an idea I'm gonna try at my mothers house too!!!
Whole house fan & chilled water during the day!
Wish me luck! Old house with poor attic ventilation!?!?!
The bad things is that evaperative coolers dont work in humid areas like miami. It would make the air too clamy. But if the area is dry then this should work like a charm