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_12V_3-Pin_Powered_Pump_-_DD-CPX1.html?tl=g30c107s153 On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM, ken winston caine < k...@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> 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-12v-fan/38132 > > 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" <jacksenec...@gmail.com> > To: <hexayurt@googlegroups.com> > 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 <mfisher...@gmail.com> 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 <upst...@gmail.com> 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 to the Google Groups > > "hexayurt" group. > > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "hexayurt" group. > > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "hexayurt" group. > > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "hexayurt" group. > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "hexayurt" group. > To post to this group, send email to hexayurt@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > hexayurt+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. 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