Not sure if these have already been posted in this thread, but there is great info in both of these locations on doing the small scale swamp cooler.
http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33842&start=660#p686286 http://burningman.rengeekcentral.com/swampcooler.html -andreas On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 4:06 PM, ken winston caine < k...@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> wrote: > And, adding to Bill's comments, yes, David, the pump is used to recirculate > the water through the swamp cooler filter, keeping it damp and, thus, > working for you so long as the humidity is low in both the outside and > inside environments. > > That's why you must have a way to exhaust the indoor air when using a swamp > cooler and need a small supply of dry outside air coming in, too. The > cooling takes place two ways: > > 1. Inside the evap cooler box as the dry air being drawn through the wet > filter evaporates water and cools the incoming air; and > 2. In the room when the moist air from the swamp cooler is evaporated by > the > dry air in the room. > > If you have a single filter swamp cooler, I would think you could rig up a > really small mister inside the box designed to keep the swamp cooler filter > damp. Like maybe a pump sprayer used in gardening. But you still would want > to recapture the water that drips off the filter and get it back into the > pump sprayer reservoir. And it would require a lot of maintenance. I > haven't > experimented with how long a fully pumped pump sprayer will mist its couple > gallons of water supply. I have used one as a shower (it stings, but works) > in my RV. But for that purpose, I warm the water over the stove flame each > day, pour it in the pump container and pump it up. It works. Like I said, > it stings when it hits the body. Very little drip because it produces such > a > fine mist and you control the on/off of the spray wand. > > But if you had it on all the time, spraying the evap cooler filter, there > WOULD be drip. > > You don't want to waste water when your water supply is limited and -- at > the Playa -- is limited to the water you've hauled in. > > I think Cahosmatic's suggestion of a solar-powered fountain pump for about > $20 from Harbor Freight is the coolest solution I've heard so far for an > off-the-grid swamp cooler. Am making a trip to the Albuquerque Harbor > Freight later this week and hoping to find one while there. > > Pairing that with a solar powered fan really ups the investment but also > makes the thing energy neutral during the periods that the solar fan and > pump are working well -- (probably between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. most sunny > days). You'd probably like an alternate power supply for late afternoon > and > evening. > > -- ken winston caine > > P.S. Swamp cooler parts and accessories are on closeout here in New Mexico > and if I don't grab what I need now to build a new model, I won't get a > shot > at it again until late next Spring when summer stuff hits the stores again. > Not sure if I'm going to get around to building a solar powered swamp > cooler > until then. My building project takes priority over that. I'll report what > I > experience once I've done it. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Bill Wiltschko" <b...@wiltschko.org> > To: <hexayurt@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 12:58 PM > Subject: RE: [hexayurt] Re: Windows and COOLING on the PLAYA > > > I have taken both misters and a swamp cooler to the playa, twice, so here > are a few thoughts. You can rig a mister with an RV water pump and misters > from Lowe's much cheaper than the products at the link you provided. Even > if you add an accumulator (reduces power consumption drastically), an input > filter of some kind, and various fittings, it is still cheaper. The > downsides: it uses water at 10-40x the rate of the swamp cooler, and it is > not suitable for use inside a hexayurt. Inside, the humidity quickly > spikes > and stays there, and it gets very wet. > > Bill > > > -----Original Message----- > From: hexayurt@googlegroups.com [mailto:hexayurt@googlegroups.com] On > Behalf > Of David Kelso > Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 9:29 PM > To: hexayurt@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: [hexayurt] Re: Windows and COOLING on the PLAYA > > My attempt at a swamp cooler last year was pretty useless. I did the two > bucket method from apropropedia. > http://www.appropedia.org/Burning_Man_Evaporative_Cooler > > One major problem was that the water wasn't rising in to the wicking filter > of its own accord. Is that what people are using the pumps for? > To keep the filter constantly wet? > > Rather than use a wicking filter, has anyone tried using a mister? > Here's one that looks decent: > http://www.canopycool.com/ > Though I'm guessing it would be much cheaper to find a suitable pump and > rig > that up myself. > > On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 1:43 PM, KK <koffeekomma...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Jul 22, 12:33 pm, "ken winston caine" > > <k...@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> wrote: > >> I have the Endless Breeze, too. And like it as far as 12v box fans go. > >> > >> Maybe I should pair it with its own solar panel so it's not drawing > >> down my house batteries. > >> > >> Did find specs but did not find prices for the Snap-Fan at the company > site. > > > > Click the big "buy now" button on their front page ;) > > > > 12" is $309 > > 16" is $344 > > 20" is $435 > > 24" is $608 > > 28" is $797 > > > > Remember, these are US made and probably "industrial grade". > > They are meant to be used on greenhouses and real buildings long term. > > They move a lot of air compared to all the light duty 12v fans (pretty > > much all of them out there). > > > > At 12vdc the 16" snap fan pushes 980 CFM using only .98 amp. Very > > nice. > > I think the 16" is the "sweet spot" model. > > It beats the Endless Breeze hands down. > > > > A single large Snap Fan could be used to vent my hexagon greenhouse at > > the peak. > > > > Imagine 5 or 6 floor level vents, equipped with exact flow rate > > trickle pads. > > Single water pump hooked to container reservoir, small water > > distribution hoses to all pads. > > Single Snap Fan exhaust in the peak blowing out. > > Just like the greenhouse systems with the cardboard trickle pad walls. > > Exhaust fan runs between specific temps, when temps fall, the trickle > > pad pump slows or shuts off. > > The fan keeps running to evaporate water from the pads, then slows. > > No wasted water overflow. No wasted power. > > Temps climb, fan speeds back up to full...trickle pump resumes. > > > > A very simple PLC and temp sensors could control all of this. > > > > It's a power modulating swamp cooler system. > > > > > > -- > > 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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